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April 16, 2023
NEWS DIGEST
by Brandon Waltens
Good morning,
Between the House and the Senate, there's been a lot of talk in the Capitol about property tax relief lately. Faced with a $32 billion surplus before the legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott said he would support giving Texans "the largest property tax cut in history."
As we've come to expect, both chambers have their own separate proposals.
What's the difference?
Essentially, the Senate's plan calls for raising the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000, as well as allowing seniors and disabled adults to deduct an additional $30,000.
The House, meanwhile, has focused on lowering the appraisal cap from 10 percent to 5 percent and apply it to all properties (residential and commercial).
Both chambers' proposals allocate about $12 billion to new property tax relief, short of the record $14.7 billion tax towards relief issued in 2008.
Groups like Texans for Fiscal Responsibility and the Huffines Liberty Foundation have called on both chambers to increase the amount of money allocated towards property tax relief. But when State Rep. Tony Tinderholt offered an amendment to increased the amount to $20 billion, only 19 members voted alongside him.
The process is not over yet, however.
Now that both chambers have passed their plans, there is expected to be a lot of negotiation behind the scenes on what the final product will look like.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has made it clear the Senate will not approve a plan that lowers appraisal caps, arguing it does little to help people who need relief the most.
“We’re not doing appraisal caps. Period. End of story,” Patrick said at a press conference last week.
It's not only property taxes that have divided the two chambers, however.
Patrick has also called out the House for passing far fewer bills than the Senate this session, as well as not considering any priorities of the Republican Party.
“I’m concerned many Republican priorities will not pass the House at this rate. Proud the Senate has passed 26 of our top 30 priorities already, and we’ll finish next week," Patrick wrote in a Twitter post.
With just 42 days left in the session when both chambers return tomorrow, the chances of those GOP priorities making through the House appear slimmer every day.
This week...
Both the House and Senate are scheduled to reconvene at 11 am on Monday.
Upcoming Committee Hearings...
Featured
by Brandon Waltens
As the clock continues ticking on the legislative session in Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he’s concerned Republican priorities won’t make it out of the House.
In a post on Twitter, Patrick noted that the Senate had passed 316 bills, while the House had only passed 85 bills, all while there are 45 days left in the legislative session.
State
Texas House Rejects Record-setting Property Tax Relief
The Republican-controlled chamber killed an amendment that would have provided $20 billion of property tax relief.
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Local
Llano County Library Returns Explicit Books to Shelves
After library employees removed inappropriate books from circulation, a judge ordered them to replace the materials.
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“The public needs to be able to trust a teacher will be a guardian for our kids.” —Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn
City of El Paso May Outlaw Fossil Fuels
Radical climate activists are pushing a ballot initiative to enforce “climate justice.”
Investigations
Eviscerating Local Communities: The Threat of Legalized Gambling
Legalizing gambling would be the equivalent of unleashing a neutron bomb on Texas cities and communities. The data shows that gambling breeds crime and addiction, destroys families, ruins lives, closes local businesses, and lowers property values.
Multiple statewide public servants, and at least one big city mayor, are pushing to bring this to your state. A
well-funded political action committee poured $2 million into Texas 2022 elections and is spending untold sums on lobbying lawmakers to help make this happen.
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Quoting...
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much."
- Ronald Reagan
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