Legislative Services

The Senate Finance Committee adopted its markup of Senate Bill 1, the Senate’s version of the general appropriations act for the 2026-27 biennium, voting on March 19 to send the Committee Substitute for SB 1 (CSSB 1) to the full Senate for consideration. According to Chair Joan Huffman (R-Houston), CSSB 1 will be heard by the Senate on March 25. Substantive floor amendments are not expected.

A summary of CSSB 1 is available online. We are working on a spreadsheet highlighting items of interest to counties.

Meanwhile, here are selected CSSB1 funding items of interest to Texas counties:

Fiscal Programs – Comptroller of Public Accounts

• Disabled Veteran Assistance Payments. The Senate Finance Committee did not provide $50.4 million in additional funding for Disabled Veterans Assistance Payments to local governments disproportionately affected by ad valorem tax relief to disabled veterans to offset lost tax revenue.
• County Law Enforcement Grants. Funding for the law enforcement grant program continues at $330.8 million. The committee added language to a rider, requiring additional grants in the amount of $100,000 to sheriff’s offices in counties with populations of more than 7,500, but less than 10,000. The grants may only be used to:
  • Provide pay raises to county sheriffs, deputies and jailers.
  • Hire additional deputies or staff.
  • Purchase vehicles, firearms and safety equipment.

Governor’s Trusteed Programs

• Peace Officer Mental Health Program. The committee allocated an additional $3 million above amounts in SB 1, as introduced, for Peace Officer Mental Health Program. This doubles the funding allocation for mental health program for law enforcement from $3 million to $6 million.

Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC)

• Increased Mental Health Bed Capacity. The committee provides $78.8 million as a placeholder to fund operations at mental health facilities with construction or expansion projects funded by SB 30, 88th Legislature, 2023. This provides a $770/per day rate at Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center in Houston and a 5% rate increase for operating existing and new beds throughout the state hospital system.
• Montgomery County Mental Health Treatment Facility (new rider). An intent rider was added authorizing HHSC to contract for competency restoration beds at the Montgomery County Mental Health Treatment facility to reimburse Montgomery County for administrative fees related to the new facility, including bond debt.
• Rural Hospital Grant Program. The committee increased funding for rural hospital grants from $50 million to $75 million.
• Cost-Containment. A new intent rider requires HHSC to achieve savings of at least $1.1 billion in general revenue funds during the 2026-27 biennium by eliminating or preventing fraud, waste and abuse; maximizing federal flexibility under the Medicaid program; efficiencies, both program-related and administrative; and savings from service that include emergency telemedicine services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Office of Court Administration

• Contingency Appropriation for SB 9. Huffman sponsored a rider appropriating $4.4 million to implement the provisions of SB 9, this session’s bail reform bill and a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The rider provides state funding for counties to integrate with the Public Safety Reporting System and OCA’s case management system. SB 9 potentially impacts county jail costs, since it limits the release of certain defendants on bail.
• Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC). The committee added $9.9 million to address the revenue shortfall in the dedicated Fair Defense Account No. 5073. This account is the primary funding source for grants to counties for indigent defense services. Statewide, counties bear roughly 90% of the cost of indigent defense. The committee increased funding for indigent defense (including administrative as well as grant costs) to a total of $155.1 million in All Funds – up from $145.2 million in SB 1 as filed. This is still short of the $165.4 million in state spending for indigent defense in the current two-year budget. In addition:
  • The committee added $8.8 million to create new public defender offices and provide additional improvement grants to counties. TIDC requested $35 million for this purpose. SB 1 as filed included an allocation for rural regional public defender sustainability grants to establish and operate a public defender office to serve Wharton and Matagorda counties. The committee added language requiring full funding of approved costs for the first year of the program, and funding for two-thirds of eligible costs thereafter.
  • The committee did not add funding to reimburse counties for providing legal representation for children and indigent parents in Child Protective Services cases. TIDC requested $47.5 million in initial funding for the family representation program.
  • Likewise, the committee did not fund the TIDC’s $8.9 million request for an Attorney Pipeline Program. Instead, the committee added $4.5 million for the pipeline program to Article XI. Article XI is the so-called wish list article, where budget-writers place items worthy of funding, if additional funds become available, but are not a budget priority.
  • Finally, the committee added a rider prohibiting the use of TIDC grants to public defender offices to directly or indirectly fund appellate proceedings.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ)

• Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD). The committee added $46.4 million to maintain current service levels for CSCD operated facilities and substance treatment programs. The CSCDs will receive an additional $8.1 million in funding for misdemeanor placements in SB 1, as substituted.

Texas Juvenile Justice Department

• One-time funding for Juvenile Probation Department (JPD) Detention Centers. The committee added $15 million to update 20-25 local detention centers and retrofit or build 32 additional beds at local centers. This amount represents half of TJJD’s request. An intent rider directs TJJD to use the funding to increase capacity at local JPDs.

Texas Department of Transportation

• The committee placed $250 million for the County Transportation Infrastructure Fund (CTIF) in Article XI, the wish-list article. If approved, this would have been the third round of funding for the CTIF program. Energy exploration and production throughout the state accelerated damage to county roads due to increased traffic and heavier trucks. The CTIF offsets the cost of repairs and maintenance due to oil and gas production on county road and bridge budgets.

For more information about this article, please contact Zelma Smith.