AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- The Texas Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition aiming to overturn Gov. Greg Abbott's line-item veto of Article X of the recently passed biennial state budget.
Article X funds the Texas Legislature, along with support staff and legislative agencies. The budget, prior to Abbott's veto, provided for $410.2 million over the next two fiscal years beginning Sept. 1.
Members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, along with legislative staffers and the Texas AFL-CIO, petitioned the Court on June 25 for a writ of mandamus, just one week after Abbott vetoed the funding. That writ, if granted, could have forced Abbott to undo his veto.
The Court, in a per curiam opinion, said the House Democrats could have restored the Article X funding during the first special session. "Relators argue that the Governor is unconstitutionally coercing them to vote for legislation he favors," the opinion says. "But the Governor has not forced the Legislature to enact his priorities before addressing its own funding. The Legislature was free to use the special session to reinstate Article X funding."
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"The special session has shifted disagreement from Article X funding to the order in which legislation is considered, a matter entirely internal to the Legislature," the opinion continues.
Abbott vetoed the funding on June 18, following up on a threat he made shortly after House Democrats walked out of the Capitol in the final hours of the regular legislative session at the end of May.
The veto affected all of the funding under Article X, which represents $410.2 million for the next two fiscal years beginning Sept. 1. State lawmakers are paid a salary of $600 a month plus a per diem of $221 for every day the Legislature is in session.