AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued this statement today following Gov. Greg Abbott’s signing of the 2018-2019 state budget into law:

“The Texas Senate took the lead on the conservative state budget which Gov. Abbott signed today. This budget is more than a billion dollars less in general revenue than our current budget and contains no new taxes and no new fees. It maintains almost $11 billion in the Rainy Day Fund and upholds our commitment to spend taxpayer dollars wisely and live within our means. Importantly, the budget includes my priorities of providing high-caliber bullet proof vests for law enforcement, maintaining border security and increasing funding for Child Protective Services. We have met the challenge of keeping this budget well below the growth of our population times inflation while meeting the critical needs of the state in a tight budget cycle.”