Budget Office to Gauge Health Bill Effect on Coverage, Cost

“Most House members don’t support that idea, as today’s vote once again showed”, House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, said in a statement Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday that the GOP bill would “gut Medicaid” and force higher out-of-pocket costs on older people and others. The Texas Supreme Court ruled past year that the school finance system was constitutional but was in serious need of fix – Justice Don Willett called it “Byzantine”, as the disparity between “property-wealthy” and “property-poor” school districts continued to worsen.

House Budget Chairwoman Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, said lawmakers will be able to read through the bills before they are officially presented on the floor.

Texas educates around 5.3 million public school students, more than any state except California.

The reason is because senators say they will not accept the House’s compromise on the bathroom bill that passed Sunday.

Some school groups have said the amendment is open to interpretation on whether it actually keeps school districts from accommodating transgender students beyond single-occupancy bathrooms. The House amendment would also let transgender students use a public restroom if no one else is present.

A broader Senate version, which never received a hearing in the House, would have restricted public bathroom access on the basis of “biological sex” listed on a person’s birth certificate.

Taylor said Tuesday that he had no intention of trying to get the conference committee to approve SB 6, adding that minor tweaks to the House-approved language on SB 2078 could make the measure palatable to both chambers. The House upheld that ruling on a lopsided voice vote.

A new analysis by Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeepers undermines claims by House Republicans that their health legislation protects people with pre-existing conditions.

Justices ruled the state’s system of funding education to be in violation of the constitution, and failure to deal with that requirement could lead to closure of more than 280 school districts across Kansas.

Over in the Senate, a similar debate raged over the $1.50 per pack of cigarettes fee.

Blue Ridge Community and Technical College also would have to absorb a 2 percent state-funding cut in the governor’s latest proposal, which was reviewed Wednesday by the House Finance Committee. She says this updated estimate puts steel in the spines of those Republicans, including Sens.

Other plans that have been considered have ranged from about $900 million over two years to $1.1 billion.

The budget office also said the legislation would increase premiums by an average 15 percent to 20 percent over the next two years, but push premiums 10 percent lower than they’d otherwise be by 2026.

Rank-and-file legislators were given few details ahead of Tuesday night’s vote on the spending plan that cuts funding for most state agencies by almost 5 percent.

Patrick has threatened to kill must-pass legislation in order to get his way on the two issues – an action that would force lawmakers into a 30-day special session with an agenda set by Gov.