Next session, the Texas Legislature will, once again, have an opportunity to show its commitment to fiscal responsibility and protecting the family budget. If policymakers can restrain state spending growth to no more than population and inflation, then this will mark the fourth time since 2015 that state lawmakers have passed a Conservative Texas Budget. In a new report on the 2024-25 Conservative Texas Budget, the Texas Public Policy Foundation recommends that the Legislature adopt a budget at or below the gradual growth rate over the past two decades (12%) or something less. By spending only what we need, policymakers will be well-positioned to return the rest to taxpayers.
In addition, TPPF strongly recommends the legislature pass the largest property tax cut in Texas history.
“Since 2015, the Texas Legislature has passed four Conservative Texas Budgets. That’s impressive. But with the economy uncertain and inflation raging, we need lawmakers to step up once more and show the nation how to limit spending and deliver big-time tax relief,” said TPPF CEO Greg Sindelar.
Vance Ginn, Ph.D. and Daniel Sánchez-Piñol, Ph.D., note that the Texas Comptroller believes that there could be as much as $27 billion in general revenue surplus at the end of the current 2022–23 biennium. “Many demands will be made for these funds, including for public education, healthcare, transportation, and other areas,” they write. “But the priority should be to effectively limit” the state budget. “Texas should use most, if not all, of the resulting surplus to reduce the cost of living that is part of the affordability crisis.”
“The rise of property tax collections constitutes a growing burden on Texans, but these taxes could be cut substantially by restraining spending and using the surplus to reduce school district M&O property taxes to ultimately eliminate them over time,” they add.