State Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar this week certified the general appropriations act approved by both houses during the 88th Texas Legislature’s regular session. It now awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature.
At $323.3 billion overall, multiple modernization projects are included for agencies, alongside regular spending such as PC refreshes, state data center costs and additional IT staff.
Funding highlights for FY2024 include:
- Comptroller of Public Accounts: $48.4 million, ProjectONE/Centralized Accounting and Payroll/Personnel System (CAPPS)
- Juvenile Justice System: $1.6 million, body-worn cameras
- Office of the Attorney General: $27.3 million, legacy modernization
- Parks and Wildlife Department: $2.4 million, Boat Registration and Information Titling System (BRITS)
- Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation: $33 million, licensing modernization
The agency with the largest IT budget is the Health and Human Services Commission, with some 1,100 IT employees supporting hundreds of applications serving more than 9 million Texans. The agency continues to replace and update systems and has been in that process for multiple years. The agency also received funding to support the Medicaid wind-down, which will require extra staffing, outreach and technology. The wind-down came with the federal government announcing an end to the pandemic response at the end of March.
There are more than 150 state agencies, and they begin each budget planning process the year prior to the Legislature’s budget deliberations. During that time, agencies produce strategic plans, submit legislative appropriations requests (LARs), submit exceptional items requests and give committee testimony when requested.
This budget process saw a record-breaking influx of tax dollars leading to a $32.7 billion surplus, announced in May. When SB1 arrives at the governor’s desk, he may sign it or veto line items before June 18, according to The Texas Tribune.
