Return To Consensusville: "There is no governing majority on school finance in the House"
So let's catch up, shall we? Rick Perry says he'll only call a Special Session when there's consensus about a solution on an education bill and education funding. Turns out "consensus" really meant "when I have a primary challenger for 2006." So he calls the first special session and felt so confident that the school issues would get done that he dogpiled a bunch of other issues onto the session mandate. No deal resulted from it. State Rep Scott Hochberg got within one vote of passing a Democratic alternative, the State Senate's GOP delegation caved into Speaker Craddick's demands on the tax bill, and still, they couldn't get it done.
So another special session gets called. With the state GOP so close to getting it done at the end of the first, there was talk of the session not even lasting the full 30 days. Well, turns out that was just another display of Republican arrogance. Twenty four days to go and there's no light at the end of this tunnel:
You might call it chaos. Confusion. Fatigue.Certainly you can call it a stalled special legislative session after the Texas House voted down its own multibillion-dollar school funding bill and property tax relief measure today.
The moves appeared to spell trouble for the latest 30-day special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Rick Perry to change the Texas school funding system and reduce property taxes. But other bills on those subjects still could be considered.
GOP House Speaker Tom Craddick said the session isn't necessarily doomed, but he did say legislators ? who have spent two regular sessions and three special sessions tackling school finance ? are tired.
"The members are just basically worn out voting on these different proposals. I don't know where we go from here," Craddick said. "We're open to ideas."
Yeah, that's some openmindedness ... they're open to ideas unless they come from one of the brightest minds in the Texas House on education issues - Scott Hochberg:
The 79-62 vote against the Republican-backed education spending bill came after the House approved a Democrat's plan to provide an additional $3.8 billion over two years to schools, including money for a teacher pay raise and more bilingual education funding.That was substantially more money than the Republican measure included. Democrats and some Republicans joined to approve the amendment by Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston.
His plan also would have given an extra school property tax break to homeowners through a larger homestead exemption.
The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Kent Grusendorf of Arlington, later led the charge to quickly vote against the bill because it was so dramatically changed from its original form. Grusendorf said the more costly changes would have hurt Texas businesses and that the bill was doomed for failure.
Craddick agreed. Once Hochberg's amendment was added to the bill, it didn't balance financially, he said. But Hochberg disputed that and said his proposal was designed to fit with the amount of money available in Grusendorf's bill.
So we now have the Texas GOP (most of em, anyway) on record as voting against a bigger tax cut and for making taxes in this state more regressive(*). All this while voting to jack up their own benefits:
With a swift vote and no debate, state representatives approved a boost in their own retirement benefits Monday as they gave judges a pay raise.House Bill 11 by Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, won final passage, 105-26, amid criticism that House lawmakers have watched out for their own financial interests before those of schools and teachers.
...
A few senior lawmakers, including Speaker Tom Craddick, eventually would collect annual pensions of $100,000 or more if the bill passes.
Four Houston representatives voted against the bill: Republicans Gary Elkins and Debbie Riddle and Democrats Scott Hochberg and Senfronia Thompson.
Am I the only one who's thinking Scott Hochberg deserves one helluva shoutout for his record this year (or any other)? Kudos on the rest of the Harris County delegation who voted against.
Nevertheless, Scott worked in a noteworthy success in the process. By winning a battle on his alternative, the 76-67 win showed that the votes are there. There's consensus - 12 GOP State Reps crossed over to support the plan with more tax cuts and more money put into schools. But Craddick and the Rubber Stamps would have none of it, killing their own bill due to the Hochberg amendments. The GOP spin on the bill, of course, is just borderline ludicrous:
Reporters returned a number of times to the passage of the Hochberg amendment on the floor and what it signified. Perry said the leadership?s plan was dealing in the ?art of the possible? rather than passing an amendment of undefined cost that could have a negative impact on the job-creation climate in the state. Perry said he was uncertain what the passage signified ? this was the same amendment that failed three prior times ? and denied it was a sign that the leadership was out of step with the rank-and-file members of the Legislature.(via QuorumReport)
Hard to suggest Hochberg's numbers when your own numbers don't balance(*).
Aaron Pena also has quote from Sylvester Turner that warrants some applause from this sometime critic of Sly's:
2:12 p.m. Representatives Turner and Eiland give passionate speeches communicating indignation at the the tactict. Turner pleas, "I remained and was criticized for not going to Ardmore, because I was told that the debate occurred here! Yet here I am and you are willing to turn off this faucet!"
Hey, I'm as fair as the next blogger ... if Sly comes around to realizing the Texas GOP is just using him and wants to keep up the fighting posture he's genuinely taken on HB2 & 3, I'm more than willing to welcome him back to our ranks with open arms. But it'll likely come at the expense of that cherished Speaker Pro Tem role ... and we'll also be taking note of the campaign finance reports for Craddick chums. Think it over Sly ... you're too good a legislator to let yourself be used by Craddick.
With HB2 dead in the tracks, HB3 (the tax bill) was next in line for the firing squad. Here, at least, Perry did realize his dream of consensus ... a mere 8 State Reps voted FOR the bill. Yep ... 8-128, with the bill's author voting against it. That may be the biggest statement made of the entire special session. Pinky's right ... 8 votes does not result from partisanship.
So where to now?
Good question. Depending on your view of the Texas Constitution, the House is now prohibited from taking up a bill with the "same substance" once it's been shot down. But "same substance" is, to put it kindly ... a bit vague. So look for that Constitutional provision to get conveniently ignored. Another thing to consider (again, pointed out by QuorumReport), is that Gov. Perry still has HB1 on his desk from the regular session:
Perry has yet to sign the education appropriations bill, House Bill 1. He still has a couple of days to review the bill. The bill does stand alone to appropriate the money to fund public schools this fall. However, Perry could choose to veto the bill, which would put more pressure on lawmakers to pass a school finance reform package.
