As a part of the North Texas Commission’s Legislative Summit, State Senator Kelly Hancock and State Representative Ramon Romero participated in an informative panel discussion. Dale Craymer of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association moderated the engaging discussion, and closing the gap on the projected $4.6 billion revenue shortfall for this biennium was the primary…

State comptroller Glenn Hegar predicts the state will face a projected budget shortfall of $4.6 billion. Before the coronavirus pandemic, Texas had a multi-billion dollar surplus.

Dale Craymer, the president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, has estimated that the state loses $85 million a year for every $1 drop in oil prices. By one calculation, Texas has already lost at least $1 billion in revenue from the oil and gas industry.

According to the report, Texas oil and gas producers directly contributed a record $13.4 billion to the Texas treasury through taxes and royalties, just beating the 2014 record of $13.3 billion.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday ordered Texas state agencies, public universities and other top officials to come up with ways to cut their budgets by 5% in the current biennium.