Texas budget proposals would fund school choice, border security, property tax relief

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — On Monday, the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate released their respective state budget outlines for 2026 and 2027. The House proposal includes $335.7 billion in spending, while the Senate proposal comes in at $332.9 billion. 

Both proposals call for spending $1 billion to establish education savings accounts, which Gov. Greg Abbott calls “school choice.” The House and Senate also include $6.5 billion for border security efforts, and $402 million for new state troopers. Both plans dedicate more than $32 billion for property tax relief.

“Our conservative approach to budgeting has allowed Texas to maintain a pristine balance sheet going into the next biennium,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wrote in a release on Monday. “I look forward to the legislature’s final product.”

The similarities between the initial House and Senate budget proposals are a positive indication that the chambers are open to working together, according to Rahul Sreenivasan, Director of Government Performance and Fiscal Policy for Texas 2036.

“Given a lot of the political background that’s been occurring between the House and the Senate over the last few months, I think it’s noteworthy that both of these budget proposals have a lot of similarities,” said Sreenivasan.

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman also sent news releases highlighting their budget priorities, highlighting numbers in the proposals from each chamber.

According to releases from Patrick and Huffman, key items on the Senate budget for the next biennium include the following:

• Education: $73.1 billion to be dedicated to the Foundation School Program, the primary source for funding Texas school districts and increasing enrollment.
  • $1 billion dedicated to education savings accounts.
  • $4.85 billion to increase teacher compensation.
• Energy: $5 billion to fund the Texas Energy Fund to ensure reliability of the state’s electrical grid.
• Border Security: $6.5 billion allocated to Operation Lone Star, which works to deploy the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to the southern border.
• Transportation and infrastructure: $36.2 billion to address the state’s transportation needs through highway project development, construction, and maintenance.
• Tax relief: $32.2 billion in property tax relief.
• Public Safety: $402 million for 567 new Department of Public Safety troopers and 159 enforcement personnel with needed equipment.

“It is no secret that the Texas economy is thriving,” Huffman wrote. “By remaining fiscally conservative and making strategic investments, we can address the needs of our growing state while keeping an eye on the future.”

According to Burrows, the House budget proposal includes $335.7 billion in total spending and $154.1 billion in general revenue spending. Their priorities are as follows.

• Border security: $6.5 billion across multiple agencies to secure Texas’ international border.
• Transportation and infrastructure: $36 billion for highway projects, with an additional $2.5 billion for water infrastructure and $34 million for flood control dam projects.
• Education: $63 billion to fully fund student enrollment.
  • $1 billion dedicated to education savings accounts.
  • $4.85 billion in new funding.
• Tax relief: Provides $32.8 billion for property tax relief.
• Public safety: $402 million for 600 new state troopers and $363 million for correctional officer raises.

“I would urge my colleagues in the House to identify additional resources within the budget to deliver even greater property tax relief and additional funding for classrooms and teachers,” Burrows wrote in his release.

Sreenivasan emphasized that these budget proposals are each chamber’s first drafts and still have a long way to go before they are finalized. 

“It is a slate with a lot of details in it, but there’s more to be done,” said Sreenivasan. “Just because it’s in there doesn’t mean it’ll end up in the end budget, and just because it’s not in there doesn’t mean it’ll never make it.”

These current versions will return to their respective committees, where weeks of budget hearings will be held to gather input from agencies and the public. After a final vote in their appropriate chamber floors, the House and Senate will come together in a conference committee to negotiate their differences. Their final budget will be certified by the Comptroller and signed by the Governor in June.