We know back-to-school season is busy! If you missed our first Elevate & Advocate updates, take a moment to catch up on our Inside the Texas Legislature series.

Each edition is designed to build your understanding of the legislative process—helping you become more familiar with how bills move, where decisions are made, and how school counselors can effectively engage and advocate along the way.

CATCH UP ON THE SERIES

The State Budget — The Most Important Bill Passed Every Session

Every legislative session, thousands of bills are filed proposing new programs, changing state law, and addressing issues important to Texans. But there is one piece of legislation lawmakers must pass: the state budget.

The General Appropriations Act determines how Texas will spend state and federal dollars over the next two-year budget cycle, or biennium. It funds everything from public schools and healthcare to public safety, natural resources, regulatory agencies, and the basic operations of state government.

And while policy debates often generate the headlines, the budget determines whether many of those policies can actually become reality.

THE BOTTOM LINE

In Texas, policy without funding is often just an idea.

Texas Budgets Two Years at a Time

Texas operates on a biennial budget. That means the Legislature generally makes spending decisions for the next two fiscal years during each regular legislative session.

But the budget process does not begin when lawmakers arrive at the Capitol. State agencies prepare Legislative Appropriations Requests (LARs) that identify base funding needs and requests above the base budget, commonly called Exceptional Items. Exceptional Items may include additional or new spending, capital needs, or restoration of funding.

Where Does the Money Come From?

The state budget uses several Methods of Finance. The Budget Primer identifies the major sources as:

• General Revenue - state funds available for appropriation.
• General Revenue-Dedicated Funds - state revenues dedicated for particular purposes.
• Federal Funds - federal dollars available for eligible state programs and activities.
• Other Receipts and Funds - other sources available to agencies and programs.

The source matters because not every dollar can be used in the same way.

How the Budget Moves Through the Legislature

The Legislative Budget Board: Building the Starting Point

The Legislative Budget Board (LBB) develops recommendations that form the base bill and starting point for legislative budget deliberations. The base bill considers agency requests and state needs, but it is only the beginning of the process.

House Appropriations and Senate Finance

Each chamber begins with its respective version of the budget. The House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee review agency funding and make changes through the budget 'markup' process.

After committee work, each chamber debates and passes its version of the General Appropriations Act.

Two Chambers. Two Budgets. One Final Bill.

The House and Senate versions are not always identical. A Conference Committee reconciles differences between the two chambers and produces the final budget proposal for consideration by both chambers.

A program or priority may receive funding in one chamber's version and not the other. That makes conference negotiations one of the most consequential stages of the budget process.

The Budget Is More Than Numbers

The Texas budget is organized into 12 Articles. Major policy areas include General Government, Health and Human Services, Education, Judiciary, Public Safety and Criminal Justice, Natural Resources, Economic Development, Regulatory agencies, and general provisions.

Within those Articles are methods of finance, full-time-equivalent positions, goals and strategies, objects of expense, riders, contingency riders, and performance measures.

Why Funding Decisions Drive Policy

Passing legislation and funding legislation are two different things. A new program, expanded service, or additional agency responsibility may still depend on whether lawmakers provide the resources necessary to implement it.

That is why experienced advocates follow both the policy bill and the appropriations process. Sometimes the most consequential question at the Capitol is not, 'Did the bill pass?' It is: 'Did they fund it?'

Why This Matters

The Budget Primer identifies multiple points where stakeholders can influence the process: agency LARs, different stages of legislative budget development, Exceptional Items, riders, and efforts to restore funding. Understanding when those decisions are made is essential to effective advocacy.

The dollar amount is only part of the story. Next, we look at how riders and other budget language can direct agency spending, outcomes, collaboration, administration, and reporting.

Riders, Appropriations, and the Power of Budget Language

When most people think about the state budget, they think about numbers. But some of the most important decisions in the budget are not numbers at all. They are words.

Those words often appear in provisions known as riders, and understanding riders is essential to understanding how the Texas Legislature uses the budget to influence state government.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The appropriation tells an agency how much it can spend.The rider can tell the agency what the Legislature expects in return.

Understanding Appropriations & Riders

Understanding how legislation is developed and filed helps stakeholders engage more effectively in the policymaking process.

Successful legislation often begins long before a bill number is assigned. Building relationships, educating lawmakers, and developing solutions during the interim frequently lays the groundwork for success once session begins.

What Is an Appropriation?

