#TXLEGE: Who does Leach think he's kidding?!?

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?"

Matthew 7:3

Apparently, Chip Roy was (correctly) raising heck in D.C. yesterday:

Well, hardly anything surprises me anymore - but ⁦@SpeakerPelosi⁩ just tore up the Constitution by jamming “proxy voting” thru so members of Congress can turn over their obligation to work for constituents to other members. We ask Americans to work. So should Congress. pic.twitter.com/al7fwiCeOv

— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) May 15, 2020

O.K. Good deal Chip Roy. Ghost/proxy voting is a wretched procedure.

Then this happened:

You're joking, right?!?

As we explained:

It's funny 'cuz proxy voting happens every single day (sometimes dozens of times per day) the Texas house is in session.

(But good deal @chiproytx for trying to keep this travesty out of Congress; we've seen how corrupting it is back home.)

Clerk will ring the bell....#TXLEGE https://t.co/jTmnJpnYFy

— cahnman (@cahnman) May 16, 2020

Case in point:

From last session:

But this isn’t a ghost story. It’s a story of representatives helping each other via an informed courtesy involving pushing their voting buttons when they’re away from their desks. Lots of votes are cast on a long day in the House. And lots of times members are elsewhere in the chamber when votes come up. They often leave instructions with desk neighbors on how they want to be shown voting, though they have to be in the chamber to vote.

But sometimes those votes are cast when a member is not in the chamber nor in the building nor even in Austin. That’s not supposed to happen.

But sometimes it changes the outcome of a close vote on an important matter.

You get the point, but there's a wealth of additional examples here.

Bottom Line:  For a member of the Texas house to decry ghost/proxy voting is quite something.

Musk threatens to move to state...where his business model is illegal?!?

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

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight:

Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020

This is...kinda interesting.  We don't doubt Mr. Musk's sincerity in deriding state and local officials in California.  But is Elon Musk truly prepared to reward the legislators who have been keeping Tesla out of Texas for (at least) five years.

In Texas, we have something called "auto dealer franchise laws."   These protectionist measures disallow automobile sales without a middle man and a physical retail location.  This is a problem considering that Tesla's entire business model is based around direct to consumer sales.

For those who follow the Texas legislature, this was kinda a big deal in both 2015 and (especially) 2017.

Obviously, it's not illegal for Texas residents to own a Tesla.  There's even a few showrooms.  But all of the financial/paperwork aspects of any transaction must occur in another state.  Is Musk really prepared to overlook that?!?

Bottom Line: For as much fun a this narrative might be, there are a lot of unresolved questions before it materializes.

#TXLEGE: 2015 Turner supporters who got committee chairs suffered biggest dropoff

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
1 John 1:8

[Note: Jeremy Kitchen created a spreadsheet with information about how legislators scored on various indexes.  We consulted it extensively preparing this post.  Due to formating issues, it's easier to discuss conclusions without extensive cutting and pasting.  But we plug it heavily and you can view it for yourself here.]

With Empower Texans' index out, session to session comparisons are now appropriate.

Among the biggest dropoffs: Jeff Leach (-32), Dustin Burrows (-28), and Stephanie Klick (-20).

[Note: Scott Sanford was also a -26, but he's likely to be the subject of another blog post.]

What traits do the three members listed above share?!?  Two sessions ago, all three voted for Scott Turner for Speaker.  This past session, they were committee chairs.

Indeed, they were the reason why we were initially hopeful over Bonnen's committee assignments.

[Note: LOL on what we said about Leach and Klick here.]

One conclusion is obvious: We thought the committee chairs in question would change the house.  Instead, becoming committee chairs changed those members.  Sadly.

The borg adapts, you will be assimilated.

Bottom Line: It just is what it is (but what it is isn't good)....

#TXLEGE: Patrick escalates JUVENILE Conflict with Seliger

"Can a man take fire to his bosom,
And his clothes not be burned?"
Proverbs 6:27

We said what we said on Saturday.

