Paxton sides with Senate in budget fight at Capitol
AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday gave the Texas Senate a big win in its ongoing budget war with the House.
Just before 5 p.m., Paxton issued an opinion validating a Senate plan to delay the transfer of $2.5 billion into a state highway fund by a month, a maneuver House leaders had contended was illegal. Instead of transferring the cash in August, the Senate proposed to transfer the money in September.
“Nothing in the constitutional provision prevents the deposit from occurring as soon as possible in the next fiscal year or spells out consequences for such a delay in the deposit,” read the attorney general’s opinion.
At issue was a phrase in the Texas Constitution that directs the Texas comptroller to deposit the $2.5 billion for highway funding “in that state fiscal year” when the revenue was collected as taxes.
‘Option on the table’
Paxton ruled that a delayed transfer of those funds would comply with the constitutional provision, saying a strictly literal reading of the provision “would make compliance with it impossible.” He said the courts likely would require “substantial compliance” to adhere to the intent of the legislation.
Budget negotiations between the Senate and House are expected to begin next week. A two-year budget must be approved before the Legislature adjourns in late May.
The Senate’s chief budget writer, Jane Nelson, applauded Paxton’s decision.
“This Attorney General opinion confirms that the ... transfer considered in the Senate is constitutional,” she said. “Now, the conferees on Senate Bill 1 can begin working to balance this budget with full confidence that this option is on the table.”
Nelson last week sought a legal opinion from Paxton to validate the Senate plan to delay the transfer of the highway funds, which allowed the chamber to balance its budget.
House Speaker Joe Straus and Rep. John Zerwas, the House’s budget czar, had blasted the Senate plan to delay the transfer as “clearly and unambiguously” violating the state Constitution and earlier this week asked Paxton to toss the Senate plan.
“None of this changes the fact that the Senate is attempting to spend the same dollars twice,” said Jason Embry, the House speaker’s spokesman.
Because the Senate plan would delay the transfer for a month — from August 2019 until September 2019, into the next fiscal year — the House leaders complained that the Senate was “cooking the books.”
Most contentious issue
Likewise, Senate leaders have accused House budget-writers of using improper accounting tricks to balance their version of the budget, for delaying a $1.9 billion payment for public schools into the next two-year cycle. The House plan also would tap the state’s savings account known as the Rainy Day Fund for $2.5 billion in a move the Senate has said it will reject.
Since Paxton’s rulings do not carry the force of law, legislative leaders earlier predicted that the issue could end up in court with just over a month left before the legislative session ends. There was no immediate indication Friday that the House planned to pursue the matter further.
Several times in recent years, both the Senate and House have relied on accounting maneuvers to balance the budget. In recent weeks, however, House and Senate leaders increasingly have been at odds publicly over budget issues and leaders in both chambers have said the proposed maneuvers promise to be the single most contentious issue in final budget talks.