The Texas Public Policy Foundation applauds the Texas Senate for passing a responsible state budget in SB 1 for the 2022-23 biennium which provides for necessary state functions, but does not grow beyond the average taxpayer’s ability to pay. Total spending in the bill comes in well below TPPF’s formula for the Conservative Texas Budget and contains critical property tax relief. The budget will now go over to the House. 

 TPPF Chief Economist Vance Ginn released the following statement: 

 “TPPF appreciates the work of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Madam Chair Jane Nelson, and the members of the Finance Committee who committed early to a bipartisan effort to keep spending down. It demonstrates tremendous respect to taxpayers, as well as everything the state economy and families have gone through the last year. The budget protects last session’s hard-fought property tax relief, doesn’t include any backdoor tax increases, grows less than the fiscally responsible formula of population growth plus inflation, all while leaving the Rainy Day Fund untouched. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Madam Chair Nelson, and the Texas Senate have done an exemplary job of keeping Texas on sturdy financial footing that helped during the last year and will over the next biennium.”   

The Details:   

  • As passed, the 2022-23 Senate budget appropriates $244.7 billion, excluding property tax relief, coming in $2.1 billion less than TPPF’s proposed Conservative Texas Budget. 
  • The budget maintains $6 billion in property tax relief passed last session. 
  • The budget passed unanimously out of the Senate Finance Committee and the full Senate