BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Texas had the 12th largest economy in the world when the state’s comptroller, Glenn Hegar, took office.

Now, Texas has the eighth largest economy. “That is hard to imagine,” Hegar said, in a speech in Brownsville on Jan. 30. He said the state’s budget is roughly $150 billion.

The event was titled “Texas Talks: A Luncheon with Comptroller Glenn Hegar – Navigating Fiscal Frontiers.” It was hosted at the Brownsville Events Center by the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce.

Hegar said four times in the last two decades tax collections in Texas grew ten percent, from one year to the next. But in fiscal year 2202, two years ago, the growth was 26 percent.

“It was literally off the charts,” he said. He pointed out that some of this was due to the federal government pumping money into the economy.

The population of Texas is also growing fast, the comptroller said.

“Think about the fact that tomorrow morning, somewhere in this great state of 254 counties, somewhere there will be a another 1,200 to 1,300 people that call Texas home tomorrow that didn't call Texas home today.” 

Texas also has a more youthful population than most of the rest of the nation, Hegar said. “It's hard to imagine, ten percent of all the children in the entire United States call their home Texas.”

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