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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday unveiled an inventory of 21 legislative priorities together with property tax aid, enhancing the reliability of the electrical grid and persevering with to spend cash on border safety funding.
Patrick, who presides over the Senate and wields large energy over laws, additionally mentioned he’ll deal with points like boosting border safety, regulation enforcement, state funding in psychological well being services, restoration of the Alamo, schooling, college safety and tightening the state’s election legal guidelines.
But on the high of the precedence record is addressing ballooning property taxes for owners. Patrick mentioned lawmakers have an “extraordinary opportunity” to form the way forward for Texas at first of the subsequent legislative session, which begins Jan. 10, as a result of they’re anticipated to have a $27 billion price range surplus to spend on state initiatives.
Patrick mentioned he would prioritize spending a few of that surplus on property tax aid within the type of growing the homestead exemptions for owners. In a break with Gov. Greg Abbott, Patrick mentioned half of the excess couldn’t be used for property tax aid efforts — which was a promise Abbott made on the marketing campaign path this yr — with out breaking a constitutional spending cap set on Wednesday by the Legislative Budget Board, which Patrick co-chairs with House Speaker Dade Phelan. To handle that, Patrick mentioned state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, would suggest a invoice this upcoming session that may enable lawmakers to save lots of extra money within the state’s wet day fund.
Abbott didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Patrick mentioned he needed to spend the cash properly by placing it towards one-time expenditures that may not require ongoing funding as a result of there isn’t any assure that the state may have a surplus once more. He additionally mentioned he needed to depart a “solid reserve” within the state’s coffers.
“We’re not going to spend all the money. You don’t know what’s ahead,” he mentioned. “That would be foolish to spend every dollar.”
Texans pay among the many highest property taxes within the nation as a result of they’re the first funding mechanism for the state’s public faculties and since Texas doesn’t have an earnings tax. The problem has been a staple of Patrick’s politics since he joined the Senate in 2007 and it fueled his rise to probably the most highly effective put up within the Legislature.
Patrick mentioned he needs to boost the state’s homestead exemption, the chunk of a house’s worth exempt from taxation, for the second time in two years from $40,000 to a minimum of $60,000 — at a price, he mentioned, of about $2 billion.
When Texas voters in May elected to boost the homestead exemption from $25,000 to its present degree of $40,000, the common home-owner with a property valued at $300,000 was projected to see about $176 in financial savings on their annual property tax invoice — which is usually hundreds of {dollars}.
Beyond homestead exemptions, Patrick mentioned state lawmakers wanted to offer a “robust property tax cut for everyone in this state” and floated the concept of a one-time fee to taxpayers, although he mentioned such an thought is “a little difficult to do constitutionally.”
He mentioned he was open to concepts from lawmakers, however he proposed reducing taxes by increasing the non-public property exemption. Businesses need to pay taxes on “personal property” like furnishings and tools — which Patrick dubbed a “nuisance tax.” He referred to as for legislators to broaden the greenback quantity exempt from taxation from its present restrict of $2,500. He mentioned the transfer would price the state some income however “when you have this kind of money, you’ve got to give back to the taxpayer.”
The energy grid
Notably, Patrick mentioned that extra work must be completed to repair the state’s energy grid and he’s making it a precedence for the second legislative session in a row after a extreme winter storm in February 2021 prompted dayslong blackouts throughout the state and a whole lot of Texans died throughout the disaster. He acknowledged that one other critical climate occasion may knock out the grid once more.
That place places him at odds with Abbott, who asserted over the previous months that the grid was fastened throughout the earlier legislative session.
Specifically, Patrick referred to as for lawmakers to cross laws that may trigger traders to construct extra pure gasoline crops in Texas, which he argues would stop one other energy grid disaster.
Patrick mentioned the Legislature made “great progress” final session with Senate Bills 2 and three. Those laws required energy era corporations to raised put together services to resist excessive climate, licensed the Public Utility Commission to make modifications to the state’s energy market and bailed out gasoline utilities and electrical corporations from monetary disaster with rate-payer backed bonds and loans.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the PUC, which regulates electrical energy infrastructure, are nonetheless working to redesign Texas’ power market. A plan proposed this month goals to make use of monetary rewards and punishments to incentivize extra energy era to be accessible throughout instances of very excessive energy demand. During a Tuesday press conference, ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas and PUC chair Peter Lake each emphasised that the modifications could be “technologically agnostic” and wouldn’t prioritize one supply of energy era over one other.
But Patrick characterised the market redesign by regulators as a “long-range plan” and referred to as for laws that may trigger extra natural-gas-fired energy crops to be constructed along with the market modifications. He referred to as renewable sources of vitality “a luxury.”
Last session, the Senate unsuccessfully sought to shift the financial burden of buying reserve energy for the grid onto wind and photo voltaic producers. Patrick appeared to name for comparable laws, or one other proposal that may give pure gasoline turbines an edge over low-cost wind energy. He mentioned he couldn’t see himself leaving the session and not using a “guarantee” that extra pure gasoline crops could be inbuilt Texas.
“We have to level the playing field so that we attract investment in natural gas plants,” Patrick mentioned. “We can’t leave here next spring unless we have a plan for more natural gas power.”
“If you can’t turn the lights on, you don’t have a Texas miracle,” Patrick mentioned.
