A Medicaid IOU bill (HB10) which will fund the program for the rest of the fiscal year gained approval from the Texas Senate today. But they also added an amendment to it that the House must now consider and hopefully approve.
Senators also added an amendment to HB 10 to fix another budget maneuver that lawmakers used to address the shortfall. That tactic slightly pushed back a $1.75 billion Foundation School Program payment so it would fall into the next fiscal year. The Senate version of the bill puts the payment back on its regular schedule.
HB 10 totals $6.6 billion in state general revenue, including the Medicaid money, some funds for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the fix in the Foundation School Program, and some additional money needed for schools to get through the fiscal year.
This is basically a no-brainer bill, but it needs the Governor’s signature sooner than later. Democrats have tried to use the bill to restore much needed education funds; however, Republicans have stated they would delay passage 0f a bill with education funds added. Let’s hope the amendments made do not delay passage of the bill.
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