SEN. KOLKHORST APPOINTED TO STATE BUDGET WRITING COMMITTEE
State Senator Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) is one of five Senators appointed to serve on the budget conference committee.
(courtesy Office of Lois Kolkhorst)
The Senate team, appointed by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, will be led by Senate Finance Chair Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound), and will be tasked with producing the final version of Senate Bill 1, the state’s nearly $250 billion spending bill. SB 1 is the only piece of legislation lawmakers must pass during the legislative session.
Other Senators on the committee include Joan Huffman (R-Houston), Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) and Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood). The House of Representatives will soon appoint their respective conferees.
The conference committee is responsible for funding the state’s priorities with a balanced budget that reconciles the differences that currently exist between the Senate and House proposals. This will be Kolkhorst’s sixth time to serve on the committee.
Kolkhorst said she is honored to have been selected for this responsibility, and that she will work to see that every dollar of the state budget is maximized. She said she is committed to negotiating with her colleagues in the House and working together to “craft a fiscally responsible state budget that is both conservative and compassionate.”
Patrick said the continued hard work of the committee members “will ensure that the Texas economy remains one of the strongest in the United States and a force in the rest of the world.”