2013 Texas Legislative Session Update

The Budget.  The 83^rd Texas Legislative Session convened on January 8^th with news of a better-than-anticipated revenue estimate, an unusually high number of new and second-term legislators, and less controversy and fanfare than observers have come to expect at the start of the biennial, 140-day process.  In mid-March, only days before the bill became due, lawmakers passed and the Governor signed legislation to fill the $4.7 billion hole in the current budget's Medicaid funding. ¹   As the Memorial Day conclusion of the session approaches, the tone has been more conciliatory than any session in recent memory; however, the workload only intensifies in the final month.  The House and Senate have each passed a budget bill, moving the settlement of the differences to conference committee members to complete in time to obtain the necessary votes before the session closes. ²   While  legislative leaders approved a self-imposed budget cap for the 2014-2015 biennium that