The Texas Legislature has approved the final version of the state’s budget, with both chambers passing the conference committee report for Senate Bill 1—the only bill lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass.
Despite a historic $24 billion surplus and calls from conservative groups to use the funds for meaningful tax relief and spending restraint, the budget instead marks yet another expansion.
The final version of SB 1 totals over $338 billion in all funds, with state funds exceeding $237 billion—an 8.3 percent increase over the last biennium and a staggering 43 percent increase since the 2022–23 budget.
Only $6.5 billion of the surplus is being used for new property tax relief, even as property taxes have risen $13 billion (21.6 percent) since the last biennium.
State Rep. Greg Bonnen (R-Friendswood) argued the property tax relief would be much more, given previous amounts of relief passed in past sessions.
“We are stacking relief upon relief,” he explained, when pressed on the issue by State Rep. Brent Money (R-Greenville).
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility issued a scathing rebuke of the budget, urging lawmakers to oppose it.
“CCR SB 1 represents a dramatic and fiscally irresponsible expansion of the Texas state budget that should be rejected by conservatives,” the group said in a statement, blasting the deal as prioritizing “centralized economic planning over free-market principles.”
In the end, the Texas Senate passed the measure 30-0, while the House approved it 107-21.
The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott for final approval.
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