An appropriation is legislative authorization for a state agency or institution to spend money for a particular purpose. The budget organizes funding by agencies, methods of finance, staffing, goals and strategies, objects of expense, performance measures, and other provisions.

In other words, lawmakers decide not only how much funding is available, but also how that funding is structured.

What Is a Rider?

A rider is language included in the General Appropriations Act that provides direction related to appropriated funds. The Budget Primer describes riders as a way to provide direction to an agency on spending, outcomes, collaboration, and administration.

A rider can address:

• How certain appropriated funds are used.
• Expected outcomes or reporting.
• Collaboration or coordination.
• Program administration.
• The use of existing funds or newly appropriated dollars.
• Grants or additional federal or other funds.

Why Are Riders Important?

The appropriation provides the money. The rider provides direction associated with that money. For stakeholders, riders can therefore be important tools for clarifying legislative expectations and obtaining information about how an agency carries out funded activities.

Contingency Riders

The Budget Primer also identifies contingency riders as a feature of the budget. These provisions can connect budget authority or funding to another legislative action or condition, linking the policy and appropriations processes.

Beyond the Base Budget

Exceptional Items: Asking for More

Exceptional Items are requests beyond an agency's base budget. According to the Budget Primer, they may include additional spending, new spending, capital budget needs, or restoration of funds.

For stakeholders, Exceptional Items can provide an early look at where agencies are seeking additional resources before the Legislature makes final funding decisions.

Article XI: The 'Wish List'

The Budget Primer identifies Article XI as the budget's 'Wish List.' Items placed there remain part of the budget conversation but are not the same as receiving final funding. They may continue to be considered as negotiations move forward.

Why Stakeholders Follow Budget Language

Following the budget requires more than checking whether a dollar amount increased or decreased. Stakeholders also watch riders, Exceptional Items, contingency riders, performance measures, agency strategies, and conference decisions.

Sometimes a few lines of budget language can be just as important to implementation as the dollar amount attached to a program.

READ THE LANGUAGE UNDERNEATH IT

Experienced advocates do not stop at the appropriation amount. They examine the riders and other instructions that shape how the money may be used.

Why This Matters

The Texas budget is more than a spending document. It is also a mechanism through which the Legislature provides direction on spending, outcomes, collaboration, administration, and accountability.

That is why understanding appropriations language matters: sometimes the most important policy direction is found not only in statute, but in the budget itself.

Want to see the Texas budget process in action?

Take a few minutes to watch Following the Money and connect the pieces—from appropriations and funding decisions to the budget language that can ultimately shape policy and implementation.

Watch Video!

Ready to Dig Deeper?

Understanding the budget process helps advocates recognize when, where, and how funding decisions are made. Keep the Texas Budget Primer as a quick-reference resource for navigating the budget cycle, appropriations process, riders, Exceptional Items, and opportunities for stakeholder influence.

VIEW THE TEXAS BUDGET PRIMER

What School Counselors Should Know

Effective advocacy doesn't stop when a bill passes. A policy may establish a new program, service, or responsibility—but implementation can still depend on whether lawmakers provide the resources to support it.

As school counselor advocates, we must learn to ask two questions:

Did the policy pass?

Did they fund it?

Understanding both sides of the legislative process helps us advocate more strategically for the students, schools, and communities we serve.

Every law in Texas starts as an idea.

That idea may come from a legislator, constituent, state agency, advocacy organization, business, local government, or stakeholder group seeking to address a problem or improve public policy. Turning that idea into legislation, however, requires a formal process. Understanding how a bill is developed and filed provides valuable insight into how policy begins its journey through the Texas Legislature.

WHERE DO BILLS COME FROM?

Bills are often the result of:

Legislators frequently meet with stakeholders during the interim to discuss policy ideas and identify potential legislative solutions.

DRAFTING THE BILL

Only members of the Texas House or Senate can formally file legislation. Once a legislator decides to move forward with a proposal, they work with the Texas Legislative Council, a nonpartisan legislative drafting agency, to prepare bill language.

The drafting process includes:

Many bills undergo multiple revisions before being filed.

PRE-FILING AND FILING

In Texas, legislators may begin pre-filing bills before the legislative session officially begins.

Pre-filing allows lawmakers to:

Once session begins, thousands of bills are filed over a relatively short period of time.

During a typical legislative session, more than 7,000 bills may be introduced, but only a fraction ultimately become law.

