Austin, TX – The Texas budget has been filed as legislation and it's more than $2 billion in the red.
Under the version filed in the Senate yesterday -- lawmakers will either have to borrow $2.3 billion from the so-called Rainy Day Fund or cut state services by that amount.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst says the initial budget meets his top priorities by holding the line on state spending, continuing the record local school property tax cuts and funding essential services.
The main state share of the proposed budget is $83.8 billion.
Comptroller Susan Combs has projected $80.1 billion in available revenue.
That means there's a $2.3 billion hole, plus another $1.4 billion shortfall that could result from a constitutional spending cap _ tied to investment returns _ from a key education fund.
Lawmakers will start the budget period with about $6.7 billion in the Rainy Day Fund.