Senate Committees

The House version of the budget is HB 1, and the Senate version is SB 1. Later in the session, they will be combined into one version that must be passed by the Legislature.  As filed, both versions have slight differences, but both fund HB 3 requirements from the 2019 session. Based on the budget recommendations made in both bills, the Legislature seems open to increased education spending, but as of yet in the budget process there is no increase in the “basic allotment,” the main component of state aid to schools, and no increase in teacher salaries. Budget “riders” show some intent to do so, however. Money that has been added to the budget as filed is $1 billion for mental health and $600 million for school safety.

Gov. Greg Abbott turned his State of the State speech into a primetime televised address broadcast statewide. He outlined his legislative priorities in an evening speech from a studio in San Marcos, departing from a long tradition of speaking in person to state lawmakers at the Capitol. Typically, governors use the speech to name “emergency items” that the Legislature can start debating immediately, without waiting for the constitutional 60-day period to end (see January’s UTD).

The governor named seven emergency items that lawmakers can vote on immediately: cutting property taxes, ending COVID-19 restrictions “forever,” expanding school choice, making schools safer, ending “revolving-door” bail policies, securing the state’s border with Mexico and cracking down on fentanyl. 

Read address here.