AUSTIN – The Texas House and Senate released their proposed budgets for 2026 and 2027, and lawmakers told CBS News Texas they liked how similar the two chambers’ spending plans are.

“It’s encouraging to have this start and see how close we really are together on the one piece of legislation that we have to pass,” said state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-N. Richland Hills.

State Rep. Mihaela Plesa, D-Dallas, who’s also the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, agreed.

“It’s a good start. The intent is very good that the House and the Senate are starting to work together,” Plesa said.

There’s new money proposed for public schools, teacher pay raises, and property tax relief. There’s also a plan to use taxpayer dollars so some students can attend private schools.

While there’s a lot of disagreement over that, there are many areas where lawmakers are in sync.

“I’m happy to see that there’s money in there for public education,” Plesa said. “I’m happy to see that there’s money in there for cybersecurity and for health care expansion.”

Each chamber has proposed about $5 billion in new money for public schools. That includes an extra $4,000 for all public school teachers and an additional $6,000 for rural educators.

There’s also about $6.5 billion in additional money for property tax relief on top of what was passed two years ago. That may include what the Senate has proposed, which is an increase in the homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000 for most homeowners. For seniors, the exemption would rise from $110,000 to $150,000.

Hancock praised this proposal.

“I think it’s a great start and what we’ve got to find is the fairest and most equitable way to return people’s money to them,” Hancock said.

But there’s disagreement over the $1 billion proposed in each chamber’s budget for taxpayer-funded education savings accounts so students can attend private school.

Plesa said she is unhappy about this plan and promised to fight it.

“Well, it’s going to be a billion-dollar fight. So, we need to make sure that when we’re talking about taxpayer money, that’s your money. That’s our constituents’ money that has accountability to it, that has some oversight to it,” Plesa said.

Hancock, however, said he is pleased to see the amount of money proposed at this stage.

“I’m glad to see it at the $1 billion mark because I had heard numbers around $500 million, $700 million. The governor and I spoke a couple of weeks ago, and my concern that I expressed to him is that you know we’ve fought so hard for school choice. I just want to make sure that it’s robust enough,” Hancock said.

This disagreement over school choice or vouchers will likely be the biggest battle this legislative session. The Senate will pass it, just like last session, and in the House, Gov. Abbott has said he now has the votes to get it passed. Both chambers have each proposed spending $6.5 billion on border security to keep current operations going as the state waits to see how the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to secure the border.

Watch “Eye on Politics” on CBS News Texas at 7:30 Sunday morning on air and streaming.

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