AUSTIN – Budget writing is typically made easier when budget writers learn they have more money to work with. However, with only two weeks remaining in the 82nd regular session, that’s not the case for members of the Texas legislature.

By all outward appearances, the House, the Senate, and the governor remain miles apart, digging in nuanced positions, and special session seems more likely than ever. The latest cascade of evidence came early Tuesday afternoon when State Comptroller Susan Combs increase her state revenue estimate.

“I am raising the general revenue estimate for the next biennium by $1.2 billion,” Combs said in a written statement. “Maintaining a cautious outlook for the next biennium, my office estimates sales tax, oil production tax and motor vehicle sales tax will bring in more revenue than previously estimated in the next biennium.”

At this late date and during an especially volatile budget cycle, that gives lawmakers an extra billion dollars to work with, but it doesn’t do anything to make the work smoother. How to fund public schools remains the sticking point; something lawmakers will have to work out in the remaining days of the session, or in a special session, because the governor will veto any “partial budget,” according to a written statement.

Even though Combs’ revenue estimate includes a $300 million constitutionally mandated windfall for the Rainy Day Fund, Perry once again said the Rainy Day Fund should be off limits to any further draw down.

“Because of our nation’s economic uncertainty, looming federal mandates and possible natural disasters, we must protect the remaining balance of the state’s Rainy Day Fund. A budget that drains the Rainy Day Fund, depends on accounting gimmicks, or spends more than available revenues is harmful and unsustainable for taxpayers, employers, and state lawmakers alike,” Perry said in his statement.

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