Texas House votes to restore some Medicaid therapy funding
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The House has voted to restore some funding to a Texas Medicaid program providing therapy for disabled children, softening $350 in cuts that sparked uproar last session.
Thursday’s move came during debate on the state budget. The funding could still be removed since the final House budget will have to be reconciled with the Senate’s budget.
The original cuts reduced state reimbursement rates for therapy providers, leaving some children without speech and other therapies.
Lawmakers got the extra funding by removing $43 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund, which is overseen by the governor and lures job-creating firms to Texas.
Seeking to roll back last session’s cuts occurred as Texas’ health department mulls new cuts. These would reduce Medicaid reimbursements to therapy providers for Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
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Texas House votes to nix vouchers, maybe dooming Senate bill
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The Texas House has voted to oppose taxpayer dollars going to private and religious schools – expressly forbidding state funding for vouchers.
Thursday’s 103-44 vote came during the House’s larger budget debate and could kill a sweeping “school choice” bill approved by the state Senate last week.
Republicans control both chambers but while many senators see vouchers as a civil rights issue that helps poor children leave failing public schools, the House has repeatedly defeated any proposal that could hurt funding for traditional classrooms.
House Democrats opposing vouchers typically team with Republicans from rural communities, where schools are top employers as well as social centers offering football and other popular activities.
Anticipating opposition, the Senate voucher bill exempted communities with fewer than 285,000 residents. But overwhelming House opposition didn’t wavier.