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DPS finance chief previews $4.4B biennial budget, 400 new positions and program funding from Legislature
Summary
Chief Financial Officer Susan Whittington summarized legislative appropriations and supplemental funding for DPS, including 400 new law‑enforcement positions, technology investments, vehicles and new responsibilities such as Alamo security.
Chief Financial Officer Susan Whittington briefed the commission on the agency’s proposed appropriations and supplemental funding from the 80th Legislature.
Why it matters: Whittington said the new funding package increases DPS capacity across law enforcement, driver license services, lab infrastructure and facility maintenance, and it assigns new operational responsibilities that require staffing and resources.
Key items Whittington cited: the combined appropriations in the general appropriations bill and a supplemental bill would add roughly 400 new positions across law‑enforcement divisions (including 95 support positions), fund a cold‑case team with six Rangers and 46 lab positions, and provide $16 million for merit and retention pay for noncommissioned staff. IT funding includes remote driver‑license issuance and a document portal, accounts payable and content management systems, and infrastructure to harden networks and data. Aircraft funding listed six replacement helicopters and one additional fixed‑wing aircraft plus maintenance funds; vehicle budget authority was increased to $138 million to reduce fleet mileage. Driver license staffing increases included roughly 399 additional issuing staff and 130 call‑center staff. The bills also included funding for an in‑car camera system for black‑and‑white vehicles and a standard body‑worn camera solution for commission personnel, and an augmented deferred‑maintenance allocation (about $20 million) for 291 state‑owned buildings.
Whittington also summarized items the Legislature added that were not part of DPS’s original request: the department was directed to assume security at the Alamo (funded with 67 state troopers and 20 security guards), $10 million for the Texas Ranger Museum expansion in Waco and accompanying office space, driver license offices in Brenham and Hays County, and expanded safe‑gun storage and safety education funding ($1.5M and $2M respectively). Individual bills included House Bill 48 (an oil‑field theft prevention unit), Senate Bill 36 (establishing a Homeland Security Division with 19 FTEs and $4.6M) and Senate Bill 1723 (a rapid‑DNA pilot with $5.1M).
Whittington said the bills included riders allowing certain unspent funds to be carried forward for projects such as the licensing system and continued funding for driver license offices in Katy and League City and for the Montgomery County training facility. She also noted an increase in education and certification stipends (raising the combined maximum stipend from $2,400 to $8,400 annually for eligible officers) and said DPS headcount authority will rise from about 11,713 to over 13,000 employees; the biennial budget was projected to exceed $4.4 billion if enacted as described.
Commissioners asked technical questions about a particular Brenham driver license office and whether the appropriation would fund a new building versus repair; Whittington said a new full driver license and highway patrol office appeared likely because repair costs made renovation impractical based on current estimates.
Whittington closed by saying staff would provide more detail as funding was finalized and when bills receive the governor’s signature.