Today we're here:

State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, was just trying to head to a meeting with other Republican members of the Senate when Lt. Gov Dan Patrick stood at this door and told him: “I didn’t invite you to this meeting.” pic.twitter.com/UzSKDU0OtF

— Jeremy Wallace (@JeremySWallace) January 22, 2019

Which begs the natural follow up question:

#TXLEGE: Annnd this is supposed to advance a conservative agenda...how exactly?!? https://t.co/XWDcGCuSAG

— cahnman (@cahnman) January 22, 2019

Followed by this:

PR 01 22 2019 Lt. Gov. Patrick Statement on Senator Seliger Comments by Cahnman on Scribd

Followed by this:

Shorter Seliger: I should’ve told Dan Patrick to kiss my ass instead. https://t.co/DzLMe9QgMl

— Emily Ramshaw (@eramshaw) January 22, 2019

And this:


via GIPHY


It would have been one thing if Patrick and Seliger had had a falling out over a policy issue. Instead, it's over personality.  And the worst part is that Patrick both started and escalated it.

Historically, Dan Patrick has been pretty good at managing the more moderate members of both the R and the D caucuses.  The key is that you allow the moderates in question to pass a lot of small, relatively, inconsequential bills.  Then the moderate either supports Patrick, or stays out of the way, on Patrick's major priorities.  Case in point: Kevin Elitife two sessions ago.

But for some reason, even though it's the obvious play to make with Seliger, Patrick chooses this route.

It's mystifying.

That being said, even at this late date, 3 facts remain the case:

• Dan Patrick needs Kel Seliger more than Kel Seliger needs Dan Patrick.

• Kel Seliger still needs Dan Patrick badly enough that it's in Kel Seliger's interest to find a way to stay on the reservation.

• The price of keeping Kel Seliger on the reservation goes up each time you have one of these public blowups.

Unfortunately, it remains an open question whether anyone in a position of authority recognizes the afore mentioned facts.

Bottom Line:  These are unforced errors.  They need to end.  Right now.

#TXLEGE: Conservative Budget Coalition announces Comprehensive List of Fiscal Priorities!!!

"Be diligent to know the state of your flocks,
And attend to your herds;"
Proverbs 27:23

The Conservative Budget coalition is one of the most effective actions Texas conservatives have taken in recent years.  It began in 2014, following the budget debacle of the 83rd legislature.  It sets a top line number for budget growth that would hold per capita state spending constant.  It's the reason why both the 84th and 85th legislatures passed budgets that, while far (especially in the 85th) from perfect, met a minimum threshold of acceptability.

The coalition held a press conference this morning to announce its priorities.  The most important takeaway is that they're asking for more.  In addition to a maximum spending target, they're asking for several other fantastic fiscal reforms.

$234.1 Billion.  That's the top line number for a two-year state budget that will hold state spending constant per Texan.  This still allows for inflation and population growth.  This translates to an 8% budget cycle over budget cycle spending increase.

But the coalition wants to do more.  Instead of acquiescing to an 8% state spending increase, the coalition wants to limit the state to 4%.  The difference will then be directed to a Tax Relief Fund that will be used to "buy down" school district taxes.  This will provide immediate relief to taxpayer and, if followed over time, eventually eliminate the largest component of Texans property tax bill.  This is the TPPF plan we've discussed.

For us, the best part of today's press conference was that it broke down why the TPPF plan and the Governor's plan complement each other.  The TPPF plan is designed to provide immediate relief on the largest part (school districts) of the tax bill.  The Governor's plan is designed to make sure cities, counties, and special purpose districts don't spend the resulting savings.  The reason why you have to treat school districts differently from cities, counties, and special purpose districts is because of Robin Hood (which the TPPF plan also begins to address).

The plan finally calls for various spending limits, eliminating the margins tax, and various transparency measures.  All of these things are good ideas.  We'd support any!

Bottom Line: If the next legislature wants to know how to make the grassroots happy, today's press conference is a good place to start.

-------

2018 09 PP the 2020 21 Conservative Texas Budget CFP Ginn Peacock Heflin by Cahnman on Scribd

#TXLEGE: Macias apologies for originally electing Capriglione....

"Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor."
Luke 6:16

This is great, but the best part is the explanation about how the reality of the legislative process all-too-often works:



Highlights:

• Gio's chief political strategist in 2011 and '12.

• Held extensive coversations at the time.

• Ran against liberal Republican Vicki Truitt.

