Border security

Texas DPS wants $1 billion to beef up border security

Texas' unprecedented investment in security along its border with Mexico could become a billion-dollar proposition if the state agency spearheading that effort gets its way.

The Department of Public Safety is asking lawmakers for an additional $320 million in the next two-year budget to expand its law enforcement push at the border. That would come on top of a base border security budget of $750 million over the biennium that begins in 2018.

The new funds would help cover the salaries for the full allotment of 250 troopers OK'd last year; the cost of hiring another 250 troopers at the border; and new technology and equipment.

It's no lock that lawmakers will OK the hefty sum next year, especially with worries about a tight budget cycle. The wish-list items were made as "exceptional items" in the appropriations requests that DPS — and all state agencies — send to the Legislative Budget Board.