For nearly two decades, the state of Texas mandated gifted education services and provided funding to public school districts. One policy that was unique to the state was a mandatory minimum spending requirement. This research examines how mandatory minimum spending floors influenced spending in public school districts within the state and how that influence varied across locales. Our findings provide evidence that rural public school districts in Texas were more likely to operate nearer to the mandatory state minimum spending for gifted education than non-rural public school districts. In particular, rural public school districts allocated 50% fewer funds toward gifted education programming than suburban public school districts after accounting for minimum spending floors. The results should provide caution to policy makers on the possible ramifications of removing spending floors on gifted education programming in rural public school districts.