Well in advance of the 79th Legislative Session, appropriations expectations were once again lowered to below the then current level of funding. In June 2004 prior to preparing the Legislative Appropriations Requests (LAR) for the 2006-07 biennium, the LBB and Governor’s Office sent a letter to all state agencies and institutions of higher education directing that state agencies and institutions of higher education request no more than 95 percent of the GR and GR-Dedicated amounts appropriated for the 2004-05 biennium. Ultimately the Legislature restored the mandated LAR reductions and provided additional funding for most of higher education, resulting in $793.3 million, or an 8.6 percent, increase in General Revenue for the 2006-07 biennium; additional detail is provided below.
| 2006-07 | Difference | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Academics | $ 3,889.5 | $ 318.4 | 8.9 % |
| Health Related Institutions | 2,008.3 | 168.9 | 9.2 % |
| Two Year Institutions | |||
| Community Colleges | 1,627.6 | 120.5 | 8.0 % |
| TSTC | 120.5 | (20.3) | -14.4 % |
| Lamar State Colleges | 47.6 | 4.6 | 10.8 % |
| A&M System Agencies* | 280.0 | 7.1 | 2.6 % |
| System Offices | 26.3 | 4.1 | 18.4 % |
| Higher Education Coordinating Board | 739.4 | 72.4 | 10.9 % |
| Food and Fibers Commission | 2.7 | (0.0) | 0.0 % |
| Higher Education Fund | 350.0 | - | 0.0 % |
| Research Development Fund** | - | (23.3) | NA |
| Higher Ed. Group Insurance | 937.1 | 140.9 | 17.7 % |
| Total, Higher Education*** | $ 10,028.9 | $ 793.3 | 8.6 % |
Notes:
* Does not include an estimated $9 million in additional funding for the state employee pay raise for the agencies. The Texas Transportation Institute’s operating funds are from the State Highway Fund and are included within this table.
** 2006-07 includes $42.8m in Research Development Funds that are now appropriated directly to the institutions. In 2004-05 these funds were appropriated separately (and subsequently vetoed and reinstated for FY05 only).
*** These totals do not reconcile to the overview table on page 11 because the overview table includes the allocation of certain statewide appropriations for retirement, social security and debt service for each article, which are not included here.