#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....

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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

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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

Bonnen hears (at least) 7 (more) special interest carve out bills (40 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 445        Frank | et al.
  Relating to the eligibility of certain property for certain ad valorem tax incentives relating to wind-powered energy devices.

• HB 1299       Springer                
• Relating to the procedure for the approval of rules adopted by the comptroller relating to the appraisal of qualified open-space land and qualified timber land for ad valorem tax purposes.

• HB 2393       Guillen                
  Relating to insurance premium tax credits for the certified rehabilitation of certified historic structures.

• HB 2475       Davis, Sarah           
  Relating to the sales and use tax exemption for certain amusement services.

• HB 2562       Shine                  
  Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for property used in master recordings and admissions to certain amusement services.

• HB 2692       Wray                   
  Relating to taxes and fees imposed on cigarettes and other tobacco products, including an exemption to the cigarette tax, related administrative matters, and the elements of certain related offenses.

• HB 2925       Shine                  
  Relating to the administration of gasoline and diesel fuel motor fuels taxes and the fee on the delivery of certain petroleum products.

Straus' Priorities: Minimum Wage Hikes and Rainy Day Fund Raids!!!

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,"
Galatians 1:6

One of the interesting dynamics of this session is the degree to which House leadership is being open about their left wing priorities; this past week saw two humdingers.

First the budget:

The institutions that we entrust with our future are facing serious setbacks that would harm our entire state. Our economic success begins in our schools, colleges and universities. In order to compete, we need a well-educated workforce with diverse skills.

And the cuts would hardly be limited to education. Across Texas, state mental hospitals are crumbling. Without significant repairs, for example, the Rusk State Hospital in East Texas will remain a public health hazard. Nursing homes could be forced to reduce their staffs.

And perhaps nobody should watch this debate closer than the retired teachers who put so many of us on the path to success. There is a $1 billion shortfall in the health care program for retired school employees. Without an injection of hundreds of millions of dollars to address that shortfall, retired teachers could face massive increases in their health insurance deductibles and very sizable increases in monthly premiums.

....

Another idea is to combine spending reductions with a modest withdrawal from the state's Economic Stabilization Fund, also known as the rainy day fund.

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

Read the whole thing here...but, honestly, what would you expect from a guy who uses identical language as Barack Obama to describe the economy?!?

Then there's this:

In a stunning move, the Texas House voted overwhelmingly to support Democrat efforts to hamstring the state’s economy by raising the minimum wage.

Earlier today, State Rep. Hugh Shine (R–Belton) moved to suspend the rules and fast track a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage by almost 50 percent.

Authored by the chairman of the House Democrat caucus, State Rep. Chris Turner of Arlington’s HJR 56 would amend the Texas Constitution to raise the minimum wage in the State of Texas from the federally required $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.

Loyal to the Democrat-coalition that governs the Texas House, Shine serves as the Vice Chair of the Committee on Business & Industry and likely made the motion at the behest of his committee chairman State Rep. René Oliveira (D–Brownsville).

And he succeeded.

Despite the Texas Republican Party Platform’s call for a complete abolition of the minimum wage and a long history of free market rhetoric, Republican members voted overwhelmingly in favor of Shine’s motion, with only 21 members voting against the motion to suspend the rules.

That vote was sharply condemned by conservative State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R–Deer Park) who is serving his first term in the Legislature after dispatching a liberal Republican.

The minimum wage hike won't pass, but it will be used to waste time late in the session.

And there will be nine minimum wage related bills getting hearings on Monday; in other words, whatever your legislative priority, nine minimum wage related bills are going to get hearings first.

Priorities indeed.