• Leadership tells legislators not to vote based on policy or principles, but to vote on personality.
• Giovanni explicitly campaigned on doing the opposite.

• "Over the past six years, I have watched [Giovanni] become everything he campaigned against [in 2012], and for that: I'm sorry."

• Had a good session in 2013.

• "Something happened between his freshman and sophomore year, it is one of the most severe shifts that I have ever witnesses in my entire political career."

• "Giovanni made a decision.  He decided it was better to evaluate each and every one of the votes he takes....And instead of looking at it according to how he had told you he would vote.  Instead, he would see who the author was.  If that author was powerful.   What the chairman of the committee thought that was hearing a bill of his.  Who the leadership was lining up behind, and how that would effect his standing in the chamber."

• That decision making model was exactly what Giovanni campaigned against in 2012.

• Link to the 2015 Mark Jones study.

• Luke fired Giovanni in the summer of 2015: "I turned him down.  I told him I wouldn't work with him."

• Giovanni paid his next consultant $28,000 next cycle.

• Got even worse in 2017.

• In 2012, he campaigned against accounting gimmicks in the budget.  In 2017, he worked to advance a budget full of accounting gimmicks.

• Armin Mizani is his opponent now.

#TXLEGE: Trib unintentionally illustrates how legislative "higher education funding" NEVER stops tuition hikes....

"As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly."
Proverbs 26:11

From the Trib's 2017 in review write up on Higher Education; first item:

But as the legislative session wound on, the funding cuts kept getting smaller. By March, the Senate proposed cutting each school's appropriations by between 6 and 10 percent. By June, negotiations with the House led universities to fare better than many other areas of the state budget. Some schools even saw their funding increase. Though schools still warned that they were having trouble keeping up with growth and inflation, they acknowledged that their worst fears never materialized.

Third item:

When the 2017 legislative session began, Patrick listed halting tuition increases as one of his top priorities for the year. He got a bill through the Senate to freeze tuition, but the legislation died in the House. Soon after, tuition went up again.  Virtually all the major university systems in the state now have plans to impose some sort of tuition increase next school year.

Of course, some of us learned our lesson in 2015.

Furthermore, some of us warned the Texas Senate that this was exactly what would happen when they rubber stamped Governor Abbott's last round of Regent nominees.

Bottom Line: Until the Texas Senate plays hardball on Regent confirmations, nothing will change.

#TXLEGE: Business as usual under Joe Straus....

"He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck,
Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 29:1

Texans for Public Justice is a very far left outfit that claims to be a public interest watchdog organization, but usually puts out politically motivated hatchet jobs on conservative members of state government.  For example, they were the original driving force behind the politically motivated prosecutions of Rick Perry and Ken Paxton.  But, much like a stopped clock being right twice a day, this recent report on the lobby activity by Straus committee chairs who left after last session is spot on:

#TXLEGE: Straus Lobby Farm Club by Cahnman on Scribd

anti-Innovation, anti-Startup, pro-incumbent Protection Racket hires Jim Keffer....

"He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed."
Proverbs 13:20

Jim Keffer is a former Straus lieutenant who retired in the face of a primary everybody knew he'd lose after the last legislative session.  He also joined a left-wing think tank last October...on national coming out day!!!  Likewise, the Texas Association of Business is an anti-innovation, anti-startup, pro-incumbent protection racket who we're made to look foolish in the Texas Senate two weeks ago.

They're made for each other:

TAB Keffer by Cahnman on Scribd

Fun Fact I: Keffer was also the bully who got busted hurling personal insults at a colleague last session.

Fun Fact II:  Jim Keffer was the original driving force behind the Texas "Ethics" Commissions's haf decade jihad against Empower Texans; speaking of Empower Texans, they have more here.

Bottom Line: Truly, they deserve each other.

Straus puts pro-Obamacare liberal in charge of state budget....

"Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
Matthew 7:20

LOL:

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus announced the committee chairs Thursday. Among the new chairmen: State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, who led the House Higher Education Committee last session, will spearhead the House's budget planning as the new chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Zerwas succeeds John Otto, who retired following the 2015 session.

Now who, pray tell, is John Zerwas?!?

