Good morning, 

A third special session is starting, and real property tax relief is still nowhere to be seen. Check out the results from yesterday’s One Click Survey on the issue at the end of today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, September 9, 2021
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A Not-So-Republican Caucus

• Conservative activists organize and rally to express priority needs in Texas, yet so-called Republican lawmakers in the Texas Legislature routinely do the opposite. Jeramy Kitchen explains how the House Republican Caucus chairman – Rep. Jim Murphy of Houston – is one reason that is the case.
     
• Notably, under his chairmanship, the House Republican Caucus’ legislative priorities have not included any of the Republican Party of Texas’ legislative priorities. That is not surprising, since Murphy consistently opposes his own party’s priority issues.
     
• As far as his voting record is concerned, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility rated Murphy a 35 out of 100 on their Fiscal Responsibility Index once the 87th session was completed in May, while the average Republican scored a 57. Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT), which boast the longest-running legislative ratings in the state, rated Murphy as a 57 out of 100 in 2019. (YCT have not yet released their ratings for the latest legislative session.)
      
• Murphy directly profits mightily from serving in the Texas House. While he calls himself an “independent contractor” for Houston’s Westchase Business District, where he has been paid more than $312,000 in taxpayer money per year, he also received bonuses from the taxing entity for “securing state funding for Westchase projects.”
      
• Murphy is not the sole reason conservative priorities fail to be pursued in the Texas House. But as a leader, he bears a higher share of the responsibility..

Paying Uncle Sam

• Texas owes the federal government billions of dollars, but due to inaction by state lawmakers taxpayers are on the hook to owe millions more.
   
• By way of background, Texas owes a total of $7 billion to the U.S. Treasury’s Unemployment Trust Fund. The state had $2 billion in that fund before the pandemic and should return to that level to help avoid a tax hike. The $7 billion was accrued over the last 18 months, much of it as a result of poor decisions in response to the pandemic itself – most notably, the government-imposed economic shutdowns.
   
• Gov. Abbott added the appropriation of federal COVID-19 relief money to the recently concluded second special legislative session’s agenda. Though it was on the agenda, not a single bill was filed related to appropriating the money, let alone appropriating a portion of it to pay down the debt. The special session concluded a few days early, with the Legislature ultimately not addressing the issue.
   
• For every day the state does not pay back the debt beyond September 6, roughly $374,400 in interest is added. The issue has again been added to the agenda for the upcoming third special session, but that session does not begin until September 20. This means that at a minimum, 14 days of interest amounting to upwards of $5,241,570 due, on top of the $7 billion already owed.
   
• Texas boasts the third-largest outstanding debt with the U.S. Treasury, following only California (which owes nearly $20 billion) and New York (owing approximately $9 billion).

West Vindication: Citizens React, Officials Silent

• Citizens have reacted strongly to the announcement that Angela West, the wife of Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen West, wasn’t intoxicated despite being arrested for driving while intoxicated. Robert Montoya has the details.
      
• While questions remain about who else has been wrongfully arrested by Dallas police, city council members – who have previously positioned themselves as champions of black Americans – are silent.

Special Election Announced

• An expedited special election is set for Sept. 28 to fill the Texas House District 118 seat vacated by State Rep. Leo Pacheco (D–San Antonio). Erin Anderson has the details. The district includes south and far east Bexar County, including portions of San Antonio.
     

• Pacheco resigned the seat last month to accept a teaching position at San Antonio College. Gov. Abbott set an “expedited” election schedule because the vacancy occurred within 60 days prior to a legislative session—in this case, the third special session of the 87th Legislature, which Abbott called to convene on September 20.
     

• The candidate filing deadline is Monday, Sept. 13.

Y’All Answered

In light of lawmakers refusing to pass meaningful and substantive property tax relief, yesterday we asked if it would affect readers’ decision at the polls in 2022. Of those answering, 93.6% said it would affect their voting, while 6.4% said it would not.

Here’s a sampling of the responses we received:

• “It would be interesting if Republicans took their responsibility to vote with the same enthusiasm the Republican legislators took to cutting our property taxes.” – Bob Blackmer
      

• “We need real property tax relief. Owning a home in Texas should not be this burdensome!” – Cathy Blake
      
• “This is NOT going to be a one-issue election, and incumbents should be VERY aware that the grassroots are angry with a legislature that is only in Austin for the prestige and résumé-building activity.” – Arthur Potter
      
• “Politicians aren't solving our problems they are lining their pockets solving their problems. Like George Carlin once said: ‘We aren't in the club.’” – John Cavenah
      
• “Those that made promises and did not fight to get property tax relief should be out of a job!” – Mandy Kirkland
      
• “Something’s got to give. We the People, the proletarian taxpayers of Texas, are sick and tired of being the only ones expected to ‘give.’” – Charles McCord
      
• “Yes, the continued forced rental of my property from the state will affect my votes in 2022. I will vote for any primary opponent against any incumbent.” – Rod Dixon
      
• “We need to get rid of all the RINOs that are in the Texas Legislature. Texas government is becoming like the wicked federal government in DC. We need TRUE conservatives to run and for citizens to awaken from their comas and see what's going on and DO something about it.” – Scott Stein
      
• “Don Huffines is the only candidate that wants to cut property taxes to zero!” – Randall Woodman

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