West makes (half of) a good point

"Because of the transgression of a land, many are its princes;
But by a man of understanding and knowledge
Right will be prolonged."
Proverbs 28:2

Allan West has a blog post about the Dennis Bonnen/Drew Darby/Mary Gonzalez triangle of the past few days:

Republicans in Texas Sucking up to the Left?

We have a Republican legislator, who is in a “leadership” position here in Texas, in dire need of our dubious “Stuck on Stupid” recognition. His name is Dennis Bonnen. What he has just done is most egregious in nature, and is the reason for the question posed as the title to this missive.

[Long description of Mary Gonzalez that can summarized by saying she's very liberal.]

This goes beyond being stuck on stupid, it is a special kind of stupid, and dangerous at that. Let me pose a question, does anyone believe that in California, their State Assembly Speaker would appoint a solid conservative to a major committee, such as Budget? Does anyone believe that in any blue controlled state legislative body, let’s say Virginia, that they would appoint a conservative to a key committee?

So, why is it here, in Texas, the preeminent constitutional conservative red state in America, that we have a Texas House Speaker taking this action?

West isn't wrong to ask the question.

It's about time somebody did.

If Texas' alleged incumbent "leadership" cares a whit about the long term future, that is a question for which they ought to have an answer.

That being said, the post also illustrates why we can't get too excited.  West is correct that placing Mary Gonzalez on LBB illustrates that the leadership of the Texas house has bad priorities.  But would Allan West really be happy with Drew Darby.

Because, if you're content with Drew Darby over Mary Gonzalez, that ain't gonna get Texas where it needs to go.

As we explained on Thursday, the biggest difference between Drew Darby and Mary Gonzalez is honest.  Yes, it's certainly true that Mary Gonzalez likes to spend taxpayer money for lots of dubious causes.  But Mary Gonzalez will at least tell you that to your face.  Drew Darby, on the other hand, will tell you what you want to hear to your face while undermining your position behind closed doors.

It's the difference between spending money on unions in El Paso vs. spending money on good ol' boys in San Angelo.

Neither is good.

Still, kudos to Allan West for breaching the subject.

It certainly warrants discussion.

Bottom Line: It's certainly the case that the so-called 'leadership' in the Texas house doesn't have the best priorities....

#TXLEGE: Bonnen replaces Dishonest, Unlikeable ,Liberal with Honest, Likeable, One

"Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another."
Ephesians 4:25

ICYMI:

AUSTIN – On Monday, Speaker Dennis Bonnen appointed Representative Mary González to the Legislative Budget Board. “Thank you Speaker Bonnen for entrusting me with this opportunity to serve as a member of the Legislative Budget Board. I am humbled to carry on the work of Representative Drew Darby as a valued member of the Board and trusted voice for our rural communities,” Gonzalez shared.

“Our state’s budget at its core is a reflection of the values of all Texans. In the face of our current health and economic crisis, we will have an even bigger task to provide resources that prioritize working families, our seniors, and our children’s future. I look forward to joining the Board and continuing the work to achieve a fiscally sound budget that puts Texas families first.”

The Legislative Budget Board is a committee of ten legislators responsible for working with state agencies to form the preliminary state budget in advance of each legislative session.

There's been a decent amount of ink spilled about this move.  Texas Scorecard has a good summary of Gonzalez's record.  Likewise, Kyle Biedermann.

The criticisms tend to revolve around Bonnen replacing an alleged Republican with an open Democrat.  That's certainly true.  Bonnen really did do that and it's very valid to criticize him for so doing.

It's also very much the case that Darby was on Bonnen's list during this Michael Quinn Sullivan episode, and that Bonnen continues to play those games.

Still, it's hard to get too upset.

She's replacing Drew Darby.

Historically, Darby supported high property taxes until doing so became politically untenable.  He's never lifted a finger on spending.  Darby's career record on fiscal policy has been smoke and mirrors interspersed with occasional intervals of doing the bare minimum.

While it's absolutely true that Mary Gonzalez will pursue a pretty liberal fiscal policy, she'll also tell you the truth about that that's what she's doing.

That's not nothing.

Bottom Line: Neither one would be our first choice for this position, however...we understand the arguments.

#TXLEGE: Bonnen's "Select Committee on Mass Violence prevention" is a Rogue's Gallery

"Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me."
Nehemiah 4:18

YIKES:

New: @RepDennisBonnen appoints 13 members to new House Select Committee on Mass Violence Prevention and Community Safety. Notably, @drewdarby4Tx is chair. #txlege pic.twitter.com/qHdc3QIEGL

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) September 4, 2019

That list...pretty much speaks for itself.

A couple of these can be justified due to geography.  Specifically, Joe Moody and Cesar Blanco are from El Paso.  So those are understandable.  Likewise, Brooks Landgraf from Odessa.

Still...Poncho?!?  Julie Johnson?!?  Disproportionate Democrat representation?!?

