According to the Texas State Comptroller’s study in 2005, if Texas were a country it would have the 10th largest economy in the world.

The State of Texas is led by Republican Governor Rick Perry, who was elected to an unprecedented third term in November 2010. Approximately 25 million people call the 267,000 square-mile state home, which ranks second in population in the nation. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex population exceeds the populations of 31 states. Texas consists of 151 state agencies that employ roughly 140,000 people, 254 counties and more than 1,500 municipal governments. The state Capitol is located in Austin, which has 45 state office buildings that total roughly 10 million square feet. The state has over 4.5 million public school children with over 1,000 school districts as well as over 200 charter schools and over 8,000 school campuses. Texas has over 140 institutions of higher education and over 415,000 public higher education students.

Texas spends approximately $85 billion per year, and $182 billion was approved for the biennial cycle during the 81st Texas Legislature, with a projected $9 billion Rainy Day Fund.  In the $182 billion budget, only $87 billion is general revenue money, with the rest of the funds coming from the federal government or placed in the highway fund and bond proceeds, the uses of which are tightly specified.  Entering the 82nd Texas Legislative Session, lawmakers called for budget cuts.   The state faced a budget gap for the 2012-13 biennium and it had been estimated to be as high as $18 billion.  In per capita spending by state, Texas ranks 50th in the nation, meaning there is likely less fat to trim when making budget cuts in Texas than in other states. 

 Although Texas industrial output is growing, strong productivity gains continue to put a damper on manufacturing job growth, both in Texas and in the nation. Texas manufacturers are producing more with fewer workers, fueled by steady advances in information technology and processing. The segments of the oil and gas industry have most benefited from higher fuel prices are oil and gas drilling and other support activities.  Education and health services account for one-third of the state’s total non-farm employment growth. The trade, transportation, and utilities industry is the state’s largest employment sector. Much like the information technology industry, the state’s financial activities industry was boosted by a relatively healthy year in one area and stifled by weakness in another.  Unlike the state’s professional and business services, the leisure and hospitality industry has continued to grow over the past few years and restaurants provided the momentum underlying most of this growth.  Government employment has slightly increased, but it has been entirely due to growth in the local government sector, particularly in public schools.
General Land Office Commissioner