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A Bit of Background

The following backgrounds help summarize the author's views on both the general topic: Texas and more specifically 88th Legislature Laws as it relates to that topic.

Brief Summary of Texas

Texas is truly a Republic. There are a multitude of items that to modify the state constitution must be modified. So there are times when Constitutional amendments are on the voting ballots. While I sometimes abhor the wording, the concept that all of those legally able to vote in Texas must vote on the change is a good one. And bills in Texas are generally short, making it easier for everyone to understand.

Summary of 88th Legislature Laws

The blogs here will discuss the laws passed by Congress and signed into law, as well as those, passed by Congress and approved by the voters to become law. There are a multitude of laws and each time I post blogs I will notate here the current effective date if it is different from prior blogs. I am currently posting bills that took effect immediately - those bills total 336. I am currently posting regarding larger bills, so each blog covers a single bill.

Blog Summary

SB 30 Part 5
This blog deals with supplemental and reduction in appropriations for Unexpended and Unobligated Balances

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A supplemental appropriations bill Part 5

Published: 2024-07-29

SB 30 Part 5

Supplemental appropriations and reductions in appropriations for Unexpended and Unobligated Balances

There are a lot of funds already appropriated, but not yet expended or obligated, are sent to accounts for the entity in charge of them for the 2 year period. This will allow the department/commission to continue with any on-going projects that funds were already appropriated for.

There are multiple $0 transfers. I'm not certain but it could be that either the money was already allocated/expended, or that that item was not funded through the last budget. I'd imagine the first only because logically, if Congress appropriated money (and this money had to have approval before being spent), they could transfer any sums not already approved to the Agency/Commission overseeing the projects. And I would think that when they did the initial budget, someone would create this list of projects appropriated and then update it over time. Thereby allowing Congress to approve the transfers before ending their session.

There are also multiple lines associated with the same/similar projects. It's difficult to determine why they are broken out as they are. Some of it could be related to how the federal government gives money with required matching funds. Some of it might be more obvious in the details that are referenced here by sites to labels rather than specifics. And some of the amounts seem large, then huge when you realize the overlap. Typical government spending, spend significantly more than needed to accomplish an adequate job.

The following is a list of the amounts previously appropriated from Texas revenue or federal funds.

