#TXLEGE: Patrick's Press Conference

"These are the things you shall do:
Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;
Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;"
Zechariah 8:16

[Note: The Trib's facebook page was the only place we were able to find the video in an embedable format; following some introductory commentary from one of their reporters, the Lt. Gov's remarks start at the 15:00 minute mark of the video.]

Lt. Gov. Patrick held a press conference this afternoon to discuss the special session and unveil the Senate's school finance plan:



Highlights:

• "I support all 20 bills that the Governor has put on the call for the special session that begins next week.  I've got my 20 for 20 pin on...I've noticed a lot of House members wearing it as well.  We've already passed 10 of those out of the Senate; they were killed by the speaker and that's why they're back on the call."

• "During the [regular] session we passed 30 of 30 of our priority bills and I intend to pass 20 of 20 of the Governor's priorities."
• "Clearly, the people support this legislation."

• "The Senate will hit the ground running next week, and as always we will be efficient and get the work done."

• "I believe the House can pass 20 for 20 as well...if they ever get a chance to vote for them on the floor."

• "A bold and serious plan to increase teacher pay."

• "Teachers are the most important part of a child's education; we must make every effort to compensate them for the work that they do."

• "Laying out a plan to end recapture."
• aka. Robin Hood.

• "This is a serious plan, which is different from what the speaker laid out during the regular session and continues to talk about; THAT WAS NOTHING MORE THAN AN EDUCATION PONZI SCHEME."
• Note: OUCH!!!

• "The speaker's school finance plan took $1.5 BILLION from the foundation schools plan; it would have delayed paying school districts one month to give them the same money."

• "There was no funding in the speaker's finance plan; it was a ponzi scheme."

• Straus' regular session education funding shell game "was a dangerous political stunt."

• Property tax reform "needs to pass."

• "Where do you get billions more for education?!?  The only way to do it is a state income tax."

• "I will not join the speaker in laying the groundwork for a state income tax."

• "Let's stop talking about billions of dollars coming out of nowhere."

• "Just throwing billions at [education] won't make a difference, and I'm offended to see anyone try to use public education as a political tool and a political stunt, promising to throw billions at it without a plan and not telling people where the money's coming from."

• "We spend 52% of all the money we have [in the state budget] on education."
• K-12 = 38%

• "There is no more money, Mr. Speaker."
• "We're not hiding $1.5 billion under the Sam Houston mattress in the Governor's mansion."

• "At the local level, and at the state level, [education] is our priority."

• "Every agency always wants more, but we are not underfunding education, it's over half of our budget."

• Since 2000, education spending up 108% while enrollment is only up 32%
• "Teacher pay has only gone up 35%."

• "Where's all the money going?!?"

• "Teachers are the key.  Buildings don't educate students.  Expensive stadiums don't help teachers to help kids to read or solve math problems."

• We spend $163k per classroom on average while teachers get 52k.

• Less than 32% of the education budget goes to teachers.

• If you redirected 5% of the money that's going into the bureaucracy you could give teachers an $8000 raise.

• Longevity bonuses for teachers coming from the state.

• Retired teachers with 20 years + experience will get $600/month longevity bonus.

• $200 million for TRS.

• How do you pay for this?!?
• We need to direct that money.
• In the short term, make a deferral from a managed care fund.
• In the long term, pass a constitutional amendment to dedicate funding for teachers from the lottery funding that's already dedicated to education.
• "We're just directing the money to teachers, because [school districts] aren't."

• Robin Hood: Never more than $1.5 billion per budget cycle.
• 1% in savings across the state budget can cover the Robin Hood payments.

• Nelson and Larry Taylor carrying the bills.

#TXLEGE: #PassThemAll -- Abbott adopts Empower Texans messaging....

"And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."
Luke 6:31

A month ago, in relation to the special session, Empower Texans challenged the legislature to pass every item on the agenda:

Texans should stand alongside Abbott in petitioning legislators with a simple message: Pass Them All. Don’t get trapped into ranking the agenda items, or prioritizing them. Don’t be tempted by the cronies to bid against yourself and your fellow citizens. Tell the legislators that Abbott has given them 30 days to pass less than two dozen measures widely supported by Texans. Pass them all.

And look who's now tweeting under the hashtag #PassThemAll:

Here's our new special session pin. 20 laws to make Texas better. Urge legislators to #PassThemAll. #txlege pic.twitter.com/pDmN0ePCWo

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 11, 2017

Bottom Line: Never, ever, ever forget that Greg Abbott is the most diligent politician in the business...and that EVERYTHING he does is deliberate.

#TXLEGE: A tale of two presiding officers....

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

Dan Patrick's Monday:

PR 17 07 10 by DanPatrickTX on Scribd

Joe Straus' Monday:

Last night, with just over a week until a special session is set to begin for the Texas legislature, the Republican Party of Bexar County [Note: Straus' home county] voted for a resolution encouraging new leadership in the Texas House. According to the resolution, which passed 36-28, it was due to the lack of support for the Republican Party of Texas platform.

Bottom Line: The contrast between what happened to each of them yesterday speaks for itself.

#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: Abbott's #SpecialSession call opens door on Short-Term Rentals and Historical Zoning

"Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?"
Matthew 20:15

Two of the issues we were working that died in committee during the regular session was reigning in municipal abuses related to historical zoning and short term rentals; in that vein, check out the language Governor Abbott used on the property rights component of the special session call:

Legislation protecting the private property rights of land owners from political subdivision rules, regulations, or ordinances that interfere with, delay, or restrict private property owners’ ability to use or enjoy their property.

Historical zoning and short term rentals are easily within the bounds of that call.

It's not confirmed, but we've heard credible rumors that Kelly Hancock intends to re-file the Short-Term rental bill.

While we're on the subject, pretty much any anti-property rights measure is fair game for the special session; we'd love to address abuses related to the code department.

Moving beyond Austin, we just learned that Arlington is going to consider an ordinance to require permits for garage sales.

Bottom Line: They're both within the bounds of the call, we just need bill authors to step up and file them.

UT Regents to discuss Security at this week's meeting; but, once again, not publicly....

"He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy."
Proverbs 28:13

From the agenda book for this week's U.T. Board meeting:

On the one hand, at least discussing it; on the other hand...yet another executive session?!?

The second on-campus murder in 13 months happened over two months ago.  Since then, there have been two regularly scheduled Board meetings along with three special called meetings.  Meanwhile, violent communists are recruiting on campus.

Considering these recent developments, is it too much to ask to have the Board of Regents publicly discuss on-campus security?!?

Bottom Line: This isn't gonna end well.

Union Thugs declare Empower Texans Enemy #1

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,"
1 Timothy 4:1

LOL, from a recent speech from the head of the Texas AFL-CIO:

In a warped way, we should take anti-union bills as a compliment. They tell us that we are a thorn in the side of those who would hold down the aspirations of working people. Whether the folks who are after us are Empower Texans, or the American Legislative Exchange Council, or the National Right to Work Foundation, or the National Federation of Independent Business, or legislators who just plain despise us, we should celebrate the fact that in all our decades as a target, we have survived.

Read the whole thing here.