Proposed cuts would slash services for poor, mentally ill, other Texans in dire need

AUSTIN — Some of Texas’ most vulnerable residents – very poor, mentally ill, suffering from birth defects, children from troubled families – would lose state supports and services under several new budget cutting proposals. In one of the harshest, made public Tuesday by the Health and Human Services Commission, Texas’ monthly welfare payments to extremely poor households with children would be slashed by about one-quarter, to an average of about $55 a month. In two-parent families, the average payment would decline by half, to about $33. Garrett reports: http://dallasne.ws/bypKzt