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    Legislative Services

    County Issues Newsletter | February 2022

    News Article | February 24, 2022

    Final State Budget for the 2022-23 Biennium Tops $251.5 billion

    County News | Legislative News
    Legislative Services

    Earlier this month, the Texas Legislative Budget Board released final state budget totals for the biennium that began Sept. 1. The totals now include the effect of all the bills appropriating funds during the regular and three special sessions of the 87th Legislature. Appropriating bills include:

    • SB 1 by Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound), the general appropriations act for the 2022-23 biennium.
    • HB 2 by Rep. Greg Bonnen (R-Friendswood), the supplemental appropriations bill for the 2020-21 state budget.
    • HB 5 by Rep. Bonnen, the appropriations bill restoring the 2022-23 appropriations for the legislative branch of government and other funding, passed during the second special session.
    • HB 9 by Rep. Bonnen, the border security appropriations bill, passed during the second special session.
    • SB 8 by Sen. Nelson appropriates $13.8 billion of funds available through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), passed during the third special session.

    The 2022-23 state budget totals $251.5 billion in All Funds, an $18.9 billion or 7% decrease from 2020-21 spending levels. Adding the $13.3 billion in ARPA appropriations increases the 2022-23 budget to $264.8 billion – a $5.5 billion or 2% decrease from 2020-21 spending.

    For General Revenue Funds, the state’s version of a county’s general operating fund, there is a budgeted increase of $6.9 billion or 6.1% (see the tables below). The 2022-23 state budget includes an additional article, Article XII, which appropriates the state allocation of ARPA funds by agency. Article XII was last used in the 2010-11 state budget to capture the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act appropriations for Texas. Typically, the state budget includes 10 articles in which state agency budgets are grouped by functional category. See each article or functional category in the tables below.

    Funding by Article, All Funds (in millions) Estimated/ Budgeted 2020-2021 Appropriated 2022-2023 Biennial Change % Change
    ARTICLE I - General Government
    $
    9,605.0
    $
    8,476.4
    $
    (1,128.6)
    -11.8%
    ARTICLE II - Health and Human Services
    $
    97,441.5
    $
    86,970.3
    $
    (10,471.2)
    -10.7%
    ARTICLE III - Agencies of Education
    $
    95,697.4
    $
    96,053.4
    $
    356.0
    0.4%
    ARTICLE IV - The Judiciary
    $
    986.5
    $
    971.7
    $
    (14.8)
    -1.5%
    ARTICLE V - Public Safety and Criminal Justice
    $
    13,722.8
    $
    13,509.6
    $
    (213.1)
    -1.6%
    ARTICLE VI - Natural Resources
    $
    11,691.5
    $
    7,816.0
    $
    (3,875.5)
    -33.1%
    ARTICLE VII - Business and Economic Development
    $
    40,067.1
    $
    36,547.9
    $
    (3,519.2)
    -8.8%
    ARTICLE VIII - Regulatory
    $
    720.6
    $
    734.0
    $
    13.4
    1.9%
    ARTICLE IX - General Provisions
    $
    -
    $
    -
    $
    -
    N/A
    ARTICLE X - The Legislature
    $
    408.2
    $
    410.4
    $
    2.2
    0.5%
    Total, Articles I-X
    $
    270,340.5
    $
    251,489.8
    $
    (18,850.7)
    -7.0%
    ARTICLE XII - American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
    $
    -
    $
    13,314.9
    N/A N/A
    GRAND TOTAL, All Funds
    $
    270,340.5
    $
    264,804.7
    $
    (5,535.8)
    -2.0%

    Source: Legislative Budget Board

    Funding by Article, General Revenue Funds (in millions) Estimated/ Budgeted 2020-2021 Appropriated 2022-2023 Biennial Change % Change
    ARTICLE I - General Government
    $
    5,125.0
    $
    5,594.2
    $
    469.2
    9.2%
    ARTICLE II - Health and Human Services
    $
    32,768.0
    $
    34,447.2
    $
    1,679.2
    5.1%
    ARTICLE III - Agencies of Education
    $
    60,640.0
    $
    64,033.9
    $
    3,393.9
    5.6%
    ARTICLE IV - The Judiciary
    $
    553.8
    $
    593.1
    $
    39.3
    7.1%
    ARTICLE V - Public Safety and Criminal Justice
    $
    10,932.9
    $
    11,969.5
    $
    1,036.7
    9.5%
    ARTICLE VI - Natural Resources
    $
    948.8
    $
    1,308.2
    $
    359.4
    37.9%
    ARTICLE VII - Business and Economic Development
    $
    520.9
    $
    490.7
    $
    (30.2)
    -5.8%
    ARTICLE VIII - Regulatory
    $
    370.7
    $
    307.2
    $
    (63.5)
    -17.1%
    ARTICLE IX - General Provisions
    $
    -
    $
    -
    $
    -
    N/A
    ARTICLE X - The Legislature
    $
    408.1
    $
    410.2
    $
    2.1
    0.5%
    Total, All Articles
    $
    112,268.1
    $
    119,154.1
    $
    6,886.1
    6.1%

    Source: Legislative Budget Board

    The following high-level summary of appropriations for the 2022-23 biennium and the General Appropriations Act for the 2022-23 biennium are available from the Legislative Budget Board.

    You can find a version of Legislative Services' worksheet listing items of interest to counties in the state budget that reflects these updates online.

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