.png)
Agencies, universities seek $24.6 billion in new funding
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 public-school 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.
WATER SUPPLY INFRASTRUCTURE ALSO HIGH ON AGENDA
The Statesman reported that more than 8 million Texans live in areas affected by drought, and the infrastructure that supports the state’s water supply is likely to see its funding shored up during this legislative session.
“We will leave this session with a significant sum to jumpstart water supply development and have a constitutional vote in November for perpetual funding going forward,” said state Sen. Charles Perry, RLubbock.
Perry said that Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and numerous legislators have committed to supporting a new funding plan for water supplies. Water shortages have affected citrus growers in the Rio Grande Valley, and several fast-growing cities, such as Dripping Springs, Conroe and Magnolia, have had to put the brakes on further development.
The state is “about 25 years behind” on developing water supply, according to Perry.
BLACKLOCK NAMED CHIEF JUSTICE OF SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS
Following the retirement of Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, the state’s longest-serving justice with more than 35 years on the bench, Abbott appointed Jimmy Blacklock to take his place. He also appointed James P. Sullivan to take Blacklock’s Place 2 seat on the state’s highest civil court.
Blacklock has served on the Texas Supreme Court since January 2018. He previously served as Abbott’s general counsel. Sullivan has served as the governor’s general counsel since November 2021.
“The Supreme Court of Texas plays a crucial role to shape the future of our great state, and Jimmy Blacklock and James Sullivan will be unwavering guardians of the Texas Constitution serving on our state's highest judicial court,” Abbott said.
GRID KEEPS HUMMING DURING FIRST WINTRY BLAST
The state’s power grid withstood its first wintry blast last week with no major outages as snow blanketed much of West and North Texas, and heavy rains hit Central and South Texas. The Texas Tribune reported that energy supply comfortably exceeded demand during the latest cold snap.
Limited outages unrelated to grid capacity were reported, particularly in far Northeast Texas. Temperatures have since returned this to normal for this time of year across most of the state.
Most of the snow fell in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and surrounding counties.
EXPANDED RABIES VACCINATION PROGRAM UNDERWAY
The Texas Department of State Health Services has kicked off its annual Oral Rabies Vaccination Program and has expanded distribution areas to far West Texas. Parts of El Paso County and other counties bordering New Mexico are now part of the aerial drops after a new Arizona fox rabies virus variant was confirmed in Sierra County, New Mexico.
“Texas has eliminated two canid rabies variants by the utilization of the Oral Rabies Vaccination Program,” said Kathy Parker of DSHS. “By moving the program to now include far West Texas, DSHS is striving to protect the people and animals in that area.”
More than 1 million baits are being distributed across 24 Texas border counties and far West Texas. The annual project costs about $2.3 million and is in its 31st year.
No human cases of rabies attributable to the rabies variants targeted by the air drops have been identified since the program began.
STATE SETS EMPLOYMENT RECORDS IN 2024
Texas again broke all records for employment in 2024 as the state again led the nation in jobs added over the past 12 months.
“The No. 1 economy in America is built by Texans,” said Abbott. “Texas leads the nation in annual job creation and more Texans are working than ever before as we break record after record for total employment.”
The state’s workforce reached a new high of 15,536,100, while the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose a tenth of a point to 4.2%.
“After another month of job growth, the Texas labor force participation rate has reached a 10-year high, at 64.7 percent,” said Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Bryan Daniel. “This positive trend shows the strength of the Texas workforce, its employers, and its job seekers.”
CORRECTION
Due to an editing error, the party breakdown cited in last week’s item about the 2025 legislative session was incorrect. There will be 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats in the Texas House when it convenes next week, rather than 87-63 as we reported. We apologize for the error.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@ texaspress.com
