TWC Requesting $25M+ for Projects With IT Components

The Texas Workforce Commission’s (TWC) 2026-27 legislative appropriations request (LAR) lists multiple requests for IT-related spending including about $11 million over the biennium for unemployment insurance data center consolidation.

This project is in process and includes mainframe computing hosted through the Department of Information Resources (DIR). The TWC has $5.7 million appropriated for this year’s work and is asking for $5.4 and $5.5 million, respectively, for 2026 and 2027.

Although the data center funds aren’t listed as the agency’s top priority, they are the largest sum due to a drop in federal funding.

Unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and taxes are hosted in the system, and its yearly stats include:

• 700,000 claimants
• 800,000 claims processed
• $2.9 billion in benefits
• 670,000 employer accounts
• 2.6 million wage reports
• 63.7 million wage records

The agency is also asking for network modernization after an assessment pinpointed ways the agency could improve its cybersecurity posture. A $4.2 million allocation would update IRS compliance, and goods and services will be purchased through DIR contracts.

Additional requests include:

• $3.3 million for unemployment identification fraud detection and deterrence
• $3.2 million for cybersecurity
• $2.6 million for the Unemployment Insurance State Information Data Exchange System (UI SIDES)
• $1 million to build an internal vocational rehabilitation resources web guide
• $500,000 each for a business application and a workforce application

Agency LARs are one step in the biennial budget process and include regularly expected funding but also exceptional requests, such as long-term IT projects.