Campaign News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, September 12, 2011
 
LAWMAKERS URGE PERRY TO CALL SPECIAL SESSION FOR DISASTER RELIEF
 
(AUSTIN) -- Rep. Donna Howard joined lawmakers from across the state who are urging Governor Rick Perry to call a special session to help families affected by the wildfires that have devastated Central Texas.  In a letter dated September 9, 2011, members of the Texas House of Representatives noted that only Governor Perry has the "…power to call a special session of the Texas Legislature for the purpose of accessing Rainy Day Fund money to battle the fires raging across Texas today and assist with the recovery efforts that will last months, if not years."
 
Although legislators made a supplemental appropriation of $3.2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to address the shortfall for the biennium that ended August 31, 2011, more than $6 billion remains in the fund and is available today. In addition, because the fund is replenishing more quickly than originally predicted, both Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden and Legislative Budget Board Executive Director John O'Brien have indicated that the fund's balance could "easily" exceed the Comptroller's initial estimate by almost $3 billion by the end of Fiscal Year 2013.  (MORE...)

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 | KXAN  

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 | KAXN

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, June 9, 2011
 
FARRAR/HOWARD AMENDMENT TO FUND ENROLLMENT GROWTH FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS
 
(AUSTIN) -- Today, Rep. Donna Howard added language to an amendment to SB 2 by Rep. Jessica Farrar to make funding for public education a priority.  The Farrar/Howard amendment would appropriate any new money that comes into the state's Rainy Day fund to school districts to help cover the cost of enrollment growth in 2012 and 2013.
 
The budget passed during the regular session includes a $4 billion cut to public education and does not provide money for any new students coming into a district.  Texas' student population grows at a rate of about 80,000 students per year - roughly the size of the Austin Independent School District - and an additional $2.2 billion is needed to fund this critical item.  (MORE...)
 
JUNE 28, 2011 | AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN
 
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OLDER NEWS
 
MAY 27, 2011 | TEXAS TRIBUNE
 
 
 
View the video below to hear Rep. Howard's closing remarks on the version of the budget (HB 1) passed by the House.