In the coming days, a select group of 10 state legislators, as well as Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, will make the final decision about whether the Legislature provides enough funding to stop the surge of Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program closures.
The Texas House recently passed a budget that provides the full $72.6 million increase requested by state health officials to ensure that babies and toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays get the support they need. The Texas Senate, on the other hand, recently passed a budget that only provides a $17 million increase. The budget conference committee is now meeting to decide on a final funding number.
We encourage you to contact the budget conference committee members and urge them to fully fund ECI:
Senator Jane Nelson: [email protected], 512-463-0112
Senator Joan Huffman: [email protected], 512-463-0117
Senator Lois Kolkhorst: [email protected], 512-463-0118
Senator Larry Taylor: [email protected], 512-463-0111
Senator Robert Nichols: [email protected], 512-463-0103
Representative John Zerwas: [email protected], 512-463-0657
Representative Sarah Davis: [email protected], 512-463-0389
Representative Oscar Longoria: [email protected], 512-463-0645
Representative Armando Walle: [email protected], 512-463-0924
Representative Greg Bonnen: [email protected], 512-463-0729
Please urge them to ensure that the budget conference committee supports the full $72.6 million boost for Early Childhood Intervention that was requested by HHSC and included in the House version of the budget. We encourage you to share a few words about why ECI is so important to you. More information is available here on our website.
Thanks for raising your voice about this critical issue!