The Texas House passed a biennial budget late Thursday that includes $93 billion in state spending for 2014–15, a 7 percent increase in spending from the last two years that restores some deep cuts made during the 2011 legislative session.
The recent oil and gas boom in Texas has left the state relatively flush with cash, a shift from two years ago when the lawmakers faced a historic shortfall.
The cost to run Texas for the next two years come to $193.8 billion, which includes $101 billion in dedicated federal money and $2.5 billion restored to public schools—about half of what lawmakers cut from public education last session.
The House passed the budget by a vote of 135-12. The budget now goes to a conference committee with the Senate to hammer out differences between the two chambers' versions. The Senate passed a $195 billion budget in March.
