Give Texas state parks their money to stay open
If ever golden words rolled off the tongue of a Texas lawmaker, it was Wednesday in a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee.
"I just want to publicly say that I'm not interested in seeing any state parks closed," said Sen. Tommy Williams, the committee's powerful new chairman.
As they say, it's good to have friends in high places.
"We're going to work with you guys to try to solve this problem," Williams, R-The Woodlands, told officials of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Star-Telegram Austin bureau chief Dave Montgomery caught the statement for his report on the committee meeting.
That's not a promise from Williams, but it's as close to a thumbs-up as anyone in his position can give at this point in the budget-writing process. Budgets usually aren't finalized until nearly the last day of a legislative session. This year's session ends May 27.
Parks and Wildlife has requested $18.9 million in its 2014-15 budget to avoid closing as many as 20 state parks.
An early Senate version of the budget contains only $6.9 million. Tina Beck, an analyst with the Legislative Budget Board who is helping shepherd the department's budget through the session, told the committee that the early amount would keep only 11 of the 20 threatened parks open.
The remaining parks and one of the department's regional offices still might have to be closed, Beck said.
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