According to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), HB 3627 is expected to have a negative fiscal impact on the state’s General Revenue Fund, amounting to approximately $1.49 million over the biennium ending August 31, 2027. The bill does not itself appropriate funds, but it establishes the statutory basis for potential appropriations to fund the personnel authorized under the measure.

According to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), the Texas Education Agency (TEA) anticipates the hiring of five full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) to support the State Board of Education (SBOE) as permitted by the bill. These hires would cost an estimated $758,272 in fiscal year 2026 and about $733,497 annually in subsequent years. The costs include salaries, benefits, and administrative support provided by TEA, as these personnel would be classified as state employees eligible for retirement and health benefits under existing state systems.

There are no expected fiscal implications for local governments as a result of this legislation. All financial responsibilities fall to the state, and the impact is entirely tied to the expansion of SBOE's administrative capabilities through the creation of new staff positions.

HB 3627 would authorize the chair of the State Board of Education (SBOE) to independently employ personnel to assist the board in performing its duties. Currently, SBOE members rely on staff from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for administrative and operational support. The bill seeks to address this gap by enabling the board chair to hire and manage dedicated personnel, with funding subject to legislative appropriation. These employees would be eligible for full state employment benefits, including participation in the Employees Retirement System and the state group benefits program. The bill also directs TEA to provide a full suite of administrative support services—such as legal, HR, and IT—to assist the new SBOE staff.

While the bill’s supporters argue that it would help the SBOE function more effectively and independently, the measure substantially conflicts with the core liberty principle of limited government. It creates a new category of state employment without clear statutory limits on the number or scope of hires. It also grants unilateral authority to the SBOE chair—an elected official—to make employment, promotion, and termination decisions, with no mandatory reporting or oversight by the full board or the Legislature. This centralization of power undermines checks and balances within the state's education governance structure and opens the door to potential politicization of staff positions.

From a fiscal perspective, HB 3627 also conflicts with the principle of personal responsibility by increasing the burden on taxpayers without evidence of cost savings or improved service delivery. According to the Legislative Budget Board, the bill would result in a net negative fiscal impact of nearly $1.5 million over the next biennium and ongoing annual costs of more than $733,000, all drawn from the General Revenue Fund. These are recurring costs that expand the size and scope of government and create permanent financial obligations with no automatic sunset or reevaluation mechanism.

Importantly, the bill does not impose new regulations on individuals or private businesses, and it does not implicate private property rights. Its scope is limited to the internal workings of the public education system. However, by expanding government staffing and administrative functions without sufficient limitations or performance accountability, HB 3627 sets a precedent for unchecked bureaucratic growth within elected bodies.

For these reasons, Texas Policy Research recommends that lawmakers vote NO on HB 3627 unless amended as described below. The underlying structure of the bill is incompatible with fiscal discipline and limited government. However, if amended to impose strict caps on the number of staff, require public reporting and SBOE or legislative oversight, and include a sunset or performance review provision, the legislation could be re-evaluated for possible support on final passage. Texas Policy Research recommends that lawmakers vote NO on HB 3627.

• Individual Liberty: The bill does not directly infringe upon individual rights or freedoms. However, by granting unilateral authority to an elected official to staff positions that could influence curriculum, policy development, or public communications, it raises indirect concerns about transparency and political impartiality in education governance. Without adequate safeguards, this structure could undermine the public’s ability to hold educational decision-makers accountable—particularly in areas affecting students and parents.
• Personal Responsibility: The bill weakens the principle of personal responsibility in government by enabling state expansion without linking it to measurable performance outcomes or requiring cost-efficiency. Rather than holding existing agencies accountable for supporting SBOE functions more effectively, the bill creates new roles at public expense, shifting responsibility for performance onto new bureaucratic structures rather than improving existing ones.
• Free Enterprise: Although the bill does not regulate businesses or the private market directly, the expansion of government employment through general revenue funding may crowd out or displace private-sector solutions for administrative or educational consulting support. By institutionalizing state-run support staff for a policy board, the bill signals a preference for public over private solutions without a demonstrated market failure.
• Private Property Rights: The bill does not affect property ownership, land use, or eminent domain, and thus has no direct impact on private property rights.
• Limited Government: This principle is most clearly and directly affected. The bill expands the size and scope of state government by authorizing the SBOE chair to independently hire personnel, creating new, taxpayer-funded positions without defined limits, assigning broad discretion to a single official over employment decisions, and imposing a new financial obligation on the state without structural reforms or offsets. These provisions constitute a clear expansion of government authority and bureaucracy, without built-in accountability or oversight from either the full SBOE or the Legislature. This undermines limited government by concentrating hiring power and increasing the footprint of the public sector without constraints.

• SB 1884 (Same As)