MORE THAN ONE AUTHOR

Many bills have:

Securing support from multiple legislators often helps demonstrate broader interest in an issue and can increase momentum for legislation.

oped and filed helps stakeholders engage more effectively in the policymaking process.

Successful legislation often begins long before a bill number is assigned. Building relationships, educating lawmakers, and developing solutions during the interim frequently lays the groundwork for success once session begins.

WHY TIMING MATTERS

The legislative process moves quickly once session begins.

Bills filed early often have a greater opportunity to:

Waiting until late in the session can make it difficult for legislation to meet critical deadlines. This is why many stakeholders spend months preparing legislation before lawmakers ever gavel into session.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Understanding how legislation is developed and filed helps stakeholders engage more effectively in the policymaking process.

Successful legislation often begins long before a bill number is assigned. Building relationships, educating lawmakers, and developing solutions during the interim frequently lays the groundwork for success once session begins.

Most legislation never reaches the House or Senate floor. Now let us explore the committee process and why committees are often considered the most important stop in the legislative journey.

Once a bill is filed, its fate is largely determined by a group of legislators that many Texans never hear about: legislative committees.

While floor debates often receive the most public attention, committees are where the majority of legislative work takes place. In fact, most bills never make it beyond this stage of the process.

Understanding committees is essential to understanding how the Texas Legislature works.

WHAT IS A COMMITTEE?

Committees are smaller groups of legislators assigned to focus on specific policy areas.

Examples include:

Committees allow legislators to develop expertise and conduct detailed reviews of legislation before it reaches the full chamber.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A BILL IS FILED?

After a bill is filed, it is referred to a committee by the Speaker of the House or the Lieutenant Governor, depending on the chamber in which it was introduced.

The committee then decides whether to:

A bill that never receives a hearing often has little chance of advancing.

WHY COMMITTEE CHAIRS MATTER

Committee Chairs are among the most influential members of the Legislature.

Chairs help determine:

Because of this authority, many advocates spend significant time educating committee members and chairs about issues before and during session.

PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Committee hearings provide an opportunity for Texans to participate directly in the legislative process.

Individuals may:

Committee testimony often provides lawmakers with valuable information about how legislation may affect communities, businesses, schools, healthcare providers, and taxpayers.

COMMITTEE ACTION

After hearing testimony and debating a proposal, a committee may:

Vote the bill favorably and advance it

• Amend the bill
• Leave the bill pending for future consideration
• Take no action

Many bills are left pending and never move forward.

This reality is why committees are often described as the place where legislation "lives or dies."

WHY COMMITTEES MATTER

Committees serve as the Legislature's primary fact-finding and policy-review mechanism.

They provide lawmakers with an opportunity to:

• Study legislation in detail
• Hear from stakeholders
• Evaluate fiscal impacts
• Identify unintended consequences

For advocates and organizations, committee engagement is often the most important part of the legislative process.

Successful advocacy is about more than securing votes on the House or Senate floor.

Understanding committee jurisdiction, building relationships with committee members, and providing timely information can significantly influence whether legislation advances through the process.

In many cases, the committee process determines the future of a bill long before it reaches a final vote.

Sign up to support advocacy efforts and share your voice.

Learn what issues matter most to Texas school counselors.

You can find more information about House Public Education and Senate Education Committees here:

House Public Education: https://house.texas.gov/committees/committee/400#jurisdiction

Senate Education:
https://senate.texas.gov/cmte.php?c=530

Every two years, lawmakers from across Texas gather at the State Capitol in Austin for 140 days to debate policy, pass laws, and determine how billions of state dollars will be spent. Decisions made during this short window shape everything from public education and healthcare to workforce development and public safety. Outside of session, committees continue studying issues through hearings, stakeholder meetings, and interim charges issued by legislative leadership.

The Texas Legislature is the lawmaking branch of Texas government and is made up of two chambers:

• Texas House of Representatives – 150 members
• Texas Senate – 31 members

This structure is known as a bicameral legislature, meaning legislation must pass both chambers before heading to the Governor for final approval.

Why Timing Matters

In Texas, strategy is closely tied to timing. A bill can gain momentum early, or miss a deadline and effectively die for the session. Budget decisions are often made months before final votes occur, which is why advocacy and stakeholder engagement often begin long before session starts.

Passing legislation in Texas is not simply about having a good idea—it is about understanding who controls the process, where decisions are made, and how political dynamics shape outcomes.