[sarc]We're sure Chairman Drew Darby, Charlie Geren, and Giovanni Capriglione won't sell out our rights. [/sarc]

Bottom Line: That this committee has an equal number of D's and R's despite a solid R majority tells you everything you need to know.

#TXLEGE: Will anyone who's Actually GOOD run for Speaker?!?

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
Proverbs 29:2

Soo...Four Price officially hopped in the race for speaker today.

Whoopee!!!

That was preceded last week by...Drew Darby!!!

Yaaay!

And the previous four weren't anything to write home about either.

We seem to have a number of RINO's hopping in, but nobody to actually rally around.

Obviously, a Freedom caucus member would be ideal.  But, given the internal dynamics of the caucus, that's not necessary.  Still, you'd think someone would have hopped in by now.

In fairness, caveats apply.  We don't currently know the composition of the caucus.  And we won't know the composition of the caucus until after November.  But there's an opportunity here, and you'd think someone would take it.

Imagine a scenario where a Conservative(ish) member declares for speaker.  They then declare their top priority is to pass all five RPT legislative priorities.  Then they swoop in and play hero, getting the caucus members facing tough general elections across the finish line.  The script is written, we're just waiting for the hero.

[Note: Once campaign finance reports start coming out, it'll be very interesting to see where the declared speaker candidates are spending their money.]

That being said, the sheer number of candidates on the RINO side indicates that they don't have consensus.  With the amount of ego on that side, it doesn't take a genius to see a situation where nobody wants to step aside.  If the RINO's are divided, that's a good thing.

Bottom Line: Still very, very, early in the process.  But there's an opportunity.  You'd think someone wants to take it.

#TXLEGE: Darby (completely predictably) preparing to stab Abbott in back....

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
1 Corinthians 15:33

Shot (Today):

As the 2019 legislative session in Texas fast approaches, behind the scenes the race for the next Speaker of the House is heating up, with growing reports that State Rep. Drew Darby (R–San Angelo) is gearing up to join the race.

Capitol sources suggest that Darby wanted to publicly join the race as early as February of this year, but has since decided to mount his campaign behind the scenes.

In February, Texas Scorecard reported that Darby sent campaign donations to a number of establishment colleagues, including several members opposed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Since then, Darby has reportedly been attempting to build goodwill with colleagues in both parties in an attempt to establish a coalition of Democrats and liberal Republicans to take the gavel in January.

Chaser (Last November):

AUSTIN, TX -- Governor Greg Abbott today announced his endorsement of State Representative Drew Darby for re-election. Darby is a sixth term incumbent, representing House District 72 which encompasses Coke, Concho, Glasscock, Howard, Irion, Reagan, Runnels, Sterling, and Tom Green Counties, an area larger than seven states.

“The next legislative session presents an opportunity to lower Texans’ property taxes, reform our broken school finance system, and further protect life,” said Governor Abbott. “As an experienced legislator, Representative Darby has a deep understanding of these issues and will play a key role in helping accomplish these goals. I am proud to endorse Representative Darby for re-election and urge the voters of House District 72 to join me in supporting him in the upcoming election.”

Of course, some of us predicted this at the time [Note: How funny is it that Darby removed the original Facebook post boasting about the Abbott endorsement].

Bottom Line: This was completely predictable, which is why we predicted it.

Incoherent Abbott makes good local government accountability proposal (how he plans to pass it is anyone's guess)

"But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God."
Nehemiah 5:15

We'll start with the good news:

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday unveiled a plan to "rein in skyrocketing property taxes" in Texas, looking to lay down a marker in a debate that dominated the legislative sessions last year and promises to remain front and center through the 2018 primaries and beyond.

"Under the plan I am announcing today, Texas will take action to limit property tax growth, secure private property rights and ensure that Texas remains the most exceptional state in the nation," Abbott, a Republican who is running for re-election this year, said in a statement as he embarked on a tour of the state — with stops planned here and in Arlington — to promote the plan.

A key tenet of Abbott’s proposal is to prevent cities, counties and school districts from collecting more than 2.5 percent in property tax revenue than they did in a previous year without voter approval. That’s a far lower cap than controversial thresholds that twice failed to make it through the Legislature last year. And his plan would require that two-thirds of voters — well beyond a simple majority — approve any increase above that 2.5 percent threshold.

But Abbott’s plan also offers local leaders something last year’s property tax overhauls didn’t. The state would no longer be able to saddle local governments with providing new services without providing state funding to cover the costs, he said. And when it comes to funding public education — which makes up the majority of local property tax bills — Texas lawmakers would likely be required to put up more state funds under Abbott’s proposal.


....


Another provision in the proposal would also require local governments to be more transparent about the debt they carry when asking voters to approve new bond packages. And it would also require a supermajority of voters to approve additional debt.

This is good.  The unrestricted growth of government at the local level is the number 1 long term economic threat to Texas.  And Abbott's proposal today goes further to address the issue than anything we saw during either the regular or the special session of the 85.

