Seal of Texas Texas

Texas has a constitutional appropriations limit under Article VIII Section 22 of the Texas Constitution. It was enacted in 1978 by legislative referendum and limits the growth of appropriations from “state tax revenues not dedicated by this constitution” exceed the estimated growth rate of the state economy as determined by the legislature. The legislature uses state personal income as a measure of state economic growth. This limitation does not apply to appropriations funded by motor fuel taxes, oil and natural gas production taxes, or non-tax revenues. This limit can be overridden by a majority vote in the legislature.

 
The base year represents the year the hypothetical Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) would have been enacted. Selecting a base year changes how the state’s TABOR is calculated because the annual growth rates of inflation and population change depending on when TABOR is enacted.
  • Year Inflation-adjusted Actual Spending
    1992 39,228,250,000
    1993 42,898,070,000
    1994 44,522,100,000
    1995 45,217,790,000
    1996 47,238,840,000
    1997 46,268,500,000
    1998 48,467,970,000
    1999 49,420,820,000
    2000 52,486,500,000
    2001 53,679,560,000
    2002 55,882,080,000
    2003 57,906,160,000
    2004 53,980,740,000
    2005 57,724,660,000
    2006 62,284,800,000
    2007 63,106,250,000
    2008 67,288,800,000
    2009 72,077,520,000
    2010 65,905,770,000
    2011 67,289,800,000
    2012 68,639,590,000
    2013 70,555,930,000
    2014 80,448,760,000
    2015 76,693,770,000
    2016 79,748,600,000
    2017 76,898,760,000
    2018 77,472,480,000
    2019 79,250,660,000
    2020 85,664,000,000
*All spending figures are in inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars.