State budget officials say Texas is slowly emerging from a 14-month economic slump.

The slide has left sales tax revenue down $1.4 billion compared to this time last year. It's also contributed to a shortfall that could reach as high as $18 billion for the next two-year state budget.

But Tuesday, GOP state Comptroller Susan Combs said Texas is “definitely on the path to recovery.”

Small but steady growth in the state's largest revenue stream is expected to stretch into a fourth month this week, when Combs releases the state's sales tax returns for July.

The gains, since April, have been minimal and not yet enough to erase the $1.4 billion year-to-date deficit in sales tax revenue compared to the first 10 months of the previous fiscal year.

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