The Senate Committee looking for a budget patch for the state's public community colleges got a shock this morning. The money isn't where they thought it was.
Catch-up: Gov. Rick Perry vetoed $154 million from the community colleges' budgets, saying they were improperly using the money to pay for benefits for employees who weren't on the state payroll.
He contends that state funds can only be used for benefits of employees whose salaries are paid by the state. The community colleges read the law differently, saying state funds can be used for benefits for anyone who could be paid with state funds, whether the state actually pays them or not.
The difference, in the second year of the two-year budget, is $154 million. The colleges aren't short-sheeted during the first year of the budget, but the outcry that followed Perry's veto made legislators jump. Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, called a hearing of the Senate Higher Education Subcommittee to see what can be done to replace the money that was vetoed.
That's where the glitch became apparent.
Budgeteers have recently been including language in the budget saying that vetoed money falls into a special account, which can be re-budgeted by the Legislative Budget Board after the full Legislature has gone home.
That language was in the last two budgets, but isn't in this one, a tidbit that came as a great surprise to Zaffirini's subcommittee. It means that the LBB can't come in andtake the $154 million in vetoed funds and use it to patch the problem. They'll have to use other tricks. Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, asked whether the LBB has the power to delay planned payments in the budget, then use the money freed by the delays for community colleges. The answer? Yup, and the next Legislature would be able to come back in time to make the delayed payment and balance the budget.
The LBB can't put the money right back where Perry vetoed it. Lawmakers are looking for a way to work around the "proportionality" payments, getting the money to the colleges without allowing them to use it for the employee benefits Perry whacked. And because the cuts are in the second year of the two-year state spending plan, they've got almost a year to find a solution before there's any real effect on the colleges' finances.
