Texas $1,500 Refund Bill: Senate Bill 297 Is Filed, but the GOP Senate Is the Hurdle

AUSTIN — The $1,500 check Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa promised every Texas household on the campaign trail — her 'Corruption Tax Refund' — now exists as legislation. Democratic state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio filed Senate Bill 297 on Nov. 9 to create a one-time $1,500 payment for qualifying Texas households, USA TODAY reported.

The bill would fund the payments with up to $17 billion from the state's Economic Stabilization Fund, the rainy day fund, which holds more than $27 billion. It imposes no income limit, and homeownership or employment would not disqualify a household, according to USA TODAY's reading of the bill. The Lubbock Lights Ledger, summarizing the Texas Tribune's reporting, put the scale at 11.6 million households, with residency required as of Jan. 1, 2027, and payments aimed for the end of next year.

The hurdle is arithmetic. Tapping the rainy day fund and putting the law into immediate effect both run into supermajority requirements: USA TODAY reported the bill would need two-thirds of all members elected to the Texas House and Senate to reach the governor's desk with immediate effect, and the Tribune's count, as carried by the Ledger, is that Democrats would need significant Republican support, including nine GOP senators. Without that vote, the bill would take effect Sept. 1, 2027, if it passes at all, with the Comptroller's office overseeing payments.

The Tribune also flagged two open questions in the text, as summarized by the Ledger: the bill does not say whether recipients must be U.S. citizens, and its 1 percent administrative allowance leaves a shortfall of at least $400 million against the cost of delivering the payments. Whether Texas homeowners and renters actually receive $1,500 is now a question the Senate will answer.