From last session:

From two sessions ago:

HB 3791 by State Rep. John Zerwas (R – Simonton), Speaker Straus’ point-man on healthcare policy, was voted out of the full Approprations Committee 15-9 this morning, sending it on to the Calendar’s Committee to be scheduled for a vote on the house floor. (We’ll update this post with the vote breakdown when the committee minutes are posted. Early reports show San Angelo Rep. Drew Darby was a “resounding and unequivocal yes.”)

HB 3791 seeks to find a “Texas Solution” to Medicaid, a sugar-coated version of the Obama Administration’s proposal to drastically expand a massive entitlement program – something that would cost the state billions of additional tax dollars in just a few short years. In other words, Zerwas’ proposal is neither a solution nor good for Texas.

....

Mr. Zerwas says his bill is not Medicaid expansion because it’s actually “the creation of a new program.” No seriously. We’re all supposed to feel better about growing government because he’s calling it a new program, instead of an expansion of an existing one. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

Bottom Line: The silver lining is that the past two House appropriations chairs (the afore mentioned John Otto and the disgraced Jim Pitts) both retired at the end of the most recent sessions; considering the...shenanigans we've already seen on the budget this session, there's probably a good chance that piece of history will repeat itself.

#TXLEGE minimum wage theatrics lays foundation for late session shenanigans....

"Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
But counselors of peace have joy."
Proverbs 12:20

Good grief; they do this EVERY session.

Last week, the Democrats in the House (ie. Joe Straus' base) held a press conference alongside organized labor to agitate in favor of a higher minimum wage:

“The minimum wage needs to rise significantly. Raising the minimum wage will give more Texas families a fair shot at realizing their dreams. On the other hand, paying full-time workers a wage that keeps them mired in poverty is wrong and should not be the Texas way,” Patrick said at a news conference that included workers earning poverty wages and lawmakers seeking to raise the wage.

“We are asking the Legislature to act now. To help them, we are also asking Texans who agree that the minimum wage needs to rise to sign our petition at www.RaisetheWageTexas.org and let lawmakers know that Texans believe a full day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”

....

“The state labor federation comes here every two years asking for fundamental decency for the hundreds of thousands of Texans at or near the minimum wage level,” Patrick said. “We are in good company, but not only with the working people, lawmakers and allies in this room. The people of Texas have expressed strongly in polling that they want the Legislature to raise the minimum wage.”

[Author's Note: The Patrick to which this press release refers is the Texas AFL-CIO president, not the Lieutenant Governor.]

Of course, this isn't about the minimum wage (it never is); it's about the clock.

Every session, the House Democrats make a push on the minimum wage.  Every session, under Joe Straus' leadership, this push moves "farther than expected."  Then, all of a sudden, we just 'happen' to find ourselves discussing the minimum wage as the clock runs out in May.

Last session, former Rep. Ferdinand "Trey Martinez" Fischer carried HJR 26: "Proposing a constitutional amendment establishing an increased minimum wage."  The bill eventually died in a party line floor vote, but not until they wasted 3 hours on the final day to pass bills debating the minimum wage.  Indeed, the fact this made it to the floor in the first place is revealing.

[Author's Note: The fact that they did this as a constitutional amendment (ie. where you need 100 votes) instead of as a regular bill (ie. where you need 76 votes) further illustrates the degree to which this was only ever intended as a time wasting measure.]

Bottom Line: And the more things change....

Charlie Geren CAVES on a Major Issue!!!

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass."
Psalm 37:7

Whoa, whoa, whoa...wait a second...WHAT?!?

Ethics reform went down the tubes in Texas a couple of years ago when Republican leaders deadlocked over a proposal to end the “dark money” loophole, which has been used by GOP and Democratic activists alike to cloak the source of their political donations.

Rep. Charlie Geren, the powerful Fort Worth Republican pushing ethics reform in the Texas House this year, is determined not to let that happen again.

Though he supports closing the dark money loophole himself, Geren said he fears the proposal could be used as a poison pill to kill off a broader package of bills — everything from taking lucrative pensions away from legislator-felons to disclosing all the lobbyist wining and dining that remains unreported.

“We got tangled up in a fight over dark money, and that killed the bill,” Geren told The Texas Tribune Thursday. “We’re going to have some single-shot bills that address individual issues, and you’re not going to be able to decorate them like a Christmas tree with other subjects.”

