Education Funding Breakdown & Leadership Priorities

different aspects of the budget. By February 14th, the committee will have preliminarily discussed each section of the budget. Then the committee will either take a vote to pass the bill to the Senate floor or will determine if more hearings on the bill will be necessary. Below is an overview of the education provisions in both the House and Senate budget versions.

GOVERNOR ABBOTT’S SEVEN EMERGENCY ITEMS FOR THE 89TH SESSION

STRIVE Writing Staff

The 89th Legislative session is underway. Each session, the Speaker of the House, Lt. Governor, and Governor release a list of priority policy issues. This session, only the Lt. Governor and Governor have released their lists as of this writing. Below is an overview of the emergency items Governor Greg Abbott outlined in his State of the State address on February 2 and a brief overview of his remarks related to education. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s priority bills/topics can be found below as well. No timeline has been given as to when new Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows will release his priority bills, but we anticipate them soon. Of note, leadership can add to their emergency item/ priority lists at any time. In fact, at the bottom of his press release, the Lt. Governor noted that more priority bills are to be announced soon.

Meanwhile, both the House and Senate versions of the state budget have been filed. As the House originated the budget bill last session, Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman has been taking the lead on budget discussions. Since January 27th, Senate Finance has met to discuss and hear testimony concerning

Governor Greg Abbott announced seven emergency items for the 89th Legislative Session during his State of the State address in Austin on February 2, 2025. This designation means lawmakers can take up these issues in the first 60 days of the session.

The items were:

• Property Tax Relief – at least $10 billion

• Texas-size investment in water infrastructure

• Teacher Pay

• Expanding Career Training

• School Choice

• Bail reform

• Texas Cyber Command

GOVERNOR ABBOTT’S REMARKS ON EDUCATION DURING THE STATE OF THE STATE

The Governor prioritized his remarks on education into three pillars. The following are excerpts from his remarks.

The first pillar is empowered parents.

• Parents are a child’s first teacher. Schools must work for parents, not the other way around. Schools must respond to parents’ concerns, and parents should be empowered to choose the school that’s best for their child.

The second pillar is exemplary teachers.

• We must fund and train the best teachers. That starts with giving our teachers a pay raise this session. To increase teachers’ average salary to an all-time high, I am declaring teacher pay an emergency item.

• Additionally, we must reward the best teachers by putting them on a path to earn a sixfigure salary. More than 25,000 teachers are already on that path. We must expand that merit program to every school district.

• And to keep great teachers, we must restore discipline in our schools. It is common sense to give teachers the authority to remove disruptive students from their classrooms.

• Very simply, our schools must be safe. Safe for students, teachers, staff, and parents. We should invest $500 million more to better secure our schools.

The third pillar is exceptional academics.

• Public education funding is at an all-time. Funding per student is at an all-time high. But improving education requires more than just spending money. It requires highlevel instruction and better curriculum.

• Schools must focus on the fundamentals – reading, writing, math, science, and of course, our country’s founding documents. We want to ensure every child is prepared for college or a good-paying career.

• However, schools must not push woke agendas on our kids. Schools are for education, not indoctrination.

• We must ban DEI in grades K-12.

• No boys in girls’ sports. The State of Texas recognizes only two genders – male and female. Any educator who tells students that boys can be girls should be fired on the spot.

• Vital to education is expanding career training. Many of the most in-demand jobs are careers like welders, plumbers, and electricians.

• To prepare students for these careers, high schools must provide more career training programs so students can go from graduation directly into a good-paying job.

• I am making life-changing career training an emergency item. I will work with Senator Schwertner and Representatives Keith Bell and Gary Gates on this much-needed legislation.

More on School Choice:

• Government-mandated schools cannot meet the

LT. GOVERNOR PATRICK’S PRIORITY BILLS

unique needs of every student. But Texas can provide families with choices to meet those needs. The majority of Texans support school choice. More than 30 states already have a form of school choice. We will continue to fully fund public schools and raise teacher pay, while also giving parents the choice they deserve.

• The fact is, Education Savings Accounts have already succeeded in Texas. In 2020, I created a pilot program for special education students. In 2021, a bipartisan supermajority of the Legislature expanded that program. It provides $1,500 grants for tutors and other support services that help students thrive.

• Thanks to Senator Creighton and Representative Buckley for their leadership.

• Tonight, I am declaring school choice an emergency item that must be passed.

Below is the list of the priority bills from the Lt. Gov. He noted in his press release that more priority bills lists are to come.