The Speaker of the House leads the Texas House and has significant influence over committee assignments, committee chairs, and the flow of legislation in the House.

The Lieutenant Governor presides over the Texas Senate and is widely considered one of the most powerful elected officials in Texas. The Lieutenant Governor determines committee assignments, names committee chairs, and helps shape the Senate agenda. Currently, Rep. Dustin Burrows leads the House, and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick presides over the Senate.

Dustin Burrows Speaker of the Texas House

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick Texas Senate

Committees Matter

Most legislation never reaches the House or Senate floor. Instead, bills are first referred to committees that specialize in areas such as education, healthcare, finance, and licensing. Committee chairs decide whether bills receive hearings and advance through the process.

Timing Equals Strategy

By the time the Legislature gavels into session, many policy conversations are already underway. Stakeholders who engage early on are often better positioned to shape legislation, funding requests, and committee priorities before the fast-paced legislative session begins.

For organizations and advocates, the interim is one of the most important periods to build relationships, present data, and influence policy discussions before bills are formally filed.

Here’s why they matter.

We are starting a new series about the Texas Legislature giving our members a consistent education series around all things involving the Texas Legislature, Texas Legislative Process, and much more.

Between legislative sessions, Texas doesn’t hit pause,it gets to work. The Lieutenant Governor of Texas and the Speaker of the Texas House issue interim charges to legislative committees, setting the agenda for what lawmakers study, question, and prepare for the next session.

Think of interim charges as the blueprint for what’s next. They direct committees to:

Over the interim, committees dive deep, holding hearings, gathering data, and taking input from experts and stakeholders across the state.

Then comes the payoff: committees release formal reports outlining key findings, recommendations, and often proposed legislation that will shape the next session.

And this is where your voice matters.

Interim charges open the door for advocacy organizations, professionals, and the public to weigh in through testimony, written comments, or electronic submissions. It’s a critical window to influence policy before bills are even filed.

That’s where LSSSCA steps in.

As the voice for Texas school counselors, LSSSCA is actively reviewing the interim charges identified by our advocacy team at Eric Wright & Associates. We’re pinpointing where to engage, where to lead, and how to ensure school counselors and the students they serve are part of the conversation.

Stay tuned. We’ll be sharing priority areas and opportunities to get involved. Keep an eye on our Advocacy page for updates.

THE BUDGET WRITERS

House Appropriations and Senate Finance – the budget writers for the Legislature.

House Appropriations is led by Chairman Greg Bonnen (R-Galveston) and Vice Chair, Mary Gonzalez (D-El Paso).

Chair Rep. Greg Bonnen (R-Galveston)

Vice Chair Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D-El Paso)

Senate Finance is chaired by Chair Joan Huffman (R-Houston) and Vice Chair Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen).

Chair Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston)

Vice Chair Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen)

During a legislative session, these budget writing committees break up into subcommittees/workgroups to take a deeper dive into each area of the state budget. For LSSSCA, Article III, Education is our priority subcommittee and workgroup.

You can find more information on House Appropriations and Senate Finance here:

House Appropriations – https://house.texas.gov/committees/committee/030

Senate Finance - https://senate.texas.gov/cmte.php?c=540

ALL THINGS EDUCATION

House Public Education and Senate Education are the primary committees with oversight over education policy, finance issues, school curriculum, school districts, Texas Education Agency, and State Board of Education.

House Public Education Committee is Chaired by Brad Buckley (R-Bell) and Vice Chair Diego Bernal (D-Bexar).

Chair Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Bell)

Vice Chair Rep. Diego Bernal (D-Bexar)

Senate Education Committee is Chaired by Donna Campbell (R-Bulverde) and Vice Chair Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston).

Chair Sen. Donna Campbell (R-Bulverde)

Vice Chair Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston)

You can find more information about House Public Education and Senate Education Committees here:

House Public Education: https://house.texas.gov/committees/committee/400#jurisdiction

Senate Education: https://senate.texas.gov/cmte.php?c=530

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As school counselors, our voices matter—and staying informed is one of the most powerful ways we can advocate for our profession and the students we serve. Through Elevate & Advocate, LSSSCA is committed to helping members better understand the legislative decisions shaping education across Texas while creating opportunities for meaningful engagement and advocacy. Together, we can stay informed, stay involved, and continue elevating the impact of school counseling across our state.

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