Senator Pete Flores, District 24

2 days ago

The Senate passed HB 1 and SB 30
Our State budget.

I was honored to serve as a member of Senate Finance Committee.
Congratulations to Chair Joan Huffman on her leadership and service to Texas and its finances.

Here are some highlights;

• Funding to support $17.6 billion in property tax relief contingent upon the passage of legislation and voter approval;
• The largest increase in funding for public education in state history, including an additional:
• $5 billion to support public education priorities, including teacher compensation, special education services, curriculum reform, and school choice, contingent upon the passage of legislation;
• $2.4 billion for increases in the golden penny yield;
• $3.2 billion for student enrollment growth; and
• $1.4 billion for school safety and security, including $1.1 billion in SB 30 for school
safety and security grants plus $300 million set aside in HB 1 for an increase to the
school safety allotment contingent upon the passage of legislation;
• $5 billion to provide a cost-of-living adjustment to retired educators and a supplemental payment to certain TRS retirees contingent upon the passage of legislation and voter approval;
• $589 million in additional funding for TRS ActiveCare to contain healthcare premium increases for teachers;
• $931.2 million to eliminate all unfunded liability and cover normal costs for both the Law Enforcement & Custodial Officer Retirement Fund and the Judicial Retirement Fund;
• $5.1 billion for Operation Lone Star, the state-sponsored effort to secure our
international border;
• $523 million to support 50 new troopers, six recruit schools, enhanced communications capacity and intelligence efforts and investing in the Montgomery County Special Threat Training Facility and the Williamson County Training Academy Facility for the benefit of DPS recruits, troopers, and local law enforcement;
• $381 million to bolster rural law enforcement and criminal justice efforts through a
contingency for county law enforcement, additional training resources, and a new
regional training facility;
• $322.4 million for safety, security, and infrastructure investments at the Department of Criminal Justice and to expand and enhance the use of body worn and fixed surveillance cameras, digital radios and related equipment, and to procure body scanners and metal detectors;
• $385.5 million in new investments in the juvenile justice system including additional staff salary increases to stabilize the workforce, expand capacity for committed youth, and resources to construct two new secure state juvenile facilities with mental health capacity;
• $45.1 million in additional funding to invest in election integrity, business transactions, and filings at the Secretary of State;
• $9.9 billion, an increase of $1.1 billion, to fund formulas at higher education institutions;
• $3 billion set aside for a higher education endowment fund, contingent upon the
passage of legislation and voter approval (SB 30).
• $1 billion to a fund to support capital needs for career and technical education programs at Texas State Technical Colleges and Lamar Institutes of Technology, contingent upon the passage of legislation and voter approval;
• $650 million to reform community college funding formulas to prioritize student
outcomes, pending legislation;
• $1.54 billion for higher education financial aid programs;
• $80.8 billion for the Texas Medicaid Program, including:
o $75.4 billion to fully fund the projected Medicaid caseload;
o $2 billion to support and increase the base wage from $8.11 to $10.60 for Medicaid
community attendants;
o $126.8 million to add an additional 1,831 Medicaid waiver slots;
o $206.8 million to increase Medicaid rates to expand access to pediatric services,
women’s health care, private duty nursing, and ground ambulance services; and
o $911.5 million for a Medicaid nursing facility rate increase;

• $9.4 billion for mental health funding across state government, including additional funds to address workforce challenges at state facilities, expand community-based services, and address the statewide mental health professional workforce shortage. This is in addition to $2.2 billion included in SB 30 to increase inpatient mental health capacity and address waitlists;
• $160.1 million increase for women’s health programs;
• $11.7 million to fund new Maternal Health and Maternal Mortality systems and acquire timely, transparent data;
• $178.2 million increase for rural hospitals through both Medicaid and non-Medicaid
programs;
• $71.8 million increase for the Early Childhood Intervention program to fully fund the projected caseload and increase the per-child funding amount;
• $219.7 million to increase foster care rates, relative caregiver rates, and implement a new rate methodology that accurately captures provider costs;
• $151.5 million to support and expand Community-based Foster Care, including $97.1 million to expand this model to 4 new geographic areas;
• $1.9 billion for an across-the-board state employee pay raise to address a state
workforce crisis, the highest across-the-board salary increase in over 40 years;
• $5 billion set aside to support the construction and operation of electric generating facilities, contingent upon the passage of legislation;
• Over $37 billion to address the state's transportation needs, including more than $32 billion for highway planning and design, right-of-way acquisition, construction, and maintenance;
$95 million in new funding for the state’s general aviation airports; $200 million in new
funding for port capital improvement projects; and $400 million to capitalize the Ship
Channel Improvement Revolving Fund;
• $1 billion in new funding to invest in the state’s water infrastructure and supply,
contingent upon the passage of legislation and voter approval;
• $625 million in new funding for flood mitigation;
• $1 billion reserved to support new park development, contingent upon the passage of legislation and voter approval;
• Over half a billion in new funding for Gulf Coast Protection District projects;
• $1.5 billion for broadband development and 9-1-1 services, contingent upon the
passage of legislation and voter approval; and
• $400 million in new funding to complete the restoration, development, and
maintenance of the Alamo Complex. ... See MoreSee Less