Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and Speaker Dustin Burrows have announced joint policy guidance directing state agencies and institutions of higher education on the preparation of Legislative Appropriations Requests (LARs) for the 2028–29 biennium.
As the starting point for budget deliberations, the requirement is each agency will need to reduce its base appropriation request level by three percent.
Additionally, the following are exceptions to those base limitations:
- Maintain funding for the Foundation School Program as required by state law to ensure the continued full funding of public education;
- Satisfy debt service requirements for bond authorizations;
- Maintain funding at Fiscal Year 2027 budgeted levels, plus amounts necessary to cover the impact of payroll growth for state pension systems and employee group benefits (excluding payroll contributions made by state agencies and institutions of higher education for retirement and group health insurance). Group benefit modifications may be considered;
- Maintain benefits and eligibility as required by state law for Medicaid programs, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), foster care programs, adoption subsidies programs, the Permanency Care Assistance program (baseline requests for these programs should include amounts sufficient to address projected caseload growth); and
- Maintain funding for the Texas Education Savings Account Program established by Senate Bill 2, 89th Legislature, plus amounts necessary to reflect projected program participation.
Any agency funding requests that exceed the baseline and are not listed above as exceptions may be included as Exceptional Item requests.
The leaders called on the 90th Texas Legislature to build on recent successes by addressing affordability for Texas families and homeowners, while requiring state agencies to demonstrate prudent stewardship of taxpayer resources through a three percent reduction in base budget requests. This guidance puts four top priorities into action for the 2028–29 biennium which include; tackling affordability concerns for Texas consumers and homeowners; requiring state agencies to reduce base spending requests by three percent; protecting education funding, including the Foundation School Program and the Texas Education Savings Account Program, from any base budget reductions; supporting teachers, advancing property tax reform, and continuing to fully fund public education.
See Governor Abbott’s full press release here.