It's impossible to overstate the significance of Charlie Geren backing down on this issue; for years, attacking so-called "dark money" (ie. anonymous political speech) has been the tip of the spear in Team Straus' jihad against Michael Quinn Sullivan.

In 2013, Geren sponsored SB 346, which would have encouraged the same type of actions as those taken by the Obama administration's IRS at the state level.  Thankfully, in one the single best actions of his final term, then Governor Rick Perry vetoed it.  In 2015, it led to the confrontation on the ethics bill described above.

In 2017, it appears Geren won't even push the issue anywhere with leverage.

This issue used to be his baby...and now he's not even going to push it?!?

Bottom Line: We will certainly take it....

Threats to Stickland reveal hypocrisy of "I'm Poncho" #TXLEGE Republicans....

"For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known."
Luke 12:2

At the beginning of the last #TXLEGE session, there was a modest kerfuffle that was politically useful to the business as usual crowd.  On the first day of the session, anti-Second Amendment Democrat Poncho Nevarez got into an excessively heated policy discussion with a libertarian leaning activist from Tarrant County.  While the actions of the activist in question were counterproductive, at the end of the day they were also harmless and irrelevant.

But when you're the business as usual crowd looking for excuses to run out the clock on a 140-day legislative session, any excuse to waste time works.  Following the above incident, the House held a hand wringing 'debate' about whether or not to allow members to install 'panic buttons' in offices (Sidenote: Poncho Nevarez never did.)  This was accompanied by the embarrassing spectacle of Republicans wearing "I'm Poncho" stickers on the floor of the House.

As the Trib explained at the time:

“I think when somebody threatens a representative because he doesn’t vote, it’s everything we don’t stand for in this state,” said state Rep. Phil Stephenson, R-Wharton. “You can fire us, but you don’t get to shoot us because you disagree.”

A Republican, Drew Springer of Muenster, was behind the gesture. He said he came up with the idea after Nevárez joked that he should hand out “I’m Not Poncho” stickers to fellow lawmakers so that they would not be targets.

“Immediately I thought just the opposite — we need to show support for him, that we aren’t going to let people threaten us,” he said. “We’re not going to let people, in some cases from out of state, threaten us physically and try to get their way. That’s just not the way democracy works. It’s not the way Texas works.”

Springer said he gave out name tags to about 70 House members, from both parties, before he ran out.

Marsha Farney of Georgetown was among the Republicans donning the name tags. Others included Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, the author of a bill to lift state handgun licensing requirements.

“We’re showing support for Poncho to show that we stand with him as far as, not necessarily a policy position, but for safety issues,” said Farney.

[Author's Note: We told Stickland privately at the time that he shouldn't go along with that farce but, let the record state, that Jonathan Stickland was far more magnanimous in that situation than we would have been.]

Fast forward two years and that self-same Jonathan Stickland receives deeply chilling anti-Second Amendment threats at his home.  This isn't a policy discussion in an elected official's office with some (admittedly counterproductive) heated rhetoric, this is an active threat from a deranged anti-Second Amendment sadist.  So, naturally, the Republicans who ran around last session with "I'm Poncho"stickers were falling over themselves in 'solidarity' with Jonathan Stickland...right?!?

LOL.

Drew Springer's Facebook Page (as of 12:11 pm on 12/23/2016): Nothing.

Phil Stephenson's Facebook Page (as of 12:13 pm): Nada.

Marsha "Felicia" Farney (as of 12:15): Negative.

Bottom Line: That the average Republican in the Texas House will go along with an anti-Second Amendment Democrat's politically expedient exaggeration, while remaining silent on an actual threat to the family of a pro-Second Amendment Republican, speaks volumes.

Incremental tie down of Team Straus continues....

"He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck,
Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 29:1

Mark Jones has data that backs up something we'd noticed informally last session:

The 84th (2015-16) Legislative Session witnessed a Democratic Texas House delegation that was on the losing side of about as many final passage votes as on the winning side. This represented a sharp contrast to the 2009-14 period, when the average Democrat had a final passage vote win rate that was higher than that of the average Republican. It suggests that Democrats' level of influence on the House legislative agenda declined notably in 2015, with Democrats more frequently unable to both keep legislation they opposed off of the floor as well as to gain majority backing for legislation they supported.

