Agencies, Universities Seek $24.6 Billion In New Funding

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The Texas Senate’s chief budget writer said state agencies and higher education institutions have requested nearly $25 billion in funding as the legislative session gets underway. State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, told The Dallas Morning News that the requests for new money reflect the growing functions and purposes of state agencies that serve the public.

“As the state continues to grow and inflation remains an issue, one can expect that agencies may request additional funding to maintain operations,” Huffman said in an email. The requests are predominantly for pay raises and new hires as state agencies deal with high turnover and pay that is not competitive with the private sector.

“I’m not surprised, overall, to see agencies continue to ask for more money to provide pay raises to stay competitive,” said Rahul Sreenivasan, director of government performance and fiscal policy at Texas 2036, an Austin think tank.

Some examples:

• The Texas Department of Public Safety is asking for an additional $1.58 billion to create more than 2,000 new positions, mainly for driver’s license offices.

• The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services wants to hire more than 600 new employees as it battles one of the highest turnover rates among state agencies.

• Texas Health and Human Services hopes to hire 1,772 new employees to check residents’ eligibility for social services, such as food benefits.

The Legislature begins the session with more than $20 billion in unspent tax money.

Inflation Gap Widens for Per-Student Spending 

Advocates for public schools are urging the state to significantly increase funding to public education this session, as inflation continues to whittle away at the per-student funding level last increased in 2019. The Austin American-Statesman reported that new inflation-adjusted figures indicate the base level per-student – now set at $6,160 – should be increased by $1,400. Inflation has eaten into the buying power of schools, especially after public education funding was not increased during the 2023 session. Bob Popinski of Raise Your Hand Texas said the publicschool shortfall annually is approaching $10 billion.

Public education funding became collateral damage during the last session because of the battle over school vouchers, which are once again under consideration. Gov. Greg Abbott has again indicated vouchers are a top priority during this session.