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Battle Brewing Over Property Tax Increases

What to Know: The Texas Municipal League, a taxpayer-funded lobbying group, is arguing that Governor Abbott’s disaster declaration lets cities bypass a new state law limiting property taxes to 3.5% growth and instead frees officials to “increase taxes by 8%” without an election. In response, the Governor replied: “I disagree and I think the Texas attorney general disagrees with that legal interpretation.”

The TPPF Take: Groups should not be counseling cities and counties on raising property taxes to the maximum. For a multitude of reasons.

“Texas’ new property tax protections should be observed. Massive tax increases are the last thing struggling homeowners and businesses should be worried about right now,” says TPPF’s James Quintero.

Win for Integrity

What to Know: The Texas Supreme Court has—for now—halted any expansion of voting by mail as a response to the pandemic.

The TPPF Take: Last week, TPPF attorneys filed a brief in that case urging the court to order county elections officials to follow the law.

“Texas law specifically outlines who may vote by mail and under what conditions,” says TPPF’s Robert Henneke. “Not only is the law clear, but the Attorney General has given specific direction that a handful of local election officials refuse to follow. The county officials who seek to disregard state law and allow unlimited mail voting threaten the integrity of our upcoming elections and risk disenfranchising the votes of all Texans.”

Targeted Response

What to Know: The federal government could employ a more targeted response to COVID-19 by enacting a plan based on principles of business interruption insurance which would compensate businesses for operating losses directly caused by the government shutdowns.

The TPPF Take: The plan could help the U.S. economy regain its footing after the government-mandated shutdown.

“The Texas Public Policy Foundation has proposed a Workforce Recovery Act to restore confidence in the American economy at all levels,” says TPPF’s Rod Bordelon. “The act would provide targeted and limited compensation to businesses that have incurred and can demonstrate operating losses as a direct result of the government ordered shutdowns. This would help solve the crisis that has already cost millions of American jobs."