The House Research Organization has issued a new report for Wednesday, April 9, 2025, CSSB 1: The House Appropriations Committee’s Proposed Budget for Fiscal 2026-27, which is available here.
Spotlight details from the report:
- CSSB 1, the House Appropriations Committee version of the fiscal 2026-27 state budget, would authorize total appropriations of $337.4 billion, an increase of 1.3 percent from fiscal 2024-25. General revenue appropriations would total $153.6 billion, an increase of $11 billion, or 7.7 percent, from anticipated general revenue spending in fiscal 2024-25. Appropriations of general revenue dedicated funds would be $7 billion, a decrease of $2.8 billion, or 28.7 percent, from fiscal 2024-25. Appropriations of federal funds would be $99.9 billion, which represents a decrease of $8 billion, or 7.7 percent.
- CSSB 1 includes an Art. 11 list, sometimes referred to as an agency “wish list,” which is an informational listing of the House Appropriations Committee’s priorities for spending beyond what
is included in the proposed budget. For fiscal 2026-27, the Art. 11 list includes about $42.5 billion in proposed appropriations that may be considered by the House and later by the budget conference committee. - CSHB 500 by Bonnen, the proposed House supplemental budget, would increase appropriations for fiscal 2024-25 by about $13.7 billion in general revenue funds. CSHB 500 would appropriate just under $12.0 billion in all funds, including a decrease in public education spending of $3.2 billion in all funds from reduced recapture amounts following the enactment of SB 2 by Bettencourt (88th Legislature, Second Called Session), the Property Tax Relief Act. The estimated spending limits for the 2026- 27 biennium include anticipated supplemental appropriations in fiscal year 2025 under CSHB 500. Additional appropriations for fiscal year 2025 authorized by the supplemental appropriations bill would change these limits.
- Absent additional appropriations, the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF), also known as the “rainy day fund,” is expected to exceed $28.5 billion by the start of fiscal year 2026. This increase would push the fund beyond its allowable constitutional limit of no more than 10 percent of the general revenue deposited during the previous biennium. As a result, no transfers will be made to the ESF during the 2026-27 biennium.
