The Texas Legislature may not be spending quite like a drunken sailor, but they've certainly got the checkbook out.
Lawmakers slashed spending in 2011. But with the comptroller predicting the state will raise $101.3 billion over the next two years, the Republican-controlled Legislature is spending almost every dime available.
In 2011, the budget amounted to $81.2 billion. Lawmakers this year have already tacked on $6.6 billion, and budget-writers in the House want to add $765 million more.
This week the Texas House is expected to pass a new two-year budget totaling $93.5 billion. That's a 15 percent jump above the budget signed by Gov. Rick Perry two years ago. The extra dollars this time around were made possible by a thriving oil and gas industry and a recovering economy.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.