Did Texas Governor Greg Abbott Cut HHSC Funding by Over 200 Million in 2021 and 2022?

Published: 5/8/2023
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According to CNN, Texas Governor Greg Abbott cut funding for the Health and Human Services Commission in FY 2021 and 2022. The claimed amounts of reduction were:

These two figures come from a single document, which is a letter sent by Governor Greg Abbott dated April 29, 2022. This document highlights a transfer of funds from various government agencies, one of which is the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). The purpose of the money transfer was to support border operations for the Texas US-Mexico border. The two figures come from the following line:

HHSC – $117,347,952 in Fiscal Year 2021 and $93,382,076 in Fiscal Year 2022

However, when looking at the entire letter, it’s clear that this money transfer from one fund to another actually had no impact on agency or program function.

These transfers are meant to support the deployment of the National Guard with $465.3 million and to support border operations in other state agencies with $30 million. We understand the Fiscal Years 2020-2021 appropriations would otherwise lapse and be unavailable to your agencies and that the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations have been fully funded with other sources. Thus this transfer will not affect any agency or program function.

It is important to note that the government funding for government agencies is very complex. We’ve done a lot of research into it, but without interviewing individuals closely involved with the funding who have first-hand experience with it, it’s possible that some of our findings are not perfectly accurate, or that there may be additional context that we have missed. However, we tried to use the most obviously relevant and simple facts from their financials to dispute the claim that funding was cut. As we continue to do additional research and as other people provide us with additional information, we will update this article.

According to Texas HHSC’s own website, and their own financial reporting, their total appropriations increased in both 2021 and 2022.

It is important to note that the appropriations for FY 2023 was slightly reduced from the prior year (representing less than 0.4% of their entire budget), however the appropriation amount is still comprable to the previous year of an amount of $39.3 Billion (down from $39.5 Billion).

A copy of their 2023 financial reporting is below:

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Update 5/8/2023 @ 2:25 MST:

There are also additional details regarding money transfers like this happening in other cases and for other dollar amounts. Here is a section from page 90 of the HHSC’s financial report:

There is also additional evidence regarding where the money came from that potentially replaced the 211 Million dollars that was transferred.

On July 14, 2021, the Office of the Texas Governor releases a statement regarding more than 210 Million dollars of federal funding being directed towards HHSC.

It should be noted that this 210 Million dollars could be additional funding from the federal government, and the 211 Million that was transferred on April 29, could have been replaced from an entirely different source. However, due to the approximate dollar balance and the timeline of the transfers, it seems prudent to mention this dollar transfer.

Governor Greg Abbott today announced the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is receiving more than $210 million in federal emergency grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for mental health and substance use disorder services to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Links to Evidence

• Original CNN Reporting Video
• Archived CNN Reporting Video Segment (MP4)
• Original Greg Abbott Letter (PDF)
• Archived Greg Abbott Letter (PDF)
• Original Texas HHSC Financial Reporting Document (PDF)
• Archived Texas HHSC Financial Reporting Document (PDF)
• Original OTG Press Release for 210 M in Federal Funding
• Archived OTG Press Release for 210 M in Federal Funding (PDF)

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Published: 5/8/2023
jrpm.me/1StYjt