But let's not kid ourselves: It's hard to see how this proposal goes anywhere as long as Dennis Bonnen and Drew Darby remain in the house, and Greg Abbott has endorsed both Dennis Bonnen and (*yack*) Drew Darby.

So there you go: Abbott's making good proposals, but he's not doing the legwork necessary to give himself a legislature that will be receptive to said proposals.

Bottom Line: The Abbott campaign loves to run stupid hashtag campaigns asking people to pledge "hashtagI'mwithAbbott."  But we often find ourselves wondering whether or not Abbott is truly with Abbott.  Today's announcement was a textbook example why.

Sayonara, Greg Abbott's credibility....

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
1 Corinthians 15:33

Wow:



To understand the full significance of this move, consider recent history.

Greg Abbott, July 17th 2017:

Gov. Greg Abbott said that he would publicly call out lawmakers who didn’t support his 20-item legislative agenda while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick came out swinging against House leadership during Monday appearances on the eve of Texas' special legislative session.

Abbott said he would aggressively hold lawmakers accountable for their positions on his legislative agenda and encouraged others to do the same.

“I’m going to be establishing a list,” he said in remarks before the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank. “We all need to establish lists that we publish on a daily basis to call people out — who is for this, who is against this, who has not taken a position yet. No one gets to hide.”

Drew Darby, two days later:

• Darby, in response to question from this author: "I'm opposed to any lowering of the rollback rate" on property taxes.

• Darby compares Abbott holding legislators accountable to parents threatening children during Christmas.

Then, of course, there's the fact that Darby was a key player in killing property tax reform during the regular session.

Bottom Line: With Abbott's previous endorsements, even if we didn't agree, there was a case to be made from his perspective.  That case doesn't exist for Drew Darby.  Drew Darby was a key player in killing Greg Abbott's agenda and any legislature where Drew Darby returns will do the same.

#TXLEGE: Thoughts on #SINEDIE (take 2)....

"For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God."
Romans 8:19

We're still digesting the past 24 hours, but a few observations in no particular order:

• 83 Republican house members showed up to today's caucus meeting.  That's a heck of a lot more than we expected.  We were also pleasantly surprised by the length of the meeting.

• Joe Straus personally showing up is an admission that all is not well in the Republican caucus.

• There was a whole bunch of traditional media at today's caucus meeting; media interest can only raise the profile of the issue..

• We're not sure who said it (Jim Graham?!?) but they're absolutely correct: You can't support both Greg Abbott and Joe Straus anymore.
• At this point, it remains an open question whether Greg Abbott supports Greg Abbott or Joe Straus.

• The arrogance of house leadership remains a sight to behold: Had they simply shown up for work this morning, they probably could have run out the clock with a fairly typical act of failure theater.  But they just had to jam their thumb in the eye of Abbott, Patrick/the Senate, and the Texas grassroots.  In doing so, they elevated their profile all over again.
• Note: The only reason we haven't completely given up on Greg Abbott is because the degree to which he's been publicly disrespected essentially demands a response.

• Apparently, the house Republican caucus has a September retreat scheduled; grassroots activists really ought to crash that party.
• Note: If the new RPT leadership really wanted to impress this website, they'd convince the caucus make the whole event open to the public.

• The kumbaya messaging coming out of today's caucus meeting was obnoxious.

• Abbott said all the right things in today's radio interview.  But Greg Abbott frequently says all the right things.  Its Greg Abbott's follow through that leaves a lot to be desired.

• Another special session won't accomplish anything right now.
• Note: But then there's redistricting....

• The Senate is certainly isn't perfect, but they're moving in the right direction.
• Note: And some of those moves are VERY significant....

• In both Austin and DC, the Republicans aren't getting the job done; if the grassroots are smart, they'll find challengers areas where bad Texas and U.S. members share territory and knock out multiple birds with one stone.
• Example: Michael Conaway and Drew Darby have overlapping districts.  Ditto Kevin Brady and Dan Huberty/Ernest Bailes.  Pete Sessions/Jason Villalba.
• UPDATE: Duh...Lamar Smith/Joe Straus.

• Random Thought: We wonder if the Texas Association of Business has ever taken any money from George Soros?!?
• cc: Abbott, Greg

• We're getting really, really, really sick of the socialized education industrial complex's sense of entitlement....

#TXLEGE: Darby's 'abolish school taxes' constitutional amendment...out of committee?!? :D

"But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God."
Nehemiah 5:15

"Replace the property tax system with an alternative other than the income tax and require voter approval to increase the overall tax burden."
Republican Party of Texas, Legislative Priority #5

Confession: We didn't see this one coming....



At least one note of caution is in order: the enabling statute is still pending in committee (also, they haven't posted the committee substitute language).

Furthermore, let's be clear about something else: If the voters were to approve this constitutional amendment, it would set up an incredibly high states debate over education funding next session that can go any number of ways...good or bad.

But it's a start.

Also, automatic rollbacks with NOVEMBER elections still needs to get done during the current special session; but this constitutional amendment is absolutely a worthwhile piece of further reform.

