Gov. Greg Abbott has created a statewide task force after several “street takeovers” recently took place in Austin in which motorists obstructed intersections, shot off fireworks and drove recklessly.
Gov. Greg Abbot has issued a disaster declaration for Texas counties affected by the early February ice storm and is seeking a federal declaration as well for areas in Southeast Texas affected by rare January tornadoes. The ice storm caused considerable damage to property and power outages in the affected areas. The declaration for ice-storm damaged counties includes Denton, Hays, Henderson, Milam, Smith, Travis and Williamson counties.
Residents in Central and Northeast Texas are still cleaning up after a winter storm snapped power lines and tree limbs last week, causing widespread power outages, canceled flights and damage to homes and vehicles.
A group of House Democrats is proposing a $ 15,000 raise for the state’s teachers and a 25% raise for other state employees by using some of the state’s record budget surplus. State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, announced the bill last week and was joined by Democratic legislators and teachers, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
For the Texas House and Senate, there is not much daylight between each chamber’s priorities in this year’s legislative session. Leaders say the focus will be on property tax relief, border security and employee raises. Preliminary budgets from both chambers were released last week, the Austin American-Statesman reported, with a record $ 288.7 billion budget for the next two years. The money in the budget is made up of $ 93.7 billion in federal funds, $ 130.1 billion in state general revenue funds, and $ 64.9 billion in other funds.
P.O. Box 440
Groesbeck, TX 76642
Phone: 254-729-5103
Fax: 254-729-0362