AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Hours ahead of the Texas Legislature gaveling into session, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released his biennial estimate of how much money lawmakers will have to work with as they craft the state's 206-27 budget.
The state budget is the single constitutional requirement for lawmakers to pass during the 140-day session, which begins Tuesday and ends June 2.
Hegar estimates lawmakers will have $194.6 billion available in general revenues - a slight decrease from the last legislative session. In addition to $176.4 billion in projected state tax revenues, the revenue estimate includes $23.8 billion in leftover funds from the current budget cycle.
Sales tax revenues make up the largest portion of the state's tax collections, estimated to be 61 percent for the 2026-27 biennium - totaling more than $94 billion, which is a 9 percent increase from the last cycle.
“Despite positive economic numbers, many of our residents continue to feel the higher cost of groceries, housing and other necessities,” Hegar said in a statement. “And the lingering impacts of persistently rising prices mean many are struggling to ensure a bright future for their children.”
For the first time in its history, the state's rainy day fund - or Economic Stabilization Fund - is expected to exceed its constitutional cap, which is $28.5 billion.
“The projected ending balance in this BRE comes from different sources than the huge balance of two years ago, and it reflects the fact that lawmakers didn’t spend all the available funds in 2023,” Hegar said. “That decision, coupled with their decision to limit future ongoing costs while still making a number of large and critical investments in our state, has kept Texas in a strong position relative to other states that exhibited less fiscal discipline.”