Bottom Line:


via GIPHY

#TXLEGE: Bonnen holds productive hearing on alternatives to property taxes....

"But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God."
Nehemiah 5:15

"replace the property tax system with an alternative other than the income tax and require voter approval to increase the overall tax burden."
Republican Party of Texas, Legislative priority #5

[Note: The hearing can be viewed here; our first testimony can be viewed very early, the second is about two and a half hours in.]

Something happened this afternoon that, in a few years, we might look back on as a significant turning point in the discussion of taxes in this state: For the first time ever, the House offered attractive alternatives to the Senate's property tax proposals.

The House ways and means committee heard seven bills this afternoon, of particular note are these five:

• HB 82         Darby | et al.
  Relating to the abolition of school district maintenance and operations ad valorem taxes.
• HB 285        Murr                 
  Relating to elimination of certain property taxes for school district maintenance and operations and providing public education funding through an increase in the state sales and use tax rate.
• HB 301        Krause               
  Relating to the substitution of a local sales and use tax for property taxes imposed by certain local governments; authorizing the imposition of a tax.
• HB 358        White                
  Relating to supporting public education funding through an increase in the state sales and use tax rate and requiring a reduction in school district maintenance and operation ad valorem taxes; making an appropriation; increasing the rate of a tax.
• HJR 21        Darby | et al.       
  Proposing a constitutional amendment abolishing school district maintenance and operations ad valorem taxes.

All of the bills would, in some form, substitute sales taxes for some portion of property taxes.

We testified "ON" two of the bills (we also signed up in favor of the Darby constitutional amendment/bill, but didn't stick around to testify).  We LOVE this concept, we just haven't had a chance to read any of these bills.  And that's our only hesitation in the context of the current special session.

Any bill that would authorize this sort of tax swap would, by definition, be big and complicated.  And any bill that would be this big, and this complicated, would need to be thoroughly vetted for unintended consequences by a team of lawyers.  Also, anything this big and complicated would produce a lot of opinions over how it could be most effectively implemented.  Thus, an open process is necessary for widespread buy-in.  Therefore, we feel that it's a better idea to do an interim charge on this topic before taking action in 2019.

Furthermore, as just one example of the type of thorny political debates this sort of tax swap would create: Broadening the base on the sales tax means you're going to be paying sales taxes on your grocery bill.

But assuming both the substantive and the political issues could be resolved in a way that produces a reasonable amount of buy in from the general public, we could absolutely get behind this sort of effort.

[Note: None of this is to suggest that anything short of automatic rollback elections is sufficient for the current special session.  That still needs to happen.  While we commend the House for finally offering an attractive alternative, the Senate are the ones who've been working on this issue for months and it's their plan that needs to pass for the current special session to be judged a success on this issue.]

Bottom Line: The road to making this sort of tax swap work will be long and winding.  Any journey down a long and winding road needs to be taken very carefully.  But all journeys, now matter how long and winding, begin with a first step and we commend Dennis Bonnen for taking it today.

#TXLEGE: House attempts spending spree (that will probably be unsuccessful)....

"Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction,
But he who regards a rebuke will be honored."
Proverbs 13:18

An optimist can argue that this was the first time during the special session that there was any organized floor pushback on anything and that the author of the second bill gutted his own bill via amendment.  A pessimist can argue that both bills passed overwhelmingly.  A realist can argue that the Senate approach is the only one that's going to get to the governor's desk and thus everything the house did today was pointless.

Today, the house voted out two bills related to teacher retirement; we'll address the bills in order.

• HB 20 (Ashby): This bill would raid the rainy day fund to make an allegedly "one time" payment to the teacher retirement system.
  
  During his layout of the bill, Trent Ashby repeatedly tried to assure the members that there would never be another raid of the rainy day fund to prop up this program ever again; if you believe Ashby, we have mineral rights in South Texas that we would love to sell you.
  
  That being said, this was the first time there was actual pushback from members on any bill during the special session.  Bill Zedler had a good exchange with Ashby pointing out that the fund is financially unsustainable.  Matt Krause discussed the inappropriateness of using the rainy day fund for this purpose.
  
  Mike Schofield attempted to offer an amendment to draw from general revenue instead of the rainy day fund.  Straus went full dictator and ruled the amendment non-germane.  Schofield ultimately caved, but gave a long speech about how "he was only voting for the bill to get it to a conference committee."
  
  Speaking against the bill, Jonathan Stickland explained: "I think voting against this bill is voting against political maneuvering."
  
  Ultimately, the Freedom caucus (minus Jeff Leach) and Jim Murphy were the only one who voted no.
  
  
  
• HB 80 (Darby): You know it's a bad sign when the bill author begins his layout by stating "the fund is not currently actuarially sound"...but that's how floor debate over this bill began.
  
  This bill was originally intended to give a cost of living increase to retired teachers.  Due to questions raised by members prior to the bill reaching the floor, Drew Darby offered an amendment to give "pre-permission" to do a cost of living adjustment "if the fund ever gets actuarially sound."  Essentially, the bill does nothing unless the fund sees freakishly good investment returns.
  
