KXAN by Ryan Chandler, Monica Madden, Will DuPree, Josh Hinkle, Billy Gates, John Thomas 6/3/2023
State of Texas: ‘I will not step back,’ Abbott and Patrick clash over property tax plans
After five months of discord and a now a special session, top Republican leaders remain at a tense impasse over how best to lower property taxes.
The Texas Legislature, which finished its regular session Monday, already set aside $17.6 billion from the state’s budget to give Texans property tax relief. However, ideological differences between the two chambers about how to deliver that stalled lawmakers Monday from adjourning. They inevitably gaveled out that evening sine die, or indefinitely, without a deal.
Less than three hours later, Governor Greg Abbott called lawmakers back to the Capitol for a special session with demands for property tax relief and border security bills.
The next day, Senators quickly passed a property tax plan that included steps to expand the state’s homestead exemption, the amount of a home’s value that is exempt from property taxes. The Senate then recessed until Friday.
Hours later Tuesday, the House Speaker Dade Phelan said House lawmakers would not take up the Senate bill, saying it was not germane to the governor’s special session call.
Phelan’s move marked a climax in the impasse, sending a message to his Senate counterpart to take up the House’s proposal or go back to the drawing board for a second special session. By adjourning sine die, Phelan gave the Senate two options — pass the House’s versions of the bills or pass nothing, since House members cannot meet for the rest of the special session after adjourning.
Before the vote, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick spoke at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, vowing not to support a plan like the one the House was preparing to pass.
“I will not step back from this. And I might be the last guy standing, but I’ll be the last guy standing. Homeowners in this state deserve real property tax cuts, and that’s a combination of compression and homestead exemptions,” Patrick told the audience.
Abbott sent out a statement in support of the House bill after the lower chamber adjourned.
“The Texas House is the only chamber that passed a property tax cut bill that is germane to the special session that I called to provide Texans with property tax relief,” Abbott said in a press release. “It is supported by the most respected tax think tank in the state, as well as more than 30 homeowner, consumer, and business groups across the state. I look forward to signing it when it reaches my desk.”
Patrick responded with a message directly criticizing Abbott.
“Governor Abbott has finally shown his cards. He chooses to give homeowners 50% less of a tax cut, nearly $700 a year, to give corporations more,” Patrick wrote. “This is not what homeowners expected when they voted for him,” he added.
Abbott spoke unwaveringly in support Friday of his preferred plan to lower property taxes in Texas, which means the impasse holds over reaching a deal with what the Senate and Patrick would like to do.
Much More:
https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/state-of-texas-i-will-not-step-back-abbott-and-patrick-clash-over-property-tax-plans/
