TEXAS BUDGET FORECAST: The special legislative session in Texas winds down this week. While bills are being deliberated, amended and passed; one thing that may not be clearly appreciated is how all the legislation, for now, is going to affect the state budget down the road. A study by the nonpartisan Texas Taxpayers and Research Association indicates when 2019 rolls around, the budget shortfall will be a lot larger and puts the gap for the next two-year budget cycle at nearly eight billion dollars. State Comptroller's office estimated a shortfall of almost $3 billion at the start of this year's legislative session. But some are saying one-time accounting maneuvers borrow money from the future and show a different result. To make matters worse, Texas could find itself on the hook for an extra two billion dollars in Medicaid costs, unless Congress renews a waiver set to expire in December.
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