  Yvonne Davis called Darby's bill "disingenuous" and voted no.

-----

That being said, we got an idea this afternoon for how we could find a fairly substantial chunk of change; it wouldn't fix all problems with the fund, but it would buy some time.

The teacher retirement fund has a gigantic office complex, on prime real estate, two blocks from the Capitol.  If the state were to sell the property for mixed use development, we suspect they could net at least $1 billion.  Whatever personnel are actually needed to manage the fund could be relocated to less expensive land somewhere in East Austin.

Bonus points that this plan would help add supply to address Austin's structural housing shortage:

#TXLEGE: First major #SpecialSession day of House committee hearings.....

"Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!
For You shall judge the people righteously,
And govern the nations on earth. Selah"
Psalm 67:4

[Note: We'll post links to the videos as they become available.]

The House had its first major day of committee hearings today.  We signed up to testify on seven bills and deliverd that testimony on four.  Bills we support will be listed in green, bills about which we are neutral will be listed in yellow, and bills we oppose will be listed in red.

• HB 70 (Workman): "Relating to a property owner's right to remove a tree or vegetation."
  
  We testified in favor of the House version of the tree bill in the Urban Affairs committee.  We echoed the property rights related arguments you've seen delivered elsewhere.  We also pointed out that trees usually add value to a property, which means that property owners rarely want to cut them down, but in the cases where it's necessary they shouldn't have to wade through a cumbersome process to do so.
  
  But, let's be honest: This is not the first time this author has testified in front of the Urban Affairs committee this session.  We testified in favor of two separate property rights related bills in this committee during the regular session, and the Democrat committee chair refused to vote either one out of committee.  As chair of the urban affairs committee, Carol Alvarado has a bad recent record on moving property rights related bills.

• HB 71 (Bohac): "Relating to the limitation on increases in the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation."
  
  We testified in favor of this bill in the Ways and Means committee.  To be honest, we were pleasantly surprised that Dennis Bonnen chose to give it a hearing.  It's well within the bounds of the special session call.
  
  The short version of why we support this bill is because there's two places to reign in the property tax system: the appraisal and the rate; while we fully support the discussion related to tax rates that's been generating more attention, we'd also love to do something about the appraisal system.

• HB 124 (GREG Bonnen): "Relating to the date for ordering or holding an election to ratify the ad valorem tax rate of a school district."
  
  We signed up to testify on this bill in Ways and Means but were out of the room when our name was called.
  
  This bill would require tax ratification elections for school districts to be held alongside November general elections; this would make it harder for school districts to game the system by calling tax ratification elections at strange time where only district employees show up to vote.

• HJR 18 (Howard): "Proposing a constitutional amendment requiring the state to pay at least 50 percent of the cost of maintaining and operating the public school system and prohibiting the comptroller from certifying legislation containing an appropriation unless the requirement is met."
  
  We testified neutrally on this bill in the Appropriations committee.
  
  As we explained in our testimony in the school finance testimony yesterday, we don't think it's entirely crazy to say that the state should pick up a greater share of the education tab.  But, for that deal to make sense, the additional state funding needs to be accompanied by some form of structural reform to the system or dollar for dollar reductions in local property taxes (preferably both).  But the house seems to really, really want to do a school finance package and we want to make clear what we would need to see to become interested.

• HB 80 (Darby):  "Relating to a cost-of-living adjustment applicable to certain benefits paid by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas."
  
  We were out of the room when we were called to testify on this bill in Appropriation but we oppose it because it pours more money into the current broken system without any reform.
  
  Appropriations also considered multiple bills related to raiding the rainy day fund to pay for teacher health care, which would be a terrible idea.

• HB 3 (Dennis Bonnen): "Relating to ad valorem taxation; authorizing fees."
  
  This is the property tax transparency bill Bonnen started pushing late in the regular session when the he was unable to get the automatic rollback election bill out of his committee.  We testified in favor of the bill as an improvement over current law.  But we also made it clear that we did not consider this bill sufficient to call the 85th legislative session successful on property taxes.
  
  This led to a moderately contentious exchange with Bonnen about the relative merits of transparency vs. automatic rollbacks.  Bonnen attempted to argue that we were saying that we'd be fine with taxing entities raising taxes just up to the limit into perpetuity.  We pointed out to the chairman that moving from a forgiveness based system to a permission based system was the biggest thing anyone was discussing at the moment.
  
  Another fun fact we realized after discussion of this bill: Mayor Adler also testified in favor of this bill; while this isn't the first time Mayor Adler and this author have agreed on an issue, the fact that he's supporting it should tell you everything you need to know about the practical effect it will have.

• HB 4 (Dennis Bonnen): "Relating to the calculation of the ad valorem rollback tax rate of a taxing unit and voter approval of a proposed tax rate that exceeds the rollback tax rate."
  
