Senator Joan Huffman Receives Unanimous Senate Approval on the State's Budget

Contact:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Austin Arceneaux - 512-463-0117
March 25, 2025 Austin.Arceneaux@senate.texas.gov
Senator Joan Huffman Receives Unanimous Senate Approval
on the State's Budget
AUSTIN — Today, Senator Joan Huffman passed CSSB 1 (the state’s General Appropriations Act)
on the Senate Floor, achieving a key milestone in the budgeting process as the bill is now headed to
the House of Representatives for further consideration.
“This budget goes beyond just being balanced—it is a fiscally conservative plan with strategic
investments to ensure Texas remains the nation’s economic powerhouse for years to come,” said
Huffman. “To have unanimous Senate approval on such a detailed and forward-thinking budget is a
testament to all of the senators, state agencies, and members of the public that participated in this
arduous process. Because of the leadership and support of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, we are
advancing the budget out of the Senate ahead of schedule, a move that greatly benefits the process
as deadlines approach. With the bill now in the House, I will continue to work closely with my
colleagues to ensure that Texans are the ultimate beneficiaries of our conservative budget process.”
CSSB 1 totals $336.1 billion in All Funds and $153.5 billion in General Revenue for the FY2026-27
biennium. The highlights include:

Within the Constitutional Tax

Within the Pay-As-You-Go Limit
Spending Limit

Within the Debt Limit
 Within the Consolidated 
Within the Welfare Limit
General Revenue Limit
Property Tax Relief
• Assumes $51 billion in property tax relief since 2019, including the following amounts
appropriated to the Foundation School Program for the FY 2026-27 biennium for new
tax relief: $3 billion to further compress school district M&O tax rates under HB 3 (86R)
provisions, $3 billion to raise the homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, and
$500 million to provide tax relief to businesses.
Public Education Highlights
• Fully funds requirements in current law for the Foundation School Program (FSP). Total
FSP funding totals $70.9 billion in All Funds, an increase of $11.3 billion, and $39.3 billion
in General Revenue, an increase of $7.5 billion.
• Increased FSP funding includes:
$1.7 billion to reflect changes in student population projections;
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$800 million for increases to the golden penny yield;
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$4.35 billion toward increased teacher compensation, contingent upon the
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passage of SB 26;
$750 million to account for growth in the current Teacher Incentive Allotment
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program;
$515 million to improve educator preparation and improve literacy and
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numeracy outcomes for students, contingent upon the passage of legislation; and
$500 million to double the per campus school safety allotment and nearly triple
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the per student school safety allotment, pending the passage of legislation.
• $1 billion for the Comptroller of Public Accounts to implement legislation related to
education savings accounts, contingent upon the passage of legislation;

• $6.4 billion to provide the state’s contribution to retirement benefits at the Teacher
Retirement System and $1.2 billion to provide the state’s contribution to TRS-Care; and
• $450 million in additional funding for TRS ActiveCare to contain healthcare premium
increases for teachers.
Higher Education Highlights
• Total funding for higher education totals $32.6 billion in All Funds, a $731 million General
Revenue increase;
• Formula funding includes $10.5 billion in General Revenue and $1.6 billion in statutory
tuition in GR-Dedicated funds, an increase of $387 million in General Revenue;
• $850 million to support capital needs for career and technical education programs at
Texas State Technical Colleges, contingent upon the passage of legislation;
• $409 million to clear the backlog for the Texas Research Incentive Program,
contingent on legislation;
• $251 million increase for Higher Education Group Insurance;
• $304 million committed for Graduate Medical Education Expansion, including a new
$71 million to maintain the state 1.1:1 ratio of available slots per graduate; and
• Maintains $57 million in new funding from the previous biennium to bolster our state’s
nursing workforce through programs at the Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Public Safety & Disaster Response Highlights
• $6.5 billion to continue current support for Operation Lone Star, the state-sponsored
effort to secure our southern border; $403 million to fund an additional 567 new
Department of Public Safety commissioned officers and support staff to bolster public
safety around the state;
• Over $100 million and over 550 new staff to improve customer service at the Driver
License Division within the Department of Public Safety;
• Maintains $331 million for the rural county law enforcement program passed by
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the 88 Legislature to bolster law enforcement and criminal justice efforts in rural
Texas communities;
• Nearly $425 million to improve retention and recruitment of correctional and parole
officers at the Department of Criminal Justice and Juvenile Justice Department;
• $192 million to clear the backlog of grant requests by rural volunteer fire departments;
• $194 million intended for the Supplemental Appropriations Bill to purchase additional
wildfire suppression aircraft through Texas A&M Forest Service, along with increased
funding for firefighter training through the Commission on Fire Protection; and
• $315 million for additional emergency operations centers through the Texas Division of
Emergency Management.
Health and Human Services Highlights
• $10 billion for behavioral health services across 29 state agencies, including:
Over $240 million in new funding for the operation of expanded state-owned
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and community mental health inpatient capacity, and
An additional $40 million to provide eight additional Youth Mobile Crisis
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Outreach Teams and to expand crisis services for existing Teams;
• $80.8 billion for Texas Medicaid across all agencies, including funding projected caseload
growth;
• $1.9 billion increase to raise the base wage for community attendants to a minimum of
$12.44/hour, plus additional resources for community providers;
• $455.6 million for women’s health programs, including an increase of $10 million for
additional Women’s Preventative Mobile Health Units;
• $13.6 million to provide a 10 percent increase to Medicaid reimbursement rates for
maternal fetal medicine services to improve access to complex maternal services across
the state;
• $75 million for the Rural Hospital Grant program, including $25 million for essential
access grants that may be used to recruit and retain physicians and nurses in rural areas;

• $71.9 million to fund an additional 1,051 new Medicaid non-entitlement waiver program
slots for individuals with disabilities;
• $112.9 million to expand Community-Based Foster Care into new regions and stages and
provide additional resources to Single Source Continuum Contractors; and
• $3 billion to capitalize a new fund to support the establishment of the Dementia
Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, contingent upon the passage of legislation
and voter approval.
Infrastructure Highlights
• $39.9 billion to address the state's transportation needs, including $35.8 billion
specifically for highway planning and design, right-of-way acquisition, construction, and
maintenance;
• An additional $5 billion to fully realize $10 billion in planned appropriations for the
Texas Energy Fund to ensure long-term reliability and resilience of the state’s electrical
grid;
• $2.5 billion intended for the Supplemental Appropriations Bill for water
infrastructure and development of new supply through the Water Development Board;
• $350 million in new contingency funding, intended for the Supplemental Appropriations
Bill, for railroad grade separation projects to improve safety and road congestion across
the state; and
• Nearly $143 million in new funding, intended for the Supplemental Appropriations Bill,
to act as state match for federal funds through the Clean Water and Drinking Water
State Revolving Funds.
Senator Joan Huffman represents District 17, which comprises Colorado, Jackson, Matagorda, and Wharton
Counties and portions of Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris, and Waller Counties. Huffman currently serves as Chair of
the Senate Committee on Finance and is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice and the
Legislative Budget Board.