MOODY, Texas - KWTX reports that Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed an amendment allocating over $300 million to state parks. The funds, drawn from sporting goods tax revenue, are 10 times the allotment parks received in 2007, when the state parks portion of the tax was capped at $32 million. When the sporting goods tax was established in 1993, legislation allowed up to 94 percent of the sporting goods sales tax to go to parks, with the remaining 6 percent going to the state's historical commission, which maintains 22 historic sites in Texas. However, in the decades since, the allocation to the park system averaged just 40 percent of the tax, the remainder being used to help balance the state budget. Revenues from the sporting sales tax totaled nearly $2.5 billion from 1993 to 2017, a period during which lawmakers allocated only about $1 billion of that to state parks.

The amendment signed by the governor also will place a referendum to the state constitution on the ballot this November to let voters decide whether to keep the funding permanently in place. “Visitation levels for the state park system continue to rise, and with that growth comes corresponding increases in the cost of doing business,” Stephanie Garcia, a spokesperson for Texas Parks and Wildlife, said in a press release. “Ultimately, a constitutional dedication would be a real game changer for the department, and will provide much needed financial support for a state park system that will be celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2023.”

For additional information on recreation in the state, visit the Texas State Parks website.