Border safety and regulation enforcement
Patrick additionally mentioned he plans to push to proceed funding Abbott’s border security operation, which has price the state greater than $4 billion this biennium and has despatched hundreds of National Guard service members and Department of Public Safety troopers to the border. However, crossings at the Texas-Mexico border remain stubbornly high with the deployments displaying little deterring impact.
“People say ‘Well, they’re still crossing.’ Yes, they’re still crossing because of President Biden,” Patrick mentioned. “Without our DPS, without our National Guard, without the state doing what we’re doing, the situation would be far worse … so we have to keep that up until we get a new president in the White House who hopefully will make border security No. 1 in 2024.”
Patrick additionally referred to as for 10-year necessary minimal sentence for individuals who use firearms in a criminal offense and mentioned he would push for altering state regulation to permit for voters to recall district prosecutors or transfer circumstances to different jurisdictions when regionally elected officers received’t cost individuals with a criminal offense that “doesn’t meet their standards.”
That was a shot at district attorneys and judges in city, Democratic counties for charging choices and bail quantities. Most notably, quite a few counties have opted out of prosecuting individuals for low-level pot possession on first offenses, and the Dallas County district legal professional has steered away from placing individuals into the system for low-level “theft of necessary items,” like meals, diapers and child components. Mandatory minimums are hardly ever utilized in Texas, however they’re controversial on a federal degree, with opponents saying they don’t deter crime as supposed however do result in ballooning jail populations, typically concentrating on individuals of shade.
The proposal, if enacted, could be a significant coverage shift to extend incarceration within the state, which already imprisons the most individuals within the nation.
Patrick, who spent a number of weeks of his latest reelection marketing campaign on the highway speaking with rural Texans, mentioned he additionally needed to begin a rural regulation enforcement fund to assist increase pay for sheriffs and peace officers in these areas. He mentioned he didn’t have a selected plan however may see the state giving ongoing funding to rural counties in quantities of $500,000 or $1 million to spice up their regulation enforcement funding.
“The people in rural Texas deserve to be protected from crime just as people in the big city or the big counties,” he mentioned.
Education
He additionally mentioned he needed to broaden the usage of a scholarship program that pays for individuals to go to school if they comply with function regulation enforcement officers after commencement. Patrick mentioned he needed to broaden an identical program for individuals who conform to change into math and science academics and prompt creating an identical program for nurses within the state.
On larger schooling, Patrick additionally floated assist for a brand new endowment to assist giant public universities throughout the state apart from the University of Texas System and Texas A&M University System, which have entry to a multibillion-dollar endowment referred to as the Permanent University Fund.
For years, college leaders at universities reminiscent of Texas Tech University and the University of Houston have argued that the dearth of entry to PUF funds, that are property that come from oil and gasoline revenues generated on 2.1 million acres of state land in West Texas, has negatively impacted their potential to advance in nationwide rankings and stature.
Those calls grew louder after the University of Texas at Austin introduced final summer season its intention to depart the Big 12 Athletic Conference for the Southeastern Conference, a transfer that angered Tech followers who had been fearful about how UT’s departure would possibly influence tv contracts and entry to convention championships. In the months after, Abbott voiced his assist for a brand new $1 billion endowment for Texas Tech and one for the the University of Houston to assist them advance academically, although he has stopped wanting permitting these faculties to immediately entry PUF funds. On Wednesday, Patrick mentioned he supported an identical fund.
“We want all of our schools to be great,” Patrick mentioned. “We need to help everyone,” including that he thinks UT and Texas A&M may “pitch in and help us help those other schools,” although he didn’t elaborate on how.
Patrick additionally revisited his controversial push to “reform” tenure in larger schooling. In February, Patrick was extra blunt, saying he would end tenure in public universities and faculties to fight the educating of crucial race concept. University directors have mentioned this may make it troublesome to recruit and retain world-class college.
In Ok-12 faculties, Patrick mentioned he would prioritize growing instructor pay, giving a “thirteenth check,” or a cost-of-living adjustment, to retired academics and supply extra college security funding within the aftermath of faculty shootings. Most just lately, a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two academics at an elementary college in Uvalde in May.
Patrick additionally mentioned he would push for a “Parent’s Bill of Rights,” for which other elected officials like Abbott have also called. The proposals have been gentle on particulars, however usually, they’re a response to conservative dad and mom and activists who’re involved about public faculties discussing race, gender and intercourse. The coverage’s proponents promise to offer dad and mom extra decision-making management over their little one’s schooling.
Patrick additionally mentioned the state wanted to tighten its election legal guidelines once more. One of his predominant priorities was to make unlawful voting a felony once more, after it was downgraded from a second-degree felony to a Class A misdemeanor in final yr’s sweeping election laws. The change occurred throughout a flurry of lawmaking within the House, and Patrick and Abbott have referred to as on lawmakers to reverse the change since final fall. Phelan mentioned then that it was “not the time to re-litigate” the problem, however he may very well be swayed to make the change throughout the Legislature’s usually scheduled assembly in January.
Patrick additionally mentioned he’d push for the “timely counting of votes and review of machines” and singled out Harris County, probably the most populous county within the state. The county typically has ballots which are a number of pages lengthy, which make them harder to rely and course of, however it’s a frequent goal of Republicans as a result of it’s an city and Democrat-run county.
Erin Douglas, Joshua Fechter, Kate McGee, Jolie McCullough and Karen Brooks Harper contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, Texas A&M University System, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas System and University of Houston have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Financial supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Find a whole list of them here.
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