The Budget and Texas Children

            To give you an idea of how much Texas spends on its kids, the 2010-2011 state budget allocated $80.5 billion of combined federal and state funds to children. Here is the breakdown:

                        Education: 56%

                        Health: 20%

                        Nutrition: 13%

                        Special Needs: 4%

                        Protective Services: 3%

                        Income Support: 3%

                        Juvenile Justice: 1%

*Source: Deluna Castro, E. (2009). The Texas Children’s Budget. Center for Public Policy Priorities.

The Center for Public Priorities says that “Texas targets child spending in the right areas.” However, one cause for concern is the fact that funds from the Federal Recovery Act (FRA) comprised a significant amount of those in the state budget – and those are funds that aren’t here this time around. FRA funds actually allowed Texas to increase the amount of money it spent on children in 2010-2011 (as compared to the 2008-2009 budget).

CPPP released another report revealing that HB 1, the proposed state budget, would decrease Texas’ investments in children by $10 billion. (To read the report, follow this link: Playing Keep-Away: New report, analysis show state will invest $10 billion less in kids even as their needs rise). This would mean a 13 percent decrease in the amount of funds allocated to kids. The majority of the cuts target education and healthcare. The report says that "federal funds would decrease by approximately $8 billion or 23 percent."

            In terms of spending on children, the federal government isn’t a very good example either. Less than 10 percent of the federal budget is dedicated to services for kids. Bruce Lesley, of First Focus, says: “That means states bear the majority of the responsibility for protecting our children and most vulnerable.”  

            To see how Texas plans to bear its responsibility for protecting our children, take a look at the proposed Texas children’s budget for 2012-2013, click here. $77 billion would be spent on kids. Here is the potential breakdown in spending (the arrows indicate a percentage increase or decrease from the 2010-2011 budget):

                        (↓) Education: 49%  

                        (↑) Health: 25% 

                        (↑) Nutrition: 16%

                        (↓)Special Needs: 3%

                        Protective Services: 3%

                        Income Support: 3%

                        Juvenile Justice: 1%

            As you can see, the future looks grim for education, with a decrease in the total budget as well as a decrease in the proportion of funds allocated specifically to education. Total spending on health and nutrition will stay at about the same levels, although both are experiencing a percentage increase. And total funds allocated to special needs, protective services, income support, and juvenile justice will take a hit.