Hold on and grab some popcorn ... this is either going to get real interesting or make the 2006 campaign season more interesting than it already was set to be.
SIDENOTE: One thing that's entirely missing from the online commentary on the Perry/Dewhurst/Craddick fiasco ... a single, solitary Republican offering their thoughts regarding HB2 or HB3. Hmmmmm. Nothing here, nothing here, nothing here (well, except for some good OJ Simpson news), nothing, nothing, nothing ... is this the beginning of a theme for the Texas GOP? Surely, you'd think a single solitary Republican blogger could find a good word to say about their party's desire to raise their own taxes.
(*) ... The Chronicle link that initially had this story has been drastically cut down from the original, so the original version is reprinted in full under the Extended Entry.
July 26, 2005, 1:08AM
THE LEGISLATURE
Bill may fall short by half-billion, board says
Plan needs 100 votes for its funding strategy to take immediate effect
By CLAY ROBISON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Austin BureauAUSTIN - Unless approved by an unlikely two-thirds vote to put it into immediate effect, a tax bill in the Texas House would fall about a half-billion dollars short of paying for the school property tax cuts it would impose over the next two years, according to a legislative analysis.
The higher sales and other consumer taxes in House Bill 3, scheduled to be debated by the full House today, also would mean a net tax increase for all income groups below $100,000.
Texans with annual incomes of more than $140,853 would see an average net tax cut of 2.57 percent under the tax trade-off, while people earning $13,415 or less would get hit with a 3 percent tax hike, the Legislative Budget Board estimated.
Two-thirds votes in the House and the Senate are required to put any tax increase into immediate effect and allow the extra revenue covering school tax cuts to begin flowing into state coffers on Sept. 1. Otherwise, a tax increase wouldn't go into effect for three months, or about Nov. 1, a problem that would put HB3, as currently drafted, in the red.
"It's not going to get 100 votes," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, an outspoken critic of the bill. A two-thirds House vote, if every member is present, would be 100.
"It's very clear this exercise isn't even accomplishing the goals set out by the people steering and guiding it," he added.
Alexis DeLee, a spokeswoman for Speaker Tom Craddick, acknowledged the problem. "We are looking at options to fix the shortfall," she said, adding that reducing the amount of property tax relief was a possibility.Savings for homeowners
HB3 is similar to a tax bill that won tentative House approval earlier this month 73-72 after Craddick cast a tie-breaking vote for it. The bill won final approval the next day 71-66, still far short of a two-thirds vote.Gov. Rick Perry called legislators into a second special session on education and property tax relief after House and Senate leaders failed to reach a compromise on a tax bill last week and a related education overhaul was killed by a Senate filibuster. Under the state constitution, the House must take the first action in any session on a tax bill.
HB3 would reduce local school operating taxes by 25 cents per $100 valuation in the upcoming school year and by another 4 cents the following year. It also would raise the homestead exemption, a special tax break for homeowners, by $7,500 if voters approve a related constitutional amendment.
The proposed cut would save the average homeowner in the Houston Independent School District about $225 in school taxes the first year. There would be no provision, however, requiring landlords to pass their property tax relief to renters, who make up most Houston residents.
To pay for the lost money, the House bill would increase the sales tax by three-quarters of a cent per dollar; expand the sales tax to auto repair labor, Internet access services and some computer goods and services; increase the cigarette tax by $1 per pack; and close loopholes in the corporate franchise tax.According to the Legislative Budget Board, the property tax cuts provided in the bill would cost local districts about $6.6 billion over the next two years. The higher state taxes, if collections don't start until Nov. 1, would raise only $6.1 billion.
The higher state taxes would raise $6.7 billion - enough to cover the school tax reductions - if collections begin Sept. 1, the LBB estimated. But even then, the extra state taxes wouldn't keep pace with the property tax cuts for long.
Within five years, the deficit would be $1 billion or more, the LBB reported. That eventuality would force the Legislature to face the prospect of raising state taxes again when it meets in regular session in 2007.
'Shift the burden'
Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn criticized a similar deficiency in a similar tax swap proposal advocated by Perry when the first special session convened last month.The LBB's related finding that the tax trade-off would benefit only the wealthiest Texans is similar to conclusions drawn about several earlier tax bills considered this year.
Major causes of the regressivity are the increases in the sales and cigarette taxes, which take a bigger bite, proportionately, from the pockets of lower-income people.
"It's to be expected that any bill that relies on raising the sales tax and other consumption taxes to cut the less-regressive property tax is going to shift the burden of supporting schools away from businesses and homeowners with lots of property onto working and middle-class families," said Dick Lavine, a tax policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for low- and middle-income people.
Sponsors of earlier bills have blamed much of the problem on the large increase in the cigarette tax. But even nonsmokers would take an unfair hit if they are below the higher income brackets, Lavine said.
Another stab at funding bill
In a related development, the Senate delayed action Monday and may try again today on a bill to revamp the education funding system. Several Democratic senators apparently wanted to take more time.
Some senators' concerns may have been caused less by what was in the bill approved by the Senate Education Committee than what form the legislation ultimately may take.Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst believed he had a slim majority to pass an education compromise with House leaders when the first special session ended last week. But the compromise, which was opposed by educators and many superintendents, never came to a vote because it was killed by a session-ending filibuster by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston.
Chronicle reporter Kristen Mack contributed to this story.
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Politics-2005