AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Legislature now has a better idea of how much money they can spend in the next budget cycle, after Comptroller Glenn Hegar released the budget revenue estimate. Including the $23.76 billion surplus from the last cycle, the Legislature has an estimated $194.6 billion budget for the 2025-2026 budget cycle. READ MORE: What KXAN is watching in the 80th legislative session That surplus is actually down from the $32.7 billion the state had at the start of the last session, but a lower surplus is not necessarily a cause for alarm. "These are both of a magnitude that we've not seen in the state budgeting process before," said Rahul Sreenivasan, director of government performance and fiscal policy at Texas 2036, a nonprofit and nonpartisan public policy research group. READ MORE: Texas enters budget cycle with nearly $24 billion surplus Last session, even though the legislature had a substantial amount of money, they opted not to spend all of it. "We had the large fund balance, and we didn't blast through it," Sreenivasan said. "We had room to do it, but we did a lot of strategic one-time investments in infrastructure, things like water, broadband and parks." With almost $200 billion to work with, legislators get another chance this session. "This time we have that opportunity again to deal with these long-term infrastructure problems that loom large for Texas," Sreenivasan said. "I think having this revenue outlook sets the legislature up well for the next two years."