Good morning –

Just how fiscally irresponsible was the 2023 legislative session? The watchdogs at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility have released their ratings. Fair warning: It isn't good.

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, June 21, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Senate Doubles Down On Property Tax Relief Push

• A unanimous Texas Senate on Tuesday doubled down on their property tax relief plan by passing a new measure designed to restrict future school spending and ease taxes on small businesses. Brandon Waltens has the details.
   
• Similar to their previous offering, the Senate plan would provide a $100,000 homestead exemption while reducing the school property tax rate by 10 cents. Most significantly, the new Senate push would limit the annual growth of school district revenue from 2.5 percent to 1.75 percent.
      
• In a move to appeal to small business owners, the new Senate proposal also increases the exemption for the state’s business franchise tax from $1 million to $2.47 million, making an additional 67,000 businesses exempt from paying the onerous tax.
      
• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the proposal “the largest property tax cut in the history of the world.”
      

• While the plan allocates $18 billion to property tax relief, only $12.7 billion is new relief. Groups like Texans for Fiscal Responsibility have noted that, with inflation, the property tax cut must be at least $21 billion to truly be the biggest in state history.

     
• State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston), who authored the Senate's proposals, said the legislation was the product of many discussions over time. “When you have this level of agreement of your Senate colleagues, I think it speaks volumes as to what an $18 billion tax relief record plan could do.”
      
• The current special session was called by Gov. Greg Abbott on May 31 and is set to expire in less than a week. The House passed a "rate compression" only measure and immediately adjourned with no intention of returning to work – denying the customary give-and-take process by which legislation is usually crafted and passed between the two chambers.

Sen. Paxton Will Participate In Impeachment of A.G. Paxton

• State Senator Angela Paxton has put to rest questions over whether she would participate in the impeachment trial of her husband, Attorney General Ken Paxton. She announced this week she intends to do so.
   
• Opponents of her husband have called on the two-term McKinney Republican to recuse herself.
      

• “Each time I was elected, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of this great state, and Texas law compels each member of the Senate to attend when the Senate meets as a court of impeachment,” explained Sen. Paxton. “As a member of the Senate, I hold these obligations sacred and I will carry out my duties, not because it is easy, but because the Constitution demands it and because my constituents deserve it.”

Fiscal Index Reveals Big-spending Lawmakers

• The state's largest fiscal watchdog group released yesterday ratings for Texas lawmakers. Soli Rice reports the report card issued by Texans fo Fiscal Responsibility reveals the overall average of fiscal responsibility among elected lawmakers is just 42 points out of 100. 
   
• Released at the end of every legislative session, the Fiscal Responsibility Index tracks the votes of individual lawmakers. According to Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, the top-rated members of the Texas House were Republicans Tony Tinderholt, Brian Harrison, Steve Toth, and Matt Schaefer.
      
• The lowest-rated House Republicans were Todd Hunter, Morgan Meyer, and Angie Chen Button.
      
• The top-rated members of the Senate were Bob Hall, Bryan Hughes, and Mayes Middleton. The lowest-rated Republican in the Senate was Robert Nichols.
      
• TFR's complete index, with the ratings of lawmakers and the votes considered, can be found on their website.

Texas Universities Offer Courses on Witches, Black Magic

• Texas Tech and the University of North Texas are offering courses on witchcraft and black magic, reports Valerie Muñoz.
      
• The Texas Tech course is described as introducing the “study of beliefs and practices, past and present, associated with magic, witchcraft, spirituality, magic realism, and religion.”
      
• At UNT, most of their offerings are listed under the university’s women’s and gender studies colleges. UNT professor Susan Harper said her courses are focused on merging ritual magic with activism. She has said publicly that she wants to use ritual magic "to send energy and support to women advocating for abortion rights."

Competitor To Leftwing TASB Makes First Public Pitch

• With the far-left leanings of the Texas Association of School Boards on full display for the last year, school districts wanting to leave had nowhere to go for the services they need. Erin Anderson reports this is changing with the launch of a new organization seeking to provide the niche services school districts need.
   
• The Carroll Independent School District has already decided to leave TASB, but earlier this week they heard from Texans for Excellence in Education. The organization's executive director, Hava Armstrong, said that the decades-long monopoly enjoyed by TASB "ends now."
      
• She reviewed TEE’s offerings, including board management, district policies, legal guidance, board and staff training, legislative updates, and co-ops for energy and fuel, with other services coming online over the next few months.
       
• “Our mission is to provide policies that take politics out of the classroom and support parents’ rights,” said Armstrong.
           

• Carroll ISD Board President Cameron Bryan said it would be “disingenuous” for the district to keep sending taxpayer dollars to TASB even though it pushes ideologies his community overwhelmingly rejected in the last three school board elections. 

       

• Skeptics of TEE say they’re waiting for more details about the nonprofit organization’s financial and management structure. “I’m encouraged to see an alternative to terrible TASB,” said Tracy Hanes, a parent-focused education advocate in Victoria ISD who watched the briefing online.

Six Flags Reportedly Fails to Enforce Age Restriction for Explicit Shows

• Despite adding an age restriction to Six Flags' sexually explicit LGBT drag performances this month, Soli Rice reports that a video posted on social media shows children have been present.

       
• Six Flags Over Texas originally labeled the programs as "family-friendly," but changed course following public outrage once the highly explicit nature of the performances became known.
       
• The revealing video was posted to social media by a Six Flags Over Texas employee, who works as part of the entertainment leadership team. It was recorded on June 10 – after the park had supposedly implemented the new 18-and-older policy.
        
• On June 18, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law legislation designed to prohibit sexually charged drag shows from targeting minors and exposing children to explicit, adult content. It does not take effect until Sept. 1.

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