Last Friday, Rep. Garnet Coleman raised, and Craddick sustained, a point of order on HB 2 - the bill that dedicates new revenue generated by the other tax bills to property tax reduction. The Quorum Report tells us that:
The Senate had sent the bill back to the House with an amendment by Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) that would have followed the pattern originally set by the Bullock amendment.Once the school property tax rate was cut to $1, additional revenues would have been distributed with 2/3s going to additional property tax cuts and 1/3 to fund education.
The ruling in the House was that the Williams Amendment was not germane ending further consideration of the bill. Now it goes back to the Senate where it is likely the amendment will be stripped out.
So will the Senate pull the amendment? The QR email announcing the point of order said that a 2/3 Senate vote will be required to strip the Williams amendment, so it'll only take 11 to kill the bill. If HB 2 goes down, I'm assuming that'll kill the entire session, as Perry won't be able to deliver on his promised property tax reduction.
I guess Senators have two choices: 1) strip the Williams amendment and pass HB 2. This opens