The state's budget is bigger than first thought.
In January, Texas Comptroller Glen Hegar estimated that lawmakers will have access to about $112.5 billion for the next two years, which is .04 percent less than the last biennium.
At that time, COVID-19 case counts were on the rise and the rollout of coronavirus vaccines had just begun. "Those conditions warranted caution about the near-term economic outlook. Since then, case counts and hospitalizations have plummeted. Many restrictions have been lifted and the economic activity in the state and across the country has accelerated."
Regarding the vaccination push, Hegar says "This has contributed to stronger economic growth projections. Texas, however, is very tied to the global economy and it is important to note that case counts around the world are rising with some nations being hit very hard in recent weeks."
Hegar adds a resurgence in cases would not only slow global growth, it could put a drag on our economy. He says oil and natural gas tax revenues remain hard to predict. Hegar adds it will take our economy some time to return to pre-pandemic conditions.
He says it was important to get this revision out now. "People getting engaged in the economy much more so than before. Therefore I talked about if we were going to provide a revenue estimate update, it would be at the back end of April, the beginning of May which would enable the legislature to address any issues they want with the state budget before they sine die."