Gavel to Gavel 89th Legislative Session - March 28, 2025
The Legislature was hard at work this week. Committee postings are becoming increasingly lengthy with bills up for consideration and hearings going longer into the evening. The Senate spent a considerable amount of time on the floor with even Lt. Governor Dan Patrick noting this to the members on Thursday. House Calendars Chair Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi) called a meeting to set a House Calendar, signaling that it is time for the House to begin its work debating and passing bills.
The only bill the Legislature must pass each legislative session is the General Appropriations Act, providing the funding for the next biennium to support agencies, programs, services, infrastructure, and much more. This past week, the Legislature made significant progress toward this goal. Under the leadership of Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), the Senate passed SB 1 on Tuesday after hours of work in Article Workgroups and in the full Committee. SB 1 passed the Senate with a 31-0 vote, and provides for the following:
Overall spending in SB 1 totals $336B in All Funds; and $153.5B in General Revenue
Provides for new property tax relief through maintenance and operation (M&O) tax compression; increase in the homestead exemption to $140,000; and $500m for tax relief for businesses
$70.9B in All Funds towards the Foundation School Program
Added $1.7B to fund student population projections
Added $800M to increase the Golden Penny yield
$5.1B towards teacher compensation, including $4.3B contingent upon passage of SB 26.
$750M for growth in the allotment for the teacher incentive program
$515M contingent upon passage of legislation related to increased outcomes under education prep, early literacy, and numeracy
$500M for increasing the school safety allotment including an increase in the amount received by campuses
$800M endowment for career and technical education at Texas State Technical College
$6.5B towards border security under Operation Lone Star
Provides for 560 new Department of Public Safety officers
$100M for 550 new FTEs for the Department of Motor Vehicles’ licensing operations
Covers Medicaid cost growth
$425M for correctional and parole officers at departments of criminal justice and juvenile justice
$1.9B in All Funds to increase the base wage of community attendants to $12.44/hour.
$3B towards the Texas Dementia Research Institute contingent upon passage of legislation and final voter approval
$10B towards behavioral health services across 29 state agencies, including new inpatient beds and supporting youth mobile crisis units
$5B for expanding projects under the Texas Energy Fund
$35.8B for transportation, including highways, construction, and maintenance
SB 1 spending is within all constitutional spending limits. In closing on the bill, Sen. Huffman commented that over consecutive biennia, the Legislature has been able to make significant one-time investments as Texas continues to see growth and a budget surplus. Chair Huffman informed members that Texas’ growth is returning to normal levels, which needs consideration over the long term.
SB 1 is set for hearing by the House Appropriations Committee on Monday, March 31st. The Appropriations Committee will also consider the Supplemental Appropriations bill, HB 500, during that meeting. HB 500 fills in the financial gaps in the current 2024-25 biennium, such as Medicaid caseload growth, school finance true-up, and certain urgent one-time projects such as the expansion of the DSHS Newborn Screening Lab.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick and Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) reiterated strong Republican support for HB 2, providing teacher pay raises, and HB 3, establishing private education savings accounts, indicating that both bills will pass out of the House Committee on Public Education when the committee next meets on Tuesday, April 1. The Senate counterpart to HB 3, SB 2, also awaits House Committee action after passing the Senate in February.
Priorities of Lt. Gov. Patrick that passed this week include SB 14, establishing a government efficiency advisory council, and SB 24, mandating K-12 education on historical communist atrocities. On Thursday, the Lt. Governor stated he would encourage Gov. Abbott to call a special session if the legislature fails to pass comprehensive bail reform and a ban on THC products by the end of the regular session.
The Lt. Governor also released a statement last Friday on the recent completion of an audit done by the State Auditor on spending related to the 2023 impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton. You can read Lt. Gov. Patrick's comments on the $5 million impeachment spending here.
Gen. Paxton announced an investigation into Superior HealthPlan on Friday. The announcement followed Wednesday’s hearing of the House Committee on the Delivery of Government Efficiency that resulted in a tense discussion on the company’s past practices of hiring private investigators to research the financial and personal backgrounds of patients and legislators. The CEO has since been fired.
The House adjourned until 4:00 PM on Monday, and Senate until 2:00 PM on Monday.