Senate Bill 1 – Senate’s Budget for Texas

Senate Bill 2 – Providing School Choice

Senate Bill 3 – Banning THC in Texas

Senate Bill 4 – Increasing the Homestead Exemption to $140,000 ($150,000 for seniors)

Senate Bill 5 – Combatting Alzheimer’s – Establishing DPRIT (Dementia Prevention & Research Institute of Texas)

Senate Bill 6 – Increasing Texas’ Electric Grid Reliability

Senate Bill 7 – Increasing Investments in Texas’ Water Supply

Senate Bill 8 – Requiring Local Law Enforcement to Assist the Federal Government’s Deportation Efforts

Senate Bill 9 – Reforming Bail –Keeping Violent Criminals Off Our Streets

Senate Bill 10 – Placing the Ten Commandments in School

Senate Bill 11 – Protecting the Freedom to Pray in School

Senate Bill 12 – Establishing a Parental Bill of Rights in Public Education

Senate Bill 13 – Guarding Against Inappropriate Books in Public Schools

Senate Bill 14 – Texas DOGE –Improving Government Efficiency

Senate Bill 15 – Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing

Senate Bill 16 – Stopping NonCitizens from Voting

Senate Bill 17 – Stopping Foreign Adversaries’ Land Grabs

Senate Bill 18 – Stopping Drag Time Story Hour

Senate Bill 19 – Stopping Taxpayer Dollars for Lobbyists

Senate Bill 20 – Stopping AI Child Pornography

Senate Bill 21 – Establishing the Texas Bitcoin Reserve

Senate Bill 22 – Establishing Texas as America’s Film Capital

Senate Bill 23 – Removing the Cap on the Rainy Day Fund to Secure Texas’ Long-term Financial Future

Senate Bill 24 – Educating Texas Students on the Horrors of Communism

Senate Bill 25 – Making Texas Healthy Again

Education Funding Overview

The summaries below cover education funding proposals as presented in the filed versions of SB 1 and HB 1.

In total, the House proposes $335.7B in All Funds and $154.1B in GR and the Senate proposes $332.9B in AF and $151.6B in GR

Comparisons Between House & Senate Recommendations Foundation School Program

House: $71.8B in AF of $12.2B from the 2024-25 biennium. Senate:$71.3B in AF of $11.7B from the 2024-25 biennium.

Recommended GR Funds for the FSP total $39.7B higher of $7.9B.

Property Taxes & The Foundation School Program:

In both bills, recommendations for property tax relief include an estimated $51B to maintain relief pursuant to HB 3 86(R) and provide new property tax contingent upon enactment of 89(R) legislation.

• The Senate notes that $500M of this amount is appropriated to the Texas Education Agency to be used to provide property tax relief for businesses.

• Recommended funding from Other Funds for the FSP includes an estimated increase of House $4.3B and Senate $3.8B which is attributable primarily to increasing from $12.3B to $15.8B the transfer from the General Revenue Fund to the Property Tax Relief Fund to support new property tax relief in the 2026–27 biennium.

• Recommendations also include projected increases of $506.5M in recapture payments and $327.6M from the Tax Reduction and Excellence in Education Fund.

• The 2024–25 biennial amounts for the FSP assume supplemental funding to address supplemental needs to complete fiscal year 2025 expenditures.

• Recommended funding from Other Funds for the FSP includes an estimated increase of House $4.3B and Senate $3.8B which is attributable primarily to increasing from $12.3B to $15.8B the transfer from the GR Fund to the Property Tax Relief Fund to support new property tax relief in the 2026–27 biennium.

• Recommendations also include projected increases of $506.5M in recapture payments and $327.6M from the Tax Reduction and Excellence in Education Fund.

Education Contingency Riders in Both Bills:

Contingency for School Safety Allotment:

• Included in amounts appropriated above and contingent on enactment of legislation relating to amending the school safety allotment under the Foundation School Program, by the 89(R), is $200M in FY 2026 and $200M in FY 2027 from the GR Fund to implement the provisions of the legislation. Rider 3, Foundation School Program Funding, shall be amended accordingly.

Contingency for Education Savings Account:

• Included in amounts appropriated above and elsewhere in this Act and contingent on enactment of legislation relating to the establishment of an education savings account, by the 89(R), is$1B from the GR Fund in FY 2027 to implement the provisionsof the legislation. An amount to be determined by the LBB shall be transferred to the Comptroller – Fiscal Programs to implement the provisions of the legislation.

Contingency for Public Education Funding Increases:

• Included in amounts appropriated above and contingent on enactment of legislation relating to increasing funding for public education by the 89(R) is $2.4B in FY 2026 and $2.4B in FY 2027 from the GR Fund to implement the provisions of the legislation.

Where are we at in the Process?

SB 1: Senate Finance has met since January 27th to hear testimony on and to discuss SB 1 - their schedule continues through February 14th. They met to discuss Article III at 10:00 AM on Monday, February 10th.

Final Thoughts

The last day of the 89th Legislative session is June 2, 2025. There is a lot of work to be done between now and then.

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