Live Updates: Texas House takes up the 2026-27 budget

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas House of Representatives is currently discussing Senate Bill 1 - the 2026-27 general appropriations bill - and House Bill 500 - the supplemental appropriations bill. Combined, both measures will blueprint how the state spends its money (including its $24 billion surplus) in the next two years.

Entering the day Thursday, there were 393 pre-filed amendments to the budget, with more to be filed during the session.

“The members will be spending a lot of these amendments and debating the merits of it through the day,” Rahul Sreenivasan, Director of Government Performance and Fiscal Policy with Texas 2036, said. “Members are prepared for a long day, historically, they’ve gone late into the night.”

Throughout the day, Nexstar's Adam Schwager will update this article with the latest information from the State Capitol. Check back for updates.

Texas Lottery Zeroed Out -- 1:54 p.m.

At around 1:15, the House started to get to work. They started to work their way through the pre-filed bill packet.

As the Texas House started to discuss an amendment, it was stricken on a point of order because the funds would've been moved from the Trusted Programs within the Office of the Governor. Further examination of the amendment which defunded that program also showed funding completely removed from the Texas Lottery operations and from the Texas Lottery's charitable bingo operations. This comes at a time of uncertainty for the Lottery Commission, as the agency is under Sunset Review amidst a slew a controversies. If the Texas legislature does not pass a Sunset bill, the agency would cease to exist at the end of the session.

State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, confirmed the amendment defunded the lottery. When asked if that was the intent, she said she didn't know.

Also of note, an amendment by Howard moved $650,000 to the University of Texas at Austin to conduct a 10-year study on the prevalence of sexual assault within the state.

Budget Layout -- 12:31 p.m.

After a slew of resolutions and recognitions, the Texas House stood at ease to go over the amendments filed on the budget. Speaker Dustin Burrows set a 10:45 time to reconvene, and the House took nearly two hours to return to business, as many Representatives spent time trying to rally support for their proposed amendments.

A little before 12:30, Burrows called the House back to order and handed off the layout of SB 1 to House Appropriations Chairman Greg Bonnen. Bonnen laid out the heart of the Texas budget, reminding members that the Texas government does not deficit spend, unlike the federal government.

He highlighted several aspects of the 2026-27 budget, including increased spending for public education, border security, and property tax relief. Other highlights from the budget included increased judicial salaries, increased funding for law enforcement officers, and energy investments.

During the SB 1 bill layout, House staff were distributing new proposed amendments to members of the House.