Spending in the proposed 2026-27 Texas budget is very Democrat friendly. Fifty-seven of the 62 Democrats in the Texas House voted for the budget; all 11 Democrats in the Texas Senate voted for it.

And why shouldn’t they? In the Legislature’s 2026-27 proposed budget, state funds appropriations (excluding federal funds) rise by 8.2% from the 2024-25 biennium and nearly 43% compared to the 2022–23 biennium—well above the increase of population growth plus inflation. This runaway growth in the Texas budget did not happen by accident; the budget was developed with significant input from Democrats.

For instance, the vice chair of the Texas House Appropriations Committee is a Democrat, as are two subcommittee chairs and two subcommittee vice chairs. When the budget was debated on the House floor, the second amendment adopted was a Democrat-authored amendment that killed over a hundred conservative amendments without debate, including proposals to defund DEI programs, stop gender indoctrination, and cut corporate welfare. Only one Democrat voted against the amendment.

The end result of the Democrat involvement in the budget process is that Texas government is about to get bigger—much bigger. Medicaid spending will increase by $2.4 billion. Local governments will continue to grow because there is little meaningful property tax relief in the budget. Teachers unions, a key Democrat constituency, has managed to increase k-12 spending by about $11 billion, meaning more administrators and more teachers without any meaningful improvement in the quality of education.

As Democrat Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) noted,

“I just want to emphasize, members, you have an opportunity today to cast a vote for the largest investment in public education in the history of our state, and so we will continue this process as this body returns session after session to make sure the resources are there for our schools.”

– Rep. James Talarico

The Texas budget will never be a budget for Texas taxpayers as long as Democrats are allowed to play such a major role in its development in both the Texas Senate and Texas House. Until this changes, Republicans should vote no on the budget.

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