TEXAS SENATE GIVES FINAL APPROVAL TO STATE BUDGET

  

The Texas Senate has given final approval to Senate Bill 1, the state’s 2022-23 state budget, with less than a week remaining before the legislature adjourns.

The $248.5 billion budget sets the state’s priorities for education, healthcare, public safety and critical services.  The budget spends $116 billion in general revenue, roughly $4 billion more than initially projected by Comptroller Glenn Hegar in January.

The budget is the only bill that legislators are legally required to pass.

State Senator Lois Kolkhorst, Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee and a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, claimed the Senate “maximized every dollar” in this budget.  She said the Senate crafted a “fiscally responsible budget that is both responsible and compassionate.”

According to Kolkhorst, several highlights of SB 1 include:

• Full funding for the Foundation School Program, reflecting changes made last session to the school finance formula, including:
  • $3.1 billion to fund enrollment growth for public education; and
  • $1.1 billion in additional state aid related to property tax compression
• Combined projected funding of $8.4 billion for mental health including:
  • $86 million to bring additional state hospital beds online; and
  • $30 million for new rural and urban community mental health beds;
• Enhanced border security as well as $120 million in pay increases for Department of Public Safety troopers and other law enforcement
• $352.6 million for women's health programs, including the continuation of the Healthy Texas Women program;
• $7 million to maintain funding for Maternal Mortality and Morbidity safety initiatives;
• $123.5 million for increased reimbursement rates for rural hospitals;
• $57.6 million to combat human trafficking;
• 100 percent appropriation of estimated available Sporting Goods Sales Tax, totaling over $400 million, to support state parks and historical sites;
• $200 million to continue protecting the Gulf Coast from natural disasters;
• $26.5 billion dedicated for highway planning, design, construction, and maintenance
• $22 million for bullet resistant windshields for state troopers;
• $50 million to preserve, maintain, and restore the Alamo and its surrounding complex.

Upon the passage of SB 1 and House Bill 2, the 2021 Supplemental Budget, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said this budget reflects the state’s “increased investments” in transportation, infrastructure and higher education.  He said it also reflects the state’s “ongoing commitment” to health care, mental health, rural hospitals and women’s health.