The Legislative Budget Board, one of the agencies to whom all state agency budget planning is submitted, has published its list of 2024-2025 exceptional items requests for those with biennial appropriations above $40 million. Below are five of the agencies that are on the list, and Industry Insider — Texas will continue the list through the week.
Agencies and technology-related requests in this report include:
- Office of the Attorney General: Legal case modernization ($7.5 million) and agency mainframe decommissioning ($11.4 million).
- Department of Agriculture: New licensing system ($6 million) and IT resources ($850,000).
- Department of Criminal Justice: Computer replacement ($7.8 million), video surveillance system updates ($6.2 million), radio interoperability ($0.4 million), body-worn cameras ($23.9 million and cybersecurity enhancement ($1.1 million).
- Department of Public Safety: IT and cybersecurity ($60.1 million) and optimize crime lab activities ($23.3 million).
- Department of Family and Protective Services: Strengthen IT and data ($62.9 million).
Each biennial budget takes more than a year to develop, involving all the executive branch departments and agencies, as well as the governor, Legislature, the comptroller and the state auditor's office, according to The Texas Politics Project. The process begins during the spring of the year before the January opening of the biennial legislative session.
The budget planning process takes four phases:
- Planning and proposal.
- Legislative action.
- Review and approval by the comptroller and governor.
- Implementation and monitoring.
How do these stages work?
The Governor’s Office of Budget, Planning and Policy (GOBPP) and the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) issue instructions for developing strategic plans. Agencies submitted their plans before June 1.
During the summer, the LBB and GOBPP hold hearings with each agency to review its strategic plan and draft its legislative appropriations request (LAR), which forms the basis of the appropriations bill.
The finalized LARs were due in August, and copies should have been provided to the LBB, GOBPP, the state auditor and the state comptroller.
The LBB prepares the draft of the general appropriations bill in the fall.
Those processes will take us to January 2023.
The draft of the appropriations bill is filed in both houses of the Legislature, allowing each house to work on the bill simultaneously from January to May. The state comptroller provides the Legislature with a biennial revenue estimate shortly after the regular session begins in January to ensure that the Legislature does not violate the constitutional prohibition on appropriating more money than is expected to be collected.
The Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Appropriations, working separately, hear testimony from state agencies and others on the budget. After the bill passes out of these committees, it comes to the floor of each chamber for debate and, ultimately, approval.
The bill is referred to a conference committee composed of members of both houses to resolve differences. After the conference committee has agreed on a version of the appropriations bill, it sends the bill back to both houses for a final up-or-down vote (no amendment allowed).
If the appropriations bill is passed by both houses, it is sent to the comptroller for certification.
The Texas Constitution requires the comptroller to certify that there will be sufficient revenue to cover the appropriations made by the Legislature. If not, then cuts need to be made.
When the appropriations bill is certified, it goes to the governor for signing. The Texas Constitution gives the governor line-item veto authority. If an item in that bill is vetoed and the Legislature is still in session, the Legislature may override any vetoed line items by a two-thirds majority vote in each house.
The 88th Legislature convenes at noon, Jan. 10.