In 2009, 11 Republican representatives joined forces with an overwhelming majority of Democratic representatives to oust Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and replace him with Joe Straus, R-San Antonio. Speaker Straus thus began his speakership indebted to House Democrats, allowing them a de facto veto over the legislative agenda that year. In 2011 and 2013, Democrats no longer possessed this de facto veto power, but they nevertheless retained substantial influence over the legislative agenda — influence that was reflected in them being more likely on average to be on the winning side of final passage votes than their Republican colleagues, even though during this entire period the Texas House of Representatives had a Republican majority.

....

In 2015, Democratic win rates plummeted to lows not seen since 2005 during the zenith of the Craddick speakership. At least from the optic of win rates on final passage votes, the impact of Texas Democrats on the legislative agenda during the 84th Legislative Session was substantially weaker than in the three preceding sessions of Straus' speakership.

The median Democratic win rate in 2015 was a mere 52 percent, with win rates ranging from a low of 40 percent to a high of 67 percent. At 82 percent, the median Republican win rate in 2015 was significantly higher than the Democratic median, with win rates ranging from a low of 54 percent to a high of 93 percent. All of the Republican ideological quartiles had median win rates greater than that of the Democratic delegation median, with the respective win rates declining as the level of conservatism increased among the quartiles: 90 percent, 87 percent, 82 percent, and 71 percent.

As a further example of this change, in 2013 a majority of Republicans (53 out of 94) had a win rate that was lower than that of the Democrat with the lowest win rate. In 2015, only 8 Republicans out of 97 had a win rate that was lower than that of the Democrat with the highest win rate.

In 2015, the win rate gap between the least and most conservative quartiles of the Texas House Republican Caucus narrowed noticeably, from 29 percent in 2013 to 19 percent in 2015. This phenomenon indicates a combination of more movement conservatives aligning themselves with Straus than in the past and Straus and his leadership team shifting the legislative agenda somewhat to the right in order to bring movement conservatives more into the fold. As part of that shift, the House leadership relied more heavily in 2015 on the votes of movement conservative Republicans than on the votes of Democrats to push through its legislative agenda, a contrast to the three preceding sessions when the centrist conservative Republican House leadership on average tended to rely more on the support of Democrats (especially in 2009 and 2013) than on that of their movement conservative GOP brethren.

As we look toward the 85th Legislative Session, Democrats once again find themselves outnumbered in the House, 95 to 55. If Straus and his leadership team follow the same general legislative game plan as in 2015, relying more on the support of movement conservative Republicans than of Democrats, then the influence of Democrats on the House agenda is likely to again be reduced compared to 2013, let alone to their halcyon days of 2009. A corollary of this repeat of 2015 would be a House whose legislative agenda is more in tune with the preferences of more movement conservatives than was the case between 2009 and 2014.

Read the whole thing, and see the data for yourself, here.

Bottom Line: We know it's happening at an INFURIATINGLY slow pace. We know, in a state like Texas, they should be doing A LOT more. But, nevertheless, the long-term trends in the #TXLEGE are inexorably on our side so long as we remain diligent and persistent....

"Economic Development" -- A Debate on Corporate Welfare in Texas

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

This afternoon TPPF hosted "Economic Development: A Debate on Corporate Welfare in Texas."  Speakers included Richard Corcoran (incoming speaker of the Florida House of Representatives), Senator Craig Estes, Bill Hammond of the Texas Association of Businesses, and Dean Stansel of the SMU Economics department.  We'll present our thoughts thematically rather than chronologically.

Term Limits:

During his opening remarks, Corcoran made an offhand comment about how eliminating various corporate welfare funds in Florida (including their equivalent of the enterprise fund) only came about because of the churn term limits forced upon their legislature.  The short version is that as the RINO's were forced to retire, they were replaced by conservatives until a critical mass was finally achieved in the past few years.  There's a lesson in there Texas would be wise to learn.

