With light touch, Abbott cuts $120 million from $216.8 billion budget
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed the 2018-19 state budget into law, vetoing about $120 million of the $216.8 billion in spending approved by the Legislature.
The vetoes included eliminating $87 million over two years for a program aimed at helping low-income Texans repair or replace high-emission vehicles and another that will end, as of Sept. 1, 2018, a $4.2 million annual program that seeks to boost lottery sales by paying bonuses to retailers who sell large jackpot tickets.
Sunday is the governor’s deadline for vetoing bills. Monday’s generally light touch with the veto pen on the budget well ahead of the deadline contrasted with Abbott’s heavier hand two years ago, when he vetoed nearly $233 million in discretionary spending and made more than $295 million in overall reductions in the $209.4 billion budget approved by the Legislature.
“I am once again signing a budget that addresses the most pressing challenges faced by our state,” Abbott said in his statement Monday.
Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/with-light-touch-abbott-cuts-120-million-from-216-billion-budget/cUnV7cPithmW1ZBTg1yNFN/
