The largest budget in the history of Texas has been signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, allocating a total of $321.3 billion in taxpayer funds for the next two years.
Because the Texas Legislature only convenes biennially, the budget covers state operations for 2024 and 2025. Comptroller Glenn Hegar certified the budget on June 7.
Gov. Abbott only vetoed one line item, which pertained to funds contingent on the passage of Senate Joint Resolution 81, which ultimately failed.
“This budget provides historic levels of property tax relief and does not allow government to grow in an amount greater than the increase in population and inflation,” Abbott said in a proclamation.
“This Act also makes targeted investments in areas such as public education, higher education, mental health care, foster care, law enforcement, border security, pension solvency, state parks, and broadband access that will continue building the Texas of Tomorrow,” he continued.
In addition to the line item veto, Abbott claimed “that Section 17.36 of Article IX is unconstitutional” because it “purports to tell the Lottery Commission that it must issue a new rule on a particular subject.”
“This attempt to make general law in the General Appropriations Act violates Article III, Section 35 of the Texas Constitution,” he continued. “A similar command to the Lottery Commission was proposed in Senate Bill No. 1820, but the Legislature did not pass that bill.”
Prior to his approval of the budget, some had called for the governor to veto the whole bill or substantial portions of it, criticizing it for being the largest in history.
Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) tweeted that Abbott “should veto # txlege’s liberal, bloated budget. #HB1 explodes government a staggering 25%! DC Democrats don’t even grow government that fast.”
“And I bet every elected Republican in Texas campaigned on ‘cutting the government,'” he remarked.
Harrison had been one of only 22 members to vote against the budget in the House.
Tim Hardin, the president of Texans for Fiscal Freedom, told The Dallas Express, “In a year with [a] historic $33B budgetary surplus, lawmakers in Austin had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide histor[ic] property tax relief to all Texans. Instead, they grew state spending more than any other biennium in state history.
“Lawmakers revived the largest corporate welfare program in Texas, passing HB 5 and adding billions in subsidies to numerous other programs,” he said. “They increased funding to higher education without asking for any accountability for the leftist and woke agenda being taught to students.
“They refused to secure the border and, as of today, have provided zero dollars in property tax relief to Texans. I feel very comfortable saying this is the worst session for taxpayers in the history of Texas.
“Our lawmakers decided to prioritize abating property taxes for multi-billion dollar, woke corporations over everyday homeowners and it has been shameful to see whom they really serve,” Hardin concluded. “Let’s hope we can replace these fake conservatives in the next election cycle.”