-----

Texas' "Uncompetitive" Property Tax system and "abatements":

Hammond argued that property tax "abatements" by school districts are essential for "large capital investment" because Texas' property tax system is, in the words of Bill Hammond himself, "uncompetitive."  Hammond was essentially arguing that, because high local property tax burdens eliminate the return on business investment, local jurisdictions (esp. school districts) need to be able to "abate" those taxes.  Hammond cited Louisiana as some sort of vague example of a state that does this successfully.

Of course, Hammond's newfound chagrin for Texas' "uncompetitive" property tax system was amusing to anyone who followed the last session of the Texas legislature.  Last session, alongside Team Straus, Hammond led an effort to obstruct Lt. Governor Patrick's property tax reform efforts. At the time, rather than fixing the property tax system, Hammond et. al. pushed a dopey scheme "alternative plan" to instead cut a sales tax nobody is complaining about.

Thankfully, several other panelists and audience members pointed out that the solution to an "uncompetitive" property tax system was to fix it for everyone, not create new carve outs for politically connected special interests.

In a separate piece of semi-related good news, Hammond announced he's leaving TAB at the end of the year; we'll help him pack.

One final note: Apparently, Hammond was once a Dubya gubernatorial appointee to the workforce commission, which means he's a Karl Rove crony...boy does that explain a lot.

-----

Sen. Craig Estes:

Senator Estes appeared genuinely torn.  We kept an eye on his body language throughout and he looked like...a guy legitimately wrestling with the issue.  A cynic might argue that he's an incumbent reading the writing on the wall in Dan Patrick's Senate.  An optimist could say that he's recently gotten wise to the issue.  Either way, we always welcome movement in our direction and encourage Senator Estes to discuss the issue with Konni Burton.

-----

Impact on Florida:

Corcoran pointed out that no company, or professional sports team, or film production outfit that threatened to leave Florida following their elimination of various corporate welfare programs has actually followed through and done so.

----

Bottom Line: Corporate welfare leads to the politically directed allocation of capital, which serves no positive economic purpose but undermines credibility for other aspects of economic liberty; Texas cannot eliminate all of it fast enough.

How to fix bond elections in Texas

"The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender."
Proverbs 22:7

Amen; from TPPF via Watchdog:

Informing voters at the ballot box. Beyond the current minimal disclosure requirements, all bond propositions would disclose:

• The estimated impact on the average homeowner.
• The total cost to repay the bond in full and on time.

Separate ballot propositions. Quintero says it is common practice to embed large-scale, single-item projects into larger bond proposals (as McKinney ISD did with its football stadium).

“The Legislature would do well to reform this practice so that major capital improvements above a certain cost threshold are put before the voters in a separate fashion. This will allow voters to better decide which items are in the community’s best interest instead of being forced to accept a ‘take it or leave it’ approach,” Quintero said.

End rolling polling. Schools and local governments strategically locate polling places during the early voting period to maximize prospects for passage, not necessarily to boost voter turnout.

Read the whole thing here.

Bottom Line: As watchdog points out "Nine transparency bills were introduced in the 2015 Legislature, but none passed"...gee, we wonder why?!?

Team Straus telegraphs LATEST Property Tax Misdirection....

"As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly."
Proverbs 26:11

They never change, but they are predictable:

Straus also said the House can assist the state's economic situation by looking at the cause of growing property tax rates, particularly whether the process of setting the rates is open and transparent.

This is such a typical Straus move.

Nobody is mad about property tax rates. People are mad about the property tax appraisal system.  It's called "appraisal creep": as property values go up, people's property tax assessments are so high that their tax bills increase even though the tax "rate" goes down.

To solve appraisal creep requires appraisal caps.  Last session, HB 365 would have capped appraisal.  Naturally, HB 365 was killed without a hearing by Dennis Bonnen, Straus' anti-property tax reform hatchet man.

Also last session, Straus and Bonnen introduced a dopey scheme to cut a sales tax that nobody is complaining about.  The point was to chew up time and attempt to derail property tax relief.  While some property tax relief did emerge, Straus and Bonnen were able to use that effort to water it down.

Bottom Line: Talking about property tax 'rates' is a distraction.  The real issue is the property tax appraisal system.  Anyone who confuses the issue is deliberately killing time to enrich greedy local governments and their taxpayer funded lobbyist industrial complex.

