It's looking like Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas lawmakers appear willing to finally dip into the state's growing rainy day fund.
The emergency fund is expected to hit $15 billion this year, and there are promises of teacher pay raises and expenses not covered in the previous budget.
“We have substantial costs associated with Hurricane Harvey that the state needs to address,” Dale Craymer at the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association . “But I think also the state has a number of problems such as our pension systems.”
He says the state actually runs the risk of having too much money in its rainy day fund.
“The comptroller has proposed to create an endowment fund to earn the state more over time in order to address future problems.”
That's why Cramer believes at least some of Texas' rainy day fund will be spent by this Legislature.
“The $15 billion that's going to be in that fund is money taken out of the private sector,” he says. “That's money that wasn't available to create jobs and to invest in new facilities.”