Pandemic Leaves Texas With $1B Deficit, Could Trigger Cuts
AUSTIN, Texas (CBSDFW/AP) - The economic damage in Texas from the coronavirus pandemic has left a nearly $1 billion deficit in the state budget as the nation's energy capital remains hampered by a slow recovery and a half-million fewer jobs than a year ago.
The forecast Monday by state officials is far brighter than bleaker projections last summer, when Republican Comptroller Glenn Hegar estimated that the shortfall could be four times as worse. Still, the deficit could result in cuts to state services as the GOP-controlled Legislature returns to work Tuesday.
Lawmakers are coming back to the Capitol at a moment when spread of the virus has never been worse in Texas. More than 13,000 patients with COVID-19 are hospitalized and the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases in Texas is more than 23,000.
Dallas County on Sunday reported 2,246 new cases of COVID-19, along with seven more deaths.
Sunday's case count brings the total in the county to 192,567, which is the second highest in the state behind Harris County. Health officials said 259 of Sunday's cases are considered probable.
Seven more deaths were also reported, for a total of 1,773. The seven patients all had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions. Their ages ranged from 40s to 80s.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has kept some business restrictions in place but has ruled out more lockdowns.
Hegar said the hospitality sector has been hardest-hit during the pandemic. He said a rebound in oil prices and production substantially improved the economic outlook in Texas from just a few months ago.
Many economists say that once coronavirus vaccines are more widely distributed, a broader recovery should take hold in the second half of the year.
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