Patrick, Kolkhorst, and the Texas Senate Transportation Committee chair....

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

We received the following text message from NE Tarrant Tea Party yesterday:

We had no idea they were pushing for this, but sign us up!

Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF) is the best transportation group in the state; according to their 2015 scorecard, Kolkhorst got an A+ on transportation issues last session while Nichols got an F.

We're not super familiar with Kolkhorst's record on all transportation issues, but we know she's really good on toll roads (and those are the biggest scam of the whole lot).

This could also only help any potential Uber/Lyft legislation that might emerge.

Yes, thank you!!!

Straus (again) claims credit for others' accomplishments....

"He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck,
Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 29:1

[Author's Note: For a deeper examintion of Joe Straus' history of claiming credit for the accomplishments of others, see here.]

Joe Straus' latest newsletter contains this little bit of LOL:

Fortunately, the Legislature left about $4 billion in the bank when we last met, and that will make it easier to balance the next state budget.

This is laughable.  During the 2014 campaign, Dan Patrick repeatedly pledged that he would not allow a budget to reach the governor's desk if it grew faster than population plus inflation.  Thus, unless he wanted to write the budget in a special session, Straus had lost this battle before the 84th #TXLEGE gaveled in.

But, since he brought it up, let's take a look at what happened the previous session when Straus had the most direct control over the budget process:

Those numbers understate the blowout because $4 billion more was snatched from the state's rainy day fund. Add various accounting stunts and the Texas Public Policy Foundation calculates a 26% spending increase for the biennium. A broad coalition of taxpayer and tea-party groups is urging Mr. Perry to veto. … 

Republicans defend the budget by noting that Texas has urgent public-works needs. Two years of droughts make new water projects a necessity, and with nearly half the new jobs in the U.S. over the last four years springing up in Texas, roads and school funding are priorities too. But the Houston Chronicle notes that nearly everything from mental health to family planning to Medicaid to Mr. Perry's pet corporate welfare program-the Emerging Technology Fund-won fat funding increases. 

This may be the first time in history that a state experienced a rush of new tax collections and lowered its reserve fund. The supplemental spending earlier this year also allowed an end run around the state's constitutional spending cap. (Expenditures can't rise faster than the rate of personal income growth.) By spending more in 2013 the state can now appropriate more in 2014-15, because the baseline for calculating future expenditure growth is ratcheted upward. This is the kind of stunt one would expect from Nancy Pelosi. The budget contains a roughly $1 billion tax cut, but for every $1 of tax relief, $19 in new revenue will be spent.

Fun Fact: As a Senator, Dan Patrick voted against the 2013 budget.

At this point, it's par for the course for this crowd to claim credit after the fact for accomplihsments that were forced upon them by others, but it's still worthwhile to note when they do so.

Bottom Line: Team Straus remains incorrigibly wicked, they likewise remain irretrivably predictable.

The 85th #TXLEGE and a "Conservative Texas Budget": Open letter to Texas Legislators....

"There is desirable treasure,
And oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man squanders it."
Proverbs 21:20

Dear Legislators,

This morning, TPPF released the latest from their "Conservative Texas Budget" series, this time for the 85th legislature; long story short, the magic number is 4.5%. (*)

As long as you keep budget growth under that target, you won't have any trouble with this webstie.

To be fair, you not only stayed within the target last session, you actually stayed two points underneath it.  Do it again.  Feel free to go A LOT FURTHER....

But as long as you stay under  4.5%, we won't complain about the budget.

However, understand this: A two year budget that stays under the 4.5% inflation+population target is the absolute bare minimum of what voters expect from the 85th #TXLEGE.  Voters should reasonably expect a lot more.  Property tax appraisal reform, eliminating taxpayer funded lobbying, and constitutional spending limits would be a good place to start.

We gave y'all a "B" for the budget last session (alongside an "F" for structural fiscal reforms); as long as you stay under the 4.5% target, we will give you at least a "B" next session.

But we'd really like y'all to put yourselves in a position to receive an "A"....

Sincerely,
Adam Cahn
Austin, TX
June 28, 2016

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* - TPPF can explain their report better than we can, but the short version is that holding total spending under the 4.5% target means we're holding it constant per capita.