  We had to leave before Bonnen called us to testify, but considering we'd had a sharp exchange of views during the previous bill he knows why this authors supports this bill.
  
  That being said, the most notable aspect of the testimony on this bill was that the local officials all showed up and lost their minds in opposition to this bill; had we been able to stick around, we would have pointed out to the chair that those people being that upset should tell you everything you need to know about which of his two bills would have had a greater impact.
  
  It's also worth pointing out that Drew Springer and even one of the Democrats on the committee grew visibly exasperated with some of the disingenuous claims made by the local officials; we'll see what that means for getting this bill out of committee.

Bottom Line: We'll know how quickly these bills are moving in a couple days.

#TXLEGE: Early #SpecialSession Battle Lines Drawn

"A whip for the horse,
A bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the fool’s back."
Proverbs 26:3

We attended this morning's trib event with Carol Alvarado, Drew Darby, and Matt Schaefer; the TL,DR version is that Alvarado was crankier than usual, Darby doubled down on support for Straus (while explicitly coming out against property tax reform), and Shaefer thrived in the face of a withering assault from Alvarado and the audience.




Highlights:

• Schaefer: Call items = "conservative home run."

• Alvarado calls Schaefer "obsessed" with protecting life.
• Note: Guilty as charged.

• Darby: Straus "not a hands on speaker."
• Note: Bullshit.
• "If we [the house members] don't want a bill to move, it's not going to move."

• Alvarado endorses Straus' "school finance is the only way to lower property taxes" nonsense.
• More Accurate Headline: Democrat echoes Straus' position on property taxes.

• Alvarado calls the rule of law "anti-freedom."

• Darby compares Abbott holding legislators accountable to parents threatening children during Christmas.
• "I object."

• Alvarado: "I'm going to be holding hearings on substantive issues" in Urban affairs.
• Note: Duly noted re: historical zoning.

• Alvarado: Revenue caps in Houston haven't worked.
• Note: LOL

• Darby: "The House's position on these issues hasn't changed."
• "I am not going to change my position."

• Schaefer: "There was a slowness to the work of the House" during the regular session.

• Alvarado calls teacher pay increase "unfair to local school districts."
• Endorses raiding Rainy Day fund as alternative.

• Darby throws privacy act under the bus.

• Alvarado keeps door open on busting quorum.

• Darby, in response to question from this author: "I'm opposed to any lowering of the rollback rate" on property taxes.
• Note: We worded our question to Darby about property taxes very specifically see if he would pivot to discussing his property tax bills as an alternative to changing the rollback formula.  He did not.  Thus, it seems unlikely that Darby any intention of pursuing those bills and merely filed them as election season CYA.

-----

Representative Drew Darby: (512) 463-0331

#TXLEGE: Numerous Strong #SpecialSession Property tax bills already filed!!!

"But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God."
Nehemiah 5:15

During his press conference announcing the special session, Governor Abbott said he wanted to see property tax relief in the form of "SB 2 [from the regular session] or better;" the precise language from the call leaves wide latitude for 'or better':

Legislation reforming the laws governing ad valorem property taxes.

While the big enchilada property tax bills have yet to be unveiled, a number of other property tax bills have been filed that fall well within the bounds of "or better":

• HJR 16/HB 44 (Keough): "Relating to a limitation on increases in the appraised value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes."
  
  While it could go further, Keough's constitutional amendment and bill would begin to reign in out-of-control appraisal growth and it would apply those limits to all property, not just residential homesteads.

• HJR 19/HB 71 (Bohac): "Relating to the limitation on increases in the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation."
  
  Bohac's constitutional amendment and bill is similar to Keough's but only applies to residential homesteads, not all property.

• HB 75 (Darby): "Relating to transferring to the property tax relief fund one-half of any unencumbered balance of general revenue at the end of a state fiscal biennium."
  
  Darby's bill would dedicate half of any unspent revenue at the end of a budget cycle to property tax relief.

• HJR 21/HB 82 (Darby): "Relating to the abolition of school district maintenance and operations ad valorem taxes.
  
  Darby's constitutional amendment and bill would eliminate the largest part of school district property taxes.
  
  [Note: Considering his role in killing property tax relief during the regular session, clearly Darby was taken to the woodshed by the Governor during the interim.]

• HJR 23/HB 88 (Bell): "Relating to a limitation on increases in the appraised value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes.
  
  Bell's constitutional amendment and bill is similar to Keough's but with a whole bunch of exemptions related to local corporate welfare agreements.

• HB 91 (Swanson): "Relating to the abolition of ad valorem taxes and a study of alternative methods of taxation to replace revenue lost to political subdivisions as a result of the abolition of ad valorem taxes."
  
  This is similar to the abolition of property taxes bill Swanson filed during the regular session and is consistent with the RPT legislative priority on property taxes abolition.

• SB 21 (Nelson): "Relating to the system for protesting or appealing certain ad valorem tax determinations; authorizing a fee."
  
