Supplemental budget bill in Senate Finance: 3 takeaways
Lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Finance met today, in what will likely be one of their last public meetings of the regular session to lay out and take public testimony on legislation. Among the most highly anticipated bills of the hearing was the layout of House Bill 500, the supplemental appropriations bill.
Traditionally, in addition to the General Appropriations Act, the Texas Legislature passes a supplemental appropriation bill to address shortfalls, reduce allocations and address other unexpected budgetary circumstances. Historically, they have also frequently been utilized to jump-start various new budgetary priorities.
While we await public release of bill language, LBB summary documents and the layout by Chair Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, of HB 500 revealed a few themes:
Infrastructure and Resilience Remain a Top Priority for Budget Writers.
Spearheaded by a $2.6 billion allocation for water infrastructure, including what appears to be at least $1.7 billion in new state funds for water, the Senate committee substitute to HB 500 reflected a continued commitment to strengthening infrastructure and resilience.
Additionally, HB 500 appropriates $618 million for the purpose of improving state and local wildfire response capacity, $350 million in contingent funding for the proposed Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund, $100 million for plugging abandoned oil and gas wells, and $100 million for local parks grants.
Investing in Higher Education, Semiconductors and Space.
HB 500 includes up to $1.3 billion for the Texas University Fund contingent on up to two additional higher education institutions qualifying for research funding from the TUF. That would ensure the research fund approved by voters in 2023 is stable for when those institutions meet the thresholds necessary to receive distributions.
The bill makes other key investments in research and postsecondary programming, including $89.5 million for full funding of newly implemented outcomes-based community college formulas, $250 million in contingent funding for the Semiconductor Innovation Fund, and $300 million to the Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund.
IT Modernization and Cybersecurity Enhancements.
As the threat of cyber attacks expands and the need for information technology services grows and becomes more complex, state government needs to have the necessary tools to carry out its role. HB 500 includes:
- $723.9 million for “high-risk” information technology projects
- $10 million for regional security operations centers, as well as funds for sensitive compartmented information facility construction.
These investments will help build the robust and efficient state digital infrastructure needed to deliver services to Texans while protecting state-held data against cyber attacks.
A number of other initiatives supported by Texas 2036 are included (or are anticipated to be included) in the Senate committee substitute to HB 500 — notably for heat mitigation at TDCJ facilities — but we expect to learn more specifics when we see the text of the legislation. But from what we understand so far, HB 500’s funding decisions promote sustainable long-term growth and stability for the state while avoiding long-term fiscal harm.
Stay tuned for what we learn as lawmakers finalize decisions on this legislation as well as on Senate Bill 1.