Property tax cut, teacher pay raises fail. Will TX lawmakers return to finish the job?
Editor’s note: This story has been updated throughout to reflect that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday night called an immediate special session that began at 9 p.m. Monday. The session will be on cutting property taxes and border security.
The Texas Legislature adjourned on Monday, but the session’s end was short lived.
Over the course of five months, lawmakers approved expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage for new moms, limited sexually oriented performances in front of kids and restricted diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at universities. They banned transgender children’s access to gender-affirming health care and did away with inspections for non-commercial vehicles. The proposals are subject to approval by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Lawmakers also rejected expanded sports betting and casino gaming, medical marijuana for chronic pain and a proposal to raise the age to purchase semiautomantic rifles.
And while Monday technically marks the end of their work, there was still unfinished business on the final day of a session that began with lawmakers optimistic about funding opportunities that come with a hefty $32.7 billion surplus.
Just hours after the House and Senate adjourned their regular session, Abbott announced a special session on property taxes and border security to begin immediately — 9 p.m. Monday. It’s the first of several coming special sessions, Abbott said in a written statement.
Despite major achievements during the regular session, “more must be done for the people of Texas,” Abbott said.
“Many critical items remain that must be passed,” Abbott said. “Several special sessions will be required. To ensure that each priority receives the time and attention it deserves to pass into law, only a few will be added each session.”
The late-Monday news wasn’t surprising.
When House Speaker Dade Phelan adjourned the regular session on Monday evening, he cautioned that representatives should be prepared to stick around Austin.
“Members, I also expect to have a proclamation from the governor from the governor in the next 12 hours, so I would not pack your bags just yet,” he said.
Patrick also told lawmakers to stay put, predicting they could come back as early as Tuesday.
“We’ll probably see you tomorrow. Hopefully not, but we’ll see,” Patrick said.
Political experts earlier Monday pointed to property taxes and education, particularly school choice — both top Abbott priorities — as possible topics of a special session. The governor convenes and sets the agenda for special sessions, and there’s no limit on the number of special sessions the governor can call.
In addition to historic property tax cuts, Abbott has advocated for education savings accounts, a voucher-like program that would allow public money to go to a student’s private education. As the clock ticked on Monday, it was known that the education proposal wouldn’t pass, but there was still hope of a potential property tax compromise between the House and Senate. Lawmakers adjourned with no deal.
It wasn’t on the first call, but Abbott has previously said he’d convene a special session if he didn’t receive the legislation for “meaningful” school choice, including the education savings accounts.
There’s also the matter of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial in the Senate.
What will the lawmakers work on when they go into overtime?
Abbott said lawmakers should focus on reducing property taxes and “cracking down on illegal human smuggling” as they meet for their first special session.
The proclamation ordering the session laid out the following guidelines:
“Legislation to cut property-tax rates solely by reducing the school district maximum compressed tax rate in order to provide lasting property-tax relief for Texas taxpayers.”
“Legislation solely for the purpose of increasing or enhancing the penalties for certain criminal conduct involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a stash house.”
Property tax cuts
A property tax deal hadn’t been announced as of late Monday afternoon and the issue remained unresolved Monday evening when the regular session wrapped.
Property tax relief has been a top priority of the big three — Abbott, Patrick and Phelan. But the Legislature’s two chambers have been at odds over how to deliver the reductions.
The Senate, under Patrick’s leadership, has favored increasing the state’s homestead exemption. Meanwhile the House, overseen by Phelan, has supported limiting yearly appraisal increases for all property types.
Lawmakers from the House and Senate are part of a joint committee to negotiate on the bill — negotiations that in part appeared to be playing out on Twitter in the session’s final stretch.
During the regular session, billions were proposed to cut property taxes.
“However, the legislature could not agree on how to allocate funds to accomplish this goal,” Abbott said. “Texans want and need a path towards eliminating property taxes. The best way to do that is to direct property tax reduction dollars to cut school property tax rates.”
Patrick on Monday said he sent a letter to Abbott with a list of items he’d like to see on the special session agenda. Among the items: Property tax relief.
“Senate Bill 3, the Property Tax Relief Bill, is vitally important to homeowners across the state, and the Legislature cannot retire until we achieve the biggest tax cut in the history of Texas,” the letter reads.
School vouchers and teacher pay
The House overall has opposed voucher-like programs during the session, with the two chambers amending each other’s bills to include or scale back proposals for education savings accounts.
Wrapped up in the school choice debate is teacher pay raises, which didn’t pass this legislative session.
The issues of vouchers and school funding should be taken up separately if considered in a special session, educators said during a Monday morning news conference. Nancy Humphrey, president of the Plano school board, said lawmakers should focus on helping schools strengthen their teaching workforce and catching up with inflation.
“We urge them to take and make robust and meaningful increases to the basic allotment,” she said. “That’s the mechanism that funds our public schools and that has not increased since 2019.”
If lawmakers are determined to consider education savings accounts, they should let the proposal stand on its own merit, Humphrey said.
“Let the members of the Legislature consider them separately,” she said. “They are not intertwined.”
Ken Paxton impeachment trial
Much of the last week of the legislative session has surrounded the investigation and impeachment of embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The House on Saturday voted overwhelmingly to send 20 articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial. The Senate, as of late Monday afternoon, had not announced when the proceedings would be held.
If not decided Monday, the House delivers by messenger or mail the articles of impeachment to the governor, lieutenant governor and each senator. The governor can then call on the Senate to convene for the trial. If he doesn’t, that responsibility falls to the lieutenant governor, then the president pro tempore, then a majority of the Senate.
The Senate has the ability to compel testimony and send for “persons, papers, books and other documents.” A two-thirds vote of the Senate is needed to convict.
Sen. Angelia Paxton, a McKinney Republican and Attorney General Paxton’s wife, serves in the Texas Senate.
The House on Monday named impeachment managers, who delivered the 20 articles of impeachment to the Senate.
“Today, the Texas Senate received Articles of Impeachment for Attorney General Ken Paxton,” Patrick said in a statement. “The Senate will follow its constitutional duty and I appointed a committee to develop proposed rules and procedures for the matter. When the rules are drafted, a date will be set for when the Senate will resolve into a court of impeachment to consider the articles.”
The Senate is expected to convene as a court of impeachment by Aug. 28, according to a resolution passed Monday evening.