  Nelson's bill is rather complicated, but to the best of our understanding it would increase taxpayer protections in the appraisal appeal process and give the office of the Comptroller significantly more jurisdiction over appraisal boards.

A cynic will note that a number of these measures are constitutional amendments, meaning they need 100 votes in the House and 21 in the Senate to pass.  Thus, some of these measures might be more intended for show than for implementation.  That's certainly possible, but if events break in the right way we don't think it's inconceivable that a few of these make it across the finish line around day 26 or day 27 of the special.

And, again, keep in mind that the main property tax measure has yet to be unveiled.

Bottom Line: The status quo crowd should have taken 5% automatic rollback elections when that was the deal on the table.

#TXLEGE: Charlie Geren marries Karl Rove crony....

From Left to Right: Kelly Hancock, Geanie Morrison, Carol Alvarado, Kel Seliger, Charlie Geren, the New Mrs. Geren, Joe Straus, Drew Darby, and Four Price.

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
1 Corinthians 15:33

Via Carol Alvarado's (natch) twitter:

House & Senate come 2gether 2 celebrate SURPRISE wedding of @charliegeren & Mindy Elmer! @85thLegislature @TXlege pic.twitter.com/Q0MJSInENN

— Carol Alvarado (@RepAlvarado145) June 2, 2017

Mindy Geren (nee. Elmer) is a well known lobbyist around the Capitol.  During the past legislative session, Geren and Elmer were accused of conflicts of interest related to legislation he was carrying and her position as an AT&T lobbyist.  In fairness to the Gerens, this website thinks those specific accusations are an exaggerated nothing-burger.  [Update 3/1/2018: Given everything we've learned during the 2018 primary campaign, we retract the crossed out sentence and want to emphasize that Charlie Geren is such a sociopath that there's nothing we'd put past him.]

That being said, when a bill to close a loophole that allows lobbyists to hide how much they're spending to wine and dine legislators dies in committee, it does strike one as notable when the bill author marries a lobbyist the day after sine die:

But our favorite Mindy Geren story, including her close connections with Karl Rove, can be viewed here.

Bottom Line: We suppose that, on a personal level, we wish the Gerens the best....

#TXLEGE: Dennis Bonnen is an incompetent dimwit....

"The wise shall inherit glory,
But shame shall be the legacy of fools."
Proverbs 3:35

Oh good grief:

The most controversial provisions of the Texas Senate’s property tax bill — the thresholds for when cities and counties must get voter approval for their tax rates — were stripped from the legislation in a House committee Friday.

....

The House Ways and Means Committee on Friday amended and passed an already reworked version of SB 2 to remove the provisions, which have drawn ire from city officials, county leaders and first responders for months.

“We didn’t have the votes to move the bill out of committee with them in the bill,” said Ways and Means Chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton.

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

This is pathetic.  On a committee that has a  8-3 Republican supermajority, you "didn't have the votes"?!?  Seriously?!?

Bottom Line: The opportunity still exists to fix this bill via floor amendments, but the fact that that process will even be necessary speaks volumes.

#TXLEGE: Politics getting played on Property Taxes....

"But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God."
Nehemiah 5:15

We attended the first hour of this morning's hearing on the House's version of the property tax 'relief' bill.  Long story short: there's a committee substitute.  While there are a number of changes, the most important one is that rollback elections would no longer be automatic.

According to sources, Chairman Bonnen introduced the substitute because Drew Darby, Drew Springer, and Hugh Shine are refusing to vote the Senate version of the bill out of committee.  Thus, the committee substitute is a mechanism to get the bill to a conference committee.  Apparently, the theory is that the bill can be strengthened in conference.

We hope you'll pardon us if we mention we've heard this before.

But here's the extraordinary thing: Even though the bill (at least as it currently stands) has been gutted, the butthurt disingenuous local officials are still testifying that the sky will fall.  The city of Sugarland alone had 3 officials show up to testify.  The highlight so far was hearing some yutz from some city council somewhere complain that requiring local governments to seek voter approval for gigantic tax increases would inject "partisan politics" into municipal budgeting.  In a weird way, this is actually a healthy development because it shows just how incorrigible the local government industrial complex really is.  We left as the Texas Municipal league was having a press conference (and yes, Mayor Adler, we see you) in the back rotunda:

Similarly, it was interesting to observe Bonnen's exasperation with the local government industrial complex.  For as much as Bonnen has bent over backwards to accommodate them with this committee substitute, they're still using the same over the top rhetoric.  Bonnen was visibly irritated and snippy.

Here's the thing: They have 19 days to get this done.  We don't like or trust what happened this morning, but we don't have a choice but to support moving the process forward.  We'll know a lot more about the seriousness of this effort by whether or not they vote the bill out tonight.

Bottom Line: We'll see what happens, the clock is ticking....

-----

House Ways and Means Committee:

Chairman Dennis Bonnen: (512) 463-0564

Republicans opposed:
Drew Darby: (512) 463-0331
Drew Springer: (512) 463-0526
Hugh Shine: (512) 463-0630

-----

According to sources, Governor Abbott got personally engaged this morning.  Welcome to the fight.  If he were to indicate a willingness to call a special session over the issue, it would help matters tremendously.

