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Tracking Texas' budget

Will Texas prison guards get their 20% raise? Will the Youth Commission get permission to spend bond money on multiple small facilities, or only one big one? Will Texas continue to fund diversion programs or leave local probation departments to fend for themselves?As in all public policy matters, some of the most important questions about crime and punishment get answered not in court but during the legislative budget writing process. In Texas, thankfully, these procedures are relatively transparent compared to a lot of other states. Travis Fell at Voice in the Wilderness has a great synopsis of what Legislature-watchers need to know about the Texas budget process, including links to key primary sources.A small addendum: For the topics covered on this blog, it's worth following the actions of the House Appropriations subcommittee on criminal justice, while in the Senate the full Finance Committee typically involves itself in criminal justice appropriations...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on September 03, 2008 (boomark / email).