(C) Texas Tribune
This story was originally published by Texas Tribune and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



The Blast: Back at the negotiating table [1]

[]

Date: 2023-07 

“THERE’S PLENTY OF TIME”

It was a pretty quiet day on the legislative front, but at least we have confirmation that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, are talking again about property taxes.



After Patrick teased last week that he and his counterpart from the lower chamber would likely meet today, Phelan and chief of staff Enrique Marquez were spotted walking into the Senate chamber shortly before the chambers convened today.



Phelan gave his own teaser to Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of NPR and Charlotte Scott of Spectrum News, saying that the two mainly talked about tax reform and tax relief. Asked if a deal would happen soon, Phelan reportedly said, “there’s plenty of time.”



But here I am continuing to beat the drum that, while it seems like the Legislature is entrenched in eternal special sessions, they really only have about a month to strike a deal. As Senate tax man Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, notes, the “estimated safe date” for the Legislature to propose a constitutional amendment is Aug. 9, if they want it to appear before voters on the November ballot.



In the Senate, Patrick and Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, gaveled in and out in the blink of an eye. They’ll return Friday at 10 a.m.



In the House, Phelan and nearly a full chamber met to adopt a resolution honoring the late Tamoria Jones and refer six measures to the Ways and Means Committee, led by House tax man Morgan Meyer, R-University Park.



The bills consider various approaches on how to reduce school district M&O (maintenance and operations) taxes using surplus state revenue. One of the measures, House Joint Resolution 6, would propose a constitutional amendment to prohibit school district M&O taxes after the 2038 tax year.



The committee also approved calendar referrals for their property tax plan as proposed in House Bill 1 and House Joint Resolution 1, so look for those to appear on the House floor in the coming days.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://mailchi.mp/texastribune/the-blast-back-at-the-negotiating-table

Published and (C) by Texas Tribune
Content appears here under this condition or license: Used with Permission: https://www.texastribune.org/republishing-guidelines/.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/texastribune/