State Sen. Roland Gutierrez has filed a bill to send one-time $1,500 payments to every Texas household, fulfilling a campaign promise from Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa to ease cost-of-living pressures. The proposal, filed this week in Austin, would draw roughly $17 billion from the state’s rainy day fund and aims to distribute the money by the end of 2027.
Under the legislation, households living in Texas as of Jan. 1, 2027, would be eligible. The Texas Comptroller’s office would create a process to verify eligibility and distribute the payments, since the state has no income tax and no existing system for direct cash transfers to residents. Applicants could provide documents such as a lease or utility bill. The bill frames the state’s affordability challenges as a “public calamity,” an exception under Texas law that can allow direct public payments to individuals. Up to 1% of the funds could cover administrative costs.
The rainy day fund, formally the Economic Stabilization Fund, currently holds more than $27 billion. Withdrawing the money requires a two-thirds vote of members present in both the House and Senate. Democrats control the Texas House but would still need substantial Republican support there and in the GOP-led Senate, where they would need several Republican votes to pass the measure. Past Republican-led efforts have focused on property tax relief rather than direct cash payments.
Hinojosa made the $1,500 payments a central part of her successful campaign against Gov. Greg Abbott, arguing the money belongs to Texans and should be returned amid rising costs for housing, food, and other necessities. She has said she would declare a cost-of-living emergency early in her administration. The bill does not specify whether U.S. citizenship is required for eligibility. Some economists have noted that large-scale direct payments could add modest inflationary pressure, though the total amount is relatively small compared with the size of the Texas economy.
The proposal faces an uncertain path. If it fails to win the needed Republican support, it could become a political talking point in future debates over affordability. For now, the legislation provides the first detailed framework for how Hinojosa’s campaign pledge might work if lawmakers approve it.
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