State
BY HANNAH NORTON
Texas comptroller projects $24B surplus as legislative session begins
Put in perspective
State leaders laid out some of their goals for 2025 as the legislative session began Jan. 14. “Property taxpayers need relief. Our public schools need support. Our water infrastructure needs investment,” Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, RLubbock, told his colleagues. “These aren’t Republican issues or Democrat issues— they’re Texas issues.” Gov. Greg Abbott told senators he hoped they would “use your voice and use your vote” to tighten bail restrictions for people with prior convictions and pass a school voucher package. In addition to these, Abbott included property tax relief, water infrastructure, teacher salaries and career training in high schools as ocial legislative priorities during his State of the State address Feb. 2.
Texas lawmakers returned to Austin on Jan. 14 for the 89th legislative session. The only thing legislators are constitutionally required to do during the 140-day session is pass a balanced budget consisting of state and federal funds, according to the House Research Organization. Lawmakers will have an estimated $194.6 billion available for general-purpose spending as they write the 2026-27 state budget, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Jan. 13. This includes a $23.8 billion surplus, which Hegar said will be left over from the 2024-25 budget cycle ending Aug. 31. “Texas is in good nancial shape,” Hegar said as he presented his biennial revenue estimate to state ocials. “Thoughtful consideration of spending decisions, as always, will be crucial to ensure new and existing investments can be funded in the future, and that these investments focus on improving the lives of Texans.” In 2023, lawmakers adopted a $321 billion budget for the current biennium. They entered that session with a historic $32.7 billion surplus. In total, $362.2 billion will be available for the 2026-27 budget, Hegar estimated. This includes about $115 billion in federal funds, which must be spent on Medicaid and other federal programs. Lawmakers released their initial budget bills, Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1, Jan. 22. The Senate’s $332.9 billion proposal was led by Sen. Joan Human, R-Houston, while Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, led the House’s $335.7 budget draft.
Funding lawmakers’ priorities Lawmakers appeared aligned on several major initiatives Jan. 22. They will iron out the details before passing the budget this spring.
Border security Budget writers agreed to use $6.5 billion to continue funding state law enforcement at the Texas-Mexico border. Property taxes Each chamber set aside over $6 billion to build on property tax cuts passed in 2023, although they proposed dierent approaches. Public schools Both drafts would raise public education funding by about $5 billion , which could include increases for teacher salaries. Water infrastructure The chambers agreed to use $2.5 billion to expand Texas’ water supplies and improve related infrastructure. Private education Each draft includes $1 billion for vouchers, which would give families public money to send their children to private schools.
One more thing
Hegar noted that if Texas were its own nation, it would be the world’s eighth- largest economy. He said legislators’ budget decisions have “kept Texas in a strong position relative to other states that exhibited less scal discipline” and urged them to continue spending the state’s money wisely. “Despite positive economic numbers, many of our residents are feeling the higher cost of groceries, housing and other basic necessities, and many are struggling to ensure a bright future for their children,” Hegar said Jan. 13.
SOURCE: TEXAS LEGISLATURE ONLINECOMMUNITY IMPACT
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