With the elections behind us, we’re shifting from providing you context from the campaign trail to context from the Texas State Capitol as the Texas legislature gets to work. Keep up with Capitol Context this legislative session as we examine bills being debated, the messages we’re hearing from elected leaders and how their votes impact us all.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Texas state senator has filed a bill calling for a study on immigration — specifically, the “economic, environmental, and financial impact of illegal immigration” in the state.
Sen. Mayes Middleton’s, R-Galveston, SB 825 wants the study to be carried out every year and on the governor’s desk no later than Sept. 1 with copies sent to the lieutenant governor and the legislature. He wants the Texas Department of Public Safety to put it together.
So when was the last time the state did something like this? And what did we learn?
We have to look back nearly two decades, to a ‘special report’ prepared by then-State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn in 2006.
Using data from fiscal year 2005, the study examined the costs of education for undocumented immigrants in the state, the costs associated with healthcare and the costs for incarceration.
Ultimately, Strayhorn’s office found undocumented people helped the state financially. The 20-page report concluded the following:
“The Comptroller’s office estimates the absence of the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to our Gross State Product of $17.7 billion. Also, the Comptroller’s office estimates that state revenues collected from undocumented immigrants exceed what the state spent on services, with the difference being $424.7 million.”
SB 825 is scheduled for a public hearing on March 20.
