The Cost of the Texas Legislature

How much does the Legislature Cost you ask?

R. G. Ratcliffe highlighted the cost of legislative sessions in Texas in a Houston Chronicle article on June 14, 2009. Here's what Ratcliffe found:

How Much Then & Now

• The cost of a legislative session in 1963: $2.9 million
• The cost of the 140-day session that ended June 1: $9.1 million

How Much the Legislature Costs Annually

• Annual cost per year to operate the Texas legislature including nearly 1,1800 people on staff: $171.5 million
  

Biggest Costs for the 2009 Regular Legislative Session

• $4.9 million spent to hire 402 House and Senate sergeants at arms, clerks, researchers, proofreaders and staff photographers
• An additional $4.2 million paid to the 181 legislators as living expenses on top of the $1.3 million spent on their annual salaries

This morning, Mike Ward at the Austin American Statesman included the agenda for the Special Session that begins today:

Continuing the operations of the state's transportation, insurance and racing commissions plus two smaller agencies; authorizing $2 billion in road-building bonds that voters have approved; and continuing the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation to negotiate private-public deals to build toll roads.