Jeff Wentworth

The 80th Texas Legislature adjourned on May 28, and, while the bill count won’t be final until after the time to veto bills has passed, some statistics are in.

Legislators, both senators and representatives, filed a total of 6,190 bills. Of that number, 1,480 passed, and two have already been vetoed by Gov. Perry, who has until June 17 to sign bills, veto them or let them become law without his signature.

For those of you who like to keep track of such things, in 2005, 5,484 bills were introduced, 1,389 passed, and the governor vetoed eight.

I believe that the increase in the number of bills filed and passed reflects Texas’ phenomenal population growth. As more and more people move to Texas, so does the demand for, and cost of, government services, as this year’s budget indicates.

Because I am a fiscal conservative, I am pleased that the $152.5 billion 2008-2009 biennium budget is a modest increase of 3.5 percent over the last two-year budget, while the population has grown by almost 9 percent over the last five years.

Highlights of this biennium’s budget include a record funding increase of $1.5 billion for higher education, $622 million for a teacher pay raise and incentives, a $635 million appropriation for the Teacher Retirement System, and a $196 million increase in state parks funding.

We managed these increases while still providing $14 billion to pay for the local school property tax cuts we voted for during the 2006 special session. In addition, we set aside $2-3 billion to ensure that those local school property tax cuts are protected against future potential business downturns and to provide for local school property tax relief to elderly and disabled Texans.

Taxpayers also will no longer see a Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) charge on phone and mobile phone bills. The fund, which was created by legislative action in 1993, has provided grants and loans for distance learning, library information sharing and tele-health and telemedicine services. Those services no longer need state help. House Bill 735 will eliminate the TIF fee, saving Texas consumers some $210 million.