CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Three days into the regular 140-day legislative session and lawmakers will be trying to pack a lot into a short amount of time.
The big question they are grappling with in Austin remains: what to do with the more than $32 billion surplus that they have to spend.
For context, $32 billion is more than the entire budget of 29 other states in the country. And deciding how to spend those funds is not as easy as residents might think.
The state's savings account will get $10 billion of those funds. Republicans want to use another $15 billion to lower property taxes. However, Inside Texas Politics host Jason Whitely told 3NEWS that there is a better way to use that money.
"They think it's best to let Texans decide how to spend their own tax money, so they're talking about maybe trying to give a check back to Texans to let them spend it on lowering property taxes if they want, their child's tuition, put it in the bank, put it in their business -- whatever they can think of," he said.
That still leaves another $7 billion to allocate to a specific cause. Various groups are in Austin this week -- including some people from Corpus Christi, who are lobbying their own projects.
Republicans have the most votes in both the house and the senate here in Texas and will likely have have the final say on how any of that money is spent.
More from 3News on KIIITV.com:
- Padre Balli Park sees low reservations due to ongoing dispute
- Packery Channel repair costs climb by $2.6M due to additional erosion
- Jimmy Kimmel invites Jason Grosboll, aka 'Popcorn Guy', to Oscars
- Health district asks residents to report at-home COVID test results
- Nueces County traffic stop turns into largest liquid fentanyl drug bust in US history
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for your daily news and exclusive extended interviews.
Do you have a news tip? Tell 3!
Put your name and contact information below, or email tell3@kiiitv.com, so we can get in touch with you about your story should we have questions or need more information. We realize some stories are sensitive in nature. Let us know if you'd like to remain anonymous.
If you do not have a photo/video to submit, just click "OK" to skip that prompt.