Senate Finance Committee releases state budget

The Senate Finance Committee released its first draft of the state budget (Senate Bill 1) for the 89th Texas Legislature on Wednesday, Jan. 22. TCTA will analyze the thousand-page bill in more detail in future Capitol updates.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman issued press releases after the bill was filed, highlighting the strength of the Texas economy and notable provisions in the bill, from continuing tax relief to increased public education funding. 

“Our conservative approach to budgeting has allowed Texas to maintain a pristine balance sheet going into the next biennium. I look forward to the legislature’s final product,” Patrick said.

SB 1 highlights include:

• $32.2 billion to extend last biennium’s tax cuts, provide additional tax compression, and increase the homestead exemption to $140,000 for regular homeowners and $150,000 for seniors.
• $73.1 billion to fully fund the Foundation School Program, including enrollment growth.
• $5.3 billion in additional funding for public education:
  • $4.9 billion increase to the Foundation School Program for teacher pay and changes to the Teacher Incentive Allotment.
  • A $4,000 pay increase for all teachers, plus an additional $6,000 for rural teachers (the cutoff for what student enrollment classifies a district as rural has not been specified).
  • $400 million for school safety.
• $1 billion for school choice/voucher programs.

A lot can happen to a bill of this size between the beginning of session and when the governor signs it. Additionally, many appropriations require a bill to “claim” and provide details for the expenditure of that appropriation, so without enabling legislation, money in the state budget could be left on the table, as was the case last session.

TCTA will continue to monitor the Senate Finance Committee and provide updates as SB 1 evolves during the session.