Comptroller’s Revenue Forecast for 88th Texas Legislature:
- The legislature has a $32.7 billion budget surplus.
- The State is projected to have a record $188.2 billion in revenue available for general-purpose spending during the 2024-25 biennium, a 26.3 percent increase from the 2022-23 biennium.
- The legislature is expected to have an all-time high balance of $27.1 billion by the end of the 2024-25 biennium.
- This is more money than the legislature has ever had available to spend.
(source: Carl Richie, Jr., Esq., (Austin) presentation to Dr. Molly Beth Malcolm’s class Educational Politics and Policy, Executive Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership, University of Texas – Austin (January 25, 2023))
Per Carl Richie (my co-presenter, UTX-Austin 01252023), Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar recommends specifically six areas of spending for above monies, including the development of a skilled trade workforce. In my last post, I noted that,
Educationally, Texas aspires to lead the USA, “By Building a Talent Strong Texas, our state will play a leading and unprecedented national role in prioritizing credentials of value.” (Emphasis mine) Building a Talent Strong Texas (2022)
As students shift away from “The most-regretted (and lowest-paying) college majors,” Texas’ money, resolve, and aspirations for influencing public educational institutions – in Texas and nationally – portend well for graduates, for taxpayers clawing back from the academy what is taught in state institutions, and for the economic and social welfare of subscribing states.