The Texas home on Friday morning night passed the state’s biennial budget version. This adds another $4 billion to public education and another $1 billion to health and human services compared to the Senate spending plan.
The House budget proposal, which includes a total of $337.4 billion and more than $50 billion in property tax relief, allocates additional spending of around $4.4 billion over the 2023 legislators’ budget. Both Chambers plans will spend $6.5 billion on border security based on Greg Abbott’s ongoing initiative as an operation Lone Star.
The House of Representatives’ 118-26 votes were lacking in substantial debate after a 13-hour marathon process, but for a long time, it doesn’t represent the final word on how much the state will spend over the next two years. Now that the House has adopted the spending plan, negotiators from both rooms begin to adjust the difference between the two proposals before Congress sends the final bill to Abbott to sign the law.
“The law this chamber will discuss in the coming weeks will be financially conservative and will generate a final budget that represents the state’s priorities,” said Rep. Greg Bonnen, an Angleton Republican, who chairs the House Approximately pursuit committee.
Bonnen also pointed out that 15% of the budget is spent cutting local property taxes.
Floor discussions in the Republican-controlled 150-person home create more passion and consume more time than budget discussions. Under the Texas Constitution, it is the only measure that must be passed before Congressional work is considered complete. And it is probably the only major law that touches the lives of all members of every lawmaker.
Approximately 400 revisions were provided by dozens of residential members a few days before the budgetary floor discussion. As the discussion progressed, the proposal scores were either massively rejected without discussion or moved to the budget wish list.
“Whether you like these revisions or don’t like them, we should be allowed to discuss their merits as bodies,” Rep. R-Midlothian Rep. Brian Harrison, a constant critic of Republican speaker Dustin Burrows, said on the House floor. “That’s what Texas deserves.”
R-Lakeway’s MP Ellen Troxclair said that although it’s not perfect, the final product is “a financially responsible budget that will bring significant property tax savings to the Texans.”
R-Fort Worth Rep. Mike Alcott said the tax cuts proposed in the House budget are far short since Congress began the 2025 session and launched the Flash with a $24 billion surplus.
“I can’t say I can’t go back to my district and have a $24 billion surplus and do this either,” Alcott said.
In the end, seven Democrats and 19 Republicans voted in favor of the budget.
State revenue comes primarily from state sales taxes, taxes on alcohol sales, and various licenses. However, the state also receives billions of federal funding for education, health and human service programs, including Medicaid, transportation projects and other priorities.
Funding for public education and vouchers
The House of Representatives’ budget for 2026-27 would spend around $93 billion on public schools. That’s nearly $4.2 billion more than what the Senate passed, primarily due to the contingency of House Bill 2, the $7.6 billion school finance package.
The House of Representatives expands school funding, but has risen across a range of priorities, including an increase in baseline funding per student, by almost $400, but the Senate has poured funding priorities to $4.4 billion and increased teacher wages. Bonnen told Congressman Thursday he would vote for many of these education priorities next week.
Like the Senate, the lower room sets up $1 billion for school vouchers, and uses taxes to pay for children’s private schooling, subject to passing the controversial program. Last week, the House Committee on Education proceeded with the voucher program.
Dallas Democrat John Bryant said the voucher board sealed his no vote.
“I’m against this bill because it’s the first vote for a voucher,” Bryant said. “It’s a dagger to the heart of our public school system.”
D-Austin MP Gina Hinojosa also opposed public education’s advances in spending plans.
“No one really believes we are fully funding schools with this budget,” Hinojosa said. “We’re not.”
The rise in funding proposals for public education has not compensated for the rise in inflation since 2019, Democrats argued.
$210 million for Crisis Pregnancy Center
House GOP Caucus Chair Tom Oliverson of Cypress and R-Round Rock’s Caroline Harris Davila managed to redirect $70 million from Medicaid to “Prosperity in Texas,” and by 2027, they had tweaked the total amount of non-Medical programs up to $150 million a year.
Formerly known as an “alternative to abortion,” the program was established to help drive pregnant Texans out of abortion clinics. The program is currently under contract with a privately run Crisis Pregnancy Center. It is generally run by anti-abortion groups and provides counseling and supplies, including diapers, to new families. They do not provide medical services.
“One of the reasons we’re increasing funding for this program is essentially because we continue to use all the resources we need for our big needs,” Oliverson said.
A July survey from Propublica and CBS News reported little details about the services offered by Crisis Pregnancy Centers, and found that some people were charging the state significantly by charging $14 to hand out donated diapers. Austin Democrat Donna Howard, who chaired the Women’s Health Caucus, was joined by several other Democrats who questioned whether the contractor had adequate surveillance.
“There’s so much we can do to help families and parents, their babies and their children,” Howard said. “I want to make sure it’s a real service.”
Oliverson said he doesn’t think current Medicaid recipients will be affected by the cut.
The amendment was passed with the support of all Republicans and three Democrats. Eagle Pass Rep. Eddie Morales, Claudia Ordaz of El Paso, and Richard Pena Raymond of Laredo.
Medicaid expansion shot down
One of the only true before and after discussions of the night was about an amendment from D-Austin’s Rep. John Bucy III, who would have expanded Medicaid. Texas is one of 10 states that have chosen not to accept all federal funds available to their health insurance programs, despite the highest percentage of uninsured residents.
Congress asked a colleague, “We’re taxing the Texans to help expand Medicaid right now. Do you want to take taxes from the federal government home to help Texans, or continue sending them to California?” Bucy asked her colleague.
He said Texas will receive $9 for every $1 state funding that contributes to Medicaid.
Rep. Suleman Lalani, a doctor and a sugar land Democrat, spoke about his older patient who stopped taking diabetes medication without insurance. He said uninsured patients would sacrifice more money than Medicaid.
“People who aren’t insured, they’re not taking medication on time, they have complications that can be prevented, and they can go to the hospital… the state is paying for that,” he said.
Part of the process and other funding priorities
The House and Senate have created their own versions of budgets, but the Chamber of Commerce will alternate between each legislative session. Which version will go to the governor? So when the Senate sent SB 2 home, the lower room essentially had a cut and paste replacement.
If both parties adjust the version, the final product will be SB 2.
The House budget includes $439.1 million for the Women’s Health Program. This includes money for family planning programs and breast and cervical cancer services, according to the Legislative Research Group at Texas House, a research organization for progressive lawmakers.
R-Uvalde freshman MP Don McLaughlin pushed the amendment to allocate $12.5 million to Uvalde Behavioral Health Campus. A startup facility serving several rural counties surrounding Uvalde, the site of the fatal mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May 2022. McLaughlin was Uvalde’s mayor when the shooting occurred.
Two Republicans have retracted the amendment to protest that they cut the budgets of the University of Texas and Texas State University and said what they said was promoting diversity, equity, inclusive policy and the LBGTQ+ issue.
One of the amendments surged into oblivion is a revisiting part of the House’s 2023 decision fallout against Attorney General Ken Paxton on countless charges of misuse of duties.
The proposed changes from Lewisville freshman Little, one of the lawyers who defended Paxton at the September 2023 Merge Each Trial would have secured $63,750 to replace Paxton, which was lost during a suspension from House representatives and their staff. Little won the house seat in November.
