(The Center Square) – Rather than reduce spending, identify examples of waste, fraud and abuse to eliminate or prioritize returning a $24 billion surplus to taxpayers, critics argue the Republican-led Texas House passed the largest budget in state history that both expands the size of government and increases spending.
The House passed a $336.1 billion 2026-2027 budget on Thursday, the largest in state history. It passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 118-26.
The Senate’s budget, which also expands the size of government and increases spending, unanimously passed last month.
The budget’s all funds total is $17 billion more than the 2024–2025 biennium budget. The House version spends $1.3 billion more than the Senate’s.
Both chambers’ bills allocate $1 billion for the state’s first Education Savings Account program. Many Republicans refer to the program as “school choice,” others as a “voucher” bill. The program has many detractors in both parties who oppose it for different reasons.
The House passed both a budget and a supplemental appropriations bill with multiple members speaking against both in a session that ended around 3 a.m. CST Friday.
Republicans argue not enough money is being allocated for property tax relief, only $6 billion out of the state’s $24 billion surplus. Democrats opposed the $1 billion ESA allocation.
Members also deliberated over some of nearly 400 amendments that were proposed. House leadership chose roughly 150 amendments to be added to the budget without debate using a procedural maneuver. House leadership also moved many amendments to an Article XI section, effectively killing them without any debate.
Many amendments failed due to a “point of order” procedural maneuver, which was also used to kill certain budget riders.
Contention arose over several issues, including an amendment to expand Medicaid, which failed, and to expand the state’s Thriving Texas Families program, previously the Alternatives to Abortion program, which passed. The budget allocates $70 million for the program to provide a range of resources for new mothers and families, including “counseling and mentoring, pregnancy education, parenting skills, adoption services,” among others.
Gov. Greg Abbott has championed it as a way to support families and new mothers when the state’s abortion ban went into effect in 2022, The Center Square reported.
Three Democrats from border districts voted for it: state Reps. Eddie Morales of Eagle Pass, Claudia Ordaz of El Paso and Richard Raymond of Laredo.
Both the Senate and House budget bills head to a conference committee to iron out differences. The state budget is the only bill that is constitutionally required to pass the legislature every two years. The supplemental appropriations bill heads to the Senate for consideration.