Governor Greg Abbott: (512) 463-2000

We've also posted the question on Twitter:

#TXLEGE: @GregAbbott_TX Will you call a special session if #Propertytax relief fails to make to your desk during the regular?!?

— cahnman (@cahnman) May 10, 2017

#TXLEGE: Bonnen hears (at least) 9 more special interest carve out bills (98 for session)....

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

It's that time of week when we check on the latest from Dennis Bonnen and the Texas House Ways and Means committee:

• HB 660        Villalba | et al.
  Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for Texas state flags.
• HB 976        Giddings
  Relating to the exemption from the sales tax for certain school art supplies during limited periods.
• HB 1164       Guillen
  Relating to the application of the sales and use tax to the lease or rental to a caterer of certain tangible personal property.
• HB 2621       Darby                 
  Relating to state and local tax incentives for certain enhanced oil recovery projects.
• HB 3138       Gutierrez               
  Relating to the definition of intangible personal property for ad valorem tax purposes.
• HB 3389       Schofield              
  Relating to fees taxed as costs of suit for certain delinquent tax suits.
• HB 3709       Sheffield             
  Relating to authorizing a county to impose a tax on the sale of certain solid materials and substances.
• HB 3975       Ashby                 
  Relating to qualification of land for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as timber land.
• HB 3999       Isaac | et al.        
  Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of certain property used to provide affordable housing.

#TXLEGE: Bonnen hears (at least) 14 more special interest carve out bills (89 for session)....

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

It's that time of week when we check on the latest from Dennis Bonnen and the Texas House Ways and Means committee:

• HB 725        Bohac                   
  Relating to the exclusion from total revenue of certain payments received by health care providers for purposes of computing the franchise tax.

• HB 1578       Sanford                
  Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge revenue from the municipal hotel occupancy tax for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.

• HB 1614       Parker                 
  Relating to a franchise tax credit for enterprise projects for certain capital investments.

• HB 1680       Frullo                 
  Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.

• HB 1682       Bohac | et al.         
  Relating to the sales and use tax exemption for the repair, remodeling, or maintenance of aircraft.

• HB 1721       Bonnen, Greg | et al.  
  Relating to an exemption from and a limitation on the sales tax imposed on certain boats and boat motors.

• HB 2182       Reynolds | et al.      
  Relating to the authority of a county assistance district to impose a sales and use tax.

• HB 2591       Herrero                
  Relating to the exemption from taxes and special assessments of property of a navigation district.

• HB 2794       Giddings               
  Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.

• HB 3045       Dale                   
  Relating to an election to reduce or increase the sales and use tax rate imposed by a municipality for the benefit of a Type B development corporation.

• HB 3201       Darby                  
  Relating to the designation of a well as a two-year inactive well or three-year inactive well for purposes of the oil and gas severance tax exemption.

• HB 3549       Wray                   
  Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for certain cleaning services performed for a health care facility.

• HB 3843       Anderson, Rodney       
  Relating to a franchise or insurance premium tax credit for low-income housing developments.

• HB 4187       Raney                  
  Relating to the use of revenue from municipal hotel occupancy taxes for a sports facility or field in certain municipalities.

Bonnen belatedly considers Margins tax; still hears (at least) 10 special interest carve outs (33 for session)....

"He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
But whoever walks wisely will be delivered."
Proverbs 28:26

The (mildly) good news from this morning's Ways and Means committee agenda: They heard four bills related to eliminating the margins tax.  To be certain, the Senate heard their version of this bill a month ago and voted it out of the full chamber last week.  But still, Bonnen is hearing margins tax bills early enough for something to make it to the Governor's desk, and that's worth noting.

Even so, check out some of the other bills Ways and Means heard this morning:

• HB 926        Murr
  Relating to the authority of certain counties to impose a hotel occupancy tax.

• HB 1300       Springer
  Relating to the collection and use of municipal hotel occupancy taxes.

• HB 1325       Nevárez
  Relating to the application of the sales and use tax to certain services involving real property.

• HB 1529       Lambert | et al.
  Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.

• HB 1896       Bohac
  Relating to the application of and use of revenue from hotel occupancy taxes imposed by municipalities and counties.

• HB 2126       Button
  Relating to the franchise tax rate applicable to certain taxable entities that sell telephone prepaid calling cards.

• HB 2277       Darby
  Relating to fixing the median cost of high-cost gas wells.

• HB 2281       Darby
  Relating to miscellaneous gross receipts taxes on utility companies.

• HB 2690       Morrison, Geanie W.   
  Relating to the allocation of certain state hotel occupancy tax revenue.

• HB 2999       Bonnen, Dennis        
  Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of property owned by certain medical centers in certain counties.

Bottom Line: Even when he does something kinda decent, Dennis Bonnen seems unable to help himself from mixing it in with a whole bunch of awful....