$0 Data migration
$276,000 Self-service portal for Pension Review
$22,816,298 for building an information modeling and management system - Phase I of the Cpital Complex construction project
$40,000,000 for purchase of land and construction of a flexible space multi-purpose building for use a short-term storage and temporary office space
$64,147,713 for health and safety improvements and remeidation of deferred maintenance of state buildings
$40 000 000 for constructing a 100 bed comprehensive behavioral health center for the Permian Basin region
$136,025,272.41 for the deployment and reliable operation of next generation 9-1-1 service, including equipment and administrative costs
$0 for deferred maintenance projects for Historic Sites
$0 for remediation of deferred maintenance of state buildings
$0 for economic stabilization for capital projects at the National Museum of Pacific War
$107,764 for the purpose of making courthouse preservation grants
$0 for capital plan project for the Washington-on-the-Brazos State historic site
$0 for continuing development of the Levi Jordan State Historic Site, including architectural, engineering, interpretive, and site survey services and collections conservation and acquisition to develop museum exhibits
$33,605,000 for performing renovations to the Texas Capital and the Capital extension, including replace of the Capitol's historic roof, phase 1 of exterior waterproofing project
$2,465,000 for performing repairs and renovations to the Texas State History Museum
$0 for the state cemetery master plan
$10,352,200 for maintenance and capital improvement projects through the State Preservation Board
$0 for the legacy systems modernization project through the Secretary of State
$11,302,238 for cybersecurity endpoint detection and response in the Department of Information Resources
$6,534,350 for providing cybersecurity enhancements for state, specifically endpoint detection and response, with the Department of Information Resources
$2,670,231 for cybersecurity for the state, specifically for the security operations center, with the Department of Information Resources
$3,690,437 for cybersecurity for the state, specifically for multifactor authentication expansion, with the Department of Information Services
$0 for upgrading existing laboratory facilities with the level 1 trauma facility in Hidalgo County and new laboratory infrastructure in Starr County
$23,675,095 for deferred maintenance needs at state supported living centers and state hospitals
$0 for economic stablizatoin fund for projects that have been approved
$5,324,542 for the migration of Class, Classmate, and public and provider systems from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
$258,322,268 ($29,708,530 from the general fund and $228,613,739 from federal funds) for phase 1 of the management information systems modernization and procurement and transition with Health and Human Services Commission
$25,213,488 ($2,928,372 from general fund and $22,285,116 from federal funds) for vendor drug program pharmacy benefit services modernization with Health and Human Services Commission
$7,038,000 ($4,777,553 from general fund and $2,260,447 from federal funds for development of a system to identify, preserve, collect, analyze and produce all documents and information including electronically stored information in a hybrid cloud solution with the Health and Human Services Commission
$9,616,099 ($6,037,560 from general fund and $3,578,539 from federal funds) for systemwide business enablement platform project with Health and Human Services Commission
$24,760,758 ($17,825,268 from general fund and $6,935,489 from federal funds) for replacement of the end-of-life/end-of-support network infrastructure, including routers, switches, perimeter security protection equipment, firewalls, wireless local area networks, and uninterruptible power supplies with Health and Human Services Commission
$5,135,578 to restore reductions for certain information technology projects with the Health and Human Services Commission
$3,106,672 for infrastructure upgrades to fiber and cabling projects at state hospitals and state supported living centers
$4,519,412 ($2,595,271 from general fund and $1,924,141 from federal funds) for data center consolidation with Health and Human Services Commission
$24,947,262 ($12,666,241 from general fund and $10,620,396 from federal funds) for interagency contract receipts, and data center consolidation with the Health and Human Services Commission
$7,060,888 for purchase of motor vehicles with the Health and Human Services Commission
$0 for continuing improvements to state hospital facilities
$755,896 for Winters Data Center (data center in Austin) with the Health and Human Services Commission
$744,104 for Winters Data Center with the Health and Human Services Commission
$9,599,400 for the finishing of construction of the 240 bed replacement campus of the Austin State Hospital
$152,400,000 for the finishing of construction of the 300 bed replacement campus of the San Antonio State Hospital
$4,475,000 for the preplanning and planning efforts of a new state hospital in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including the acquisition of the land
$22,800,000 for construction of a state hospital in Dallas
$0 for one full-time equivalent employee to oversee the construction with the Health and Human Services Commission
$0 for grants to support rural hospitals that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
$0 for the creation of a consolidated Internet portal for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program medical services provider data
$0 for technology updates to the Medicaid eligibility computer system
$0 for providing funding for COVID-19 related expenses incurred by the Texas Civil Commitment Office related to consumable supplies and travel
$14,843,738 for providing funding for the expansion of capacity of Sunrise Canyon Hospital
$0 for funding the administration of one-time grants relating to providing critical staffing needs resulting from frontline health care workers affected by COVID-19
$43,000,000 for dock and other infrastructure improvements needed to accept new and larger vessels from the US DOT and the US Maritime Administration with the Texas A&M University in Galveston
$56,541,442 for supporting the operations and expansion of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium to expand mental health initiatives for children, pregnant women and women up to 1 year postpartum
$0 for the acquisition of land for, and construction of, a state operations center
$12,275,876 for operating the Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute
$12,000,000 for Texas Tech University institutional enhancement
$1,000,000 for rural veterinarians grant program
$74,626,551 to the Texas Education Agency for the federal funds expected to be withheld due to failure to maintain special education per federal law
$0 for funding the big brothers and big sisters program technological staff enhancements with the Texas Education Agency
$0 for implementing specific provisions through the Texas Education Agency
$0 for the Statewide Electronic Filing System with the Courts of Texas
$116,453 for indigent legal representation, foreign language interpreters for courts, increased staff functions equipment purchases, and program administration costs
$7,000,000 for addressing the backlog in court cases, including paying for visiting judges and support staff (This is caused by a shortfall in court fees collected)
$1,520,000 for addressing the backlog in court cases including information technology support (This is caused by a shortfall in court fees collected)
$0 for the Fair Defense Account for addressing the backlog of cases
$15,000 for addressing the backlog of cases related to the coronavirus disease pandemic
$10,737,824 for phase 2 of the information technology mainframe computer transformation project with the Oil and Gas Regulation and Cleanup
$0 for Texans Feeding Texans - Home Delivered Meals Program and Texas Feeding Texans - Surplus Agricultural Products Grant Program
$50,000,000 for the General Land Office economic stabilization fund
$40,000,000 for Local Parks Grants with the Parks and Wildlife Department
$3,000,000 for environmental remediation at a closed battery recycling facility site
$0 for custom inspection station on the South Orient Rail Line in Presidio, Texas
$0 for Account Receivable System Project with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
$72,600,000 for providing supplemental funding to food banks in response to the coronavirus pandemic
$20,851,248 for Sexual Assault Program through the Office of the Attorney General
$711,370 ($690,314 from general fund and $21,056 from interagency contract proceeds) for the legal case modernization project with the Office of the Attorney General
$2,477,235 ($842,260 from appropriated receipts and $1,634,975 from federal funds) for system modernization project phase 1 with the Office of the Attorney General
$6,204,307 ($2,108,465 from generated revenue and $4,094,843 from federal funds) for system modernization project phase 2 with the Office of the Attorney General
$0 for grants for victims of crime
$0 for technology component for inmate healthcare with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
$0 for corrections information technology system projects with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
$7,000,000 for grants for Veterans Memorial Park and Flag Park (these funds are from the sporting goods sales tax)
$0 for purchasing capital transportation and motor vehicles with the Parks and Wildlife Department
$0 for funding for grants for tourism, travel and hospitality industry recovery

Legislative Blog

J.B. Williams, J.D.

A supplemental appropriations bill Part 5

A Bit of Background

Brief Summary of Texas

Summary of 88th Legislature Laws

Blog Summary

A supplemental appropriations bill Part 5

SB 30 Part 5

Supplemental appropriations and reductions in appropriations for Unexpended and Unobligated Balances

J.B. Williams, J.D.