THECB staff report legislative session, budget status; financial aid funding splits between House and Senate

THECB staff provided an update on the 88th Texas Legislative Session and the budget process at the agency operations committee meeting on April 23, 2025.

Glenn Broome, assistant commissioner for public affairs, told the committee there were "6 remaining Fridays, which equates to 39 days left until sign die." Broome said THECB staff and leadership have been active in hearings and meetings and that agency subject‑matter experts have testified in House and Senate higher‑education committees.

Broome highlighted several bills and initiatives THECB is tracking or supporting. He referenced Chairman Van Heever’s HB 2110 (companion to SB 1786) as a cleanup bill that "aligns with our definition of credentials of value and further strengthens our formula." He also noted HB 4909, which scales My Texas Future and direct admissions (My Texas Future houses direct admissions tools), reporting that "today, there are more than 370,000 active users on My Texas Future and direct admissions ... we've had 9,850 students benefiting from that technology." Broome also referenced HB 4912, which would waive application fees on ApplyTexas for Texas students.

Sarah Keaton, deputy commissioner for administration and budget lead in the session update, said the budget process has progressed through both chambers and that conference committee work had begun. Keaton explained THECB had three exceptional item requests: two were fully funded in both the House and Senate as introduced (technology modernization/IT and cybersecurity, and funding to address a backlog in a research program referenced in materials), and the third—additional financial aid funding—was included in full in the House and at half of the requested amount in the Senate, where it was placed in Article 11, a holding area for items identified by the Senate as priorities but not fully funded pending conference committee deliberations. Keaton said, "Going into conference, I think we are in a good position, to get strong support for that financial aid moving into conference."

Keaton also said the House and Senate approaches largely preserved level formula funding for general academic and health‑related institutions but that neither chamber included institutional enhancement funding, a significant source of support institutions use for various purposes. THECB will continue tracking contingency riders in conference committee that could have fiscal impacts on agency programs.

The committee did not take action on legislative matters during the meeting; the update was informational.

Provenance

The legislative update is recorded in the committee transcript and materials for the April 23 meeting.