State leaders are pushing a plan to drive down property taxes using revenue from a one-cent increase to the sales tax. They have said the plan would result in roughly $250 a year in savings on a $200,000 home.
Dan Patrick
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House passes bill to vastly expand access to medical cannabis
The bill by state Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, is one of two that aim to expand the scope of the narrow Compassionate Use Act and have gained traction this legislative session.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: Betting a whole legislative session on one big issue
The pieces are in place. There’s a month to go. And the three leaders who bet big on school finance, education and property taxes are in a familiar place, imploring reluctant legislators to take the kinds of high-stakes votes that make and break political careers.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Gov. Greg Abbott, legislative leaders assert confidence as deadline to cut property taxes nears
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen did not close the door on passing a sales tax swap with a simple majority instead of the current approach requiring two-thirds support of lawmakers and voter approval.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: Legislators have a deadline, and so do Texas schools
Lawmakers are in their last month of a regular session, with their priority issues — public education and property taxes — still incomplete. If they can’t finish without a special session, they’ll run into someone else’s deadlines; school districts write budgets and set tax rates in June.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Senate won’t pass bill to lower penalties for marijuana
His comment comes the day after the Texas House gave preliminary approval to the bill in a 98-43 vote.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: The Texas House is handcuffing property tax relief to education reforms
An amendment added to a Senate property tax bill ties it to school finance — a signal the Texas House doesn’t want to leave the harder-to-pass education bill behind.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: Teacher pay raises and Robin Hood stall Texas lawmakers
The end of the legislative session — deal-making time — is looming, and the priorities set out by the state’s top leaders three months ago remain undone. In fact, those centerpiece school finance and property tax measures aren’t even teed up for the final negotiations.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: Making friends and influencing people in the Texas Legislature
It’s hard to gather support for the state’s most persistent problems when you’re also pressing forward with issues that divide and anger Republicans and Democrats. It’s also business as usual in the Texas Legislature.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate gives local governments more breathing room for property tax revenue growth
After a key Republican holdout agreed to bring a priority bill to the floor, the upper chamber increased an election trigger on revenue increases from 2.5% to 3.5%. But now both chambers must reconcile how they want to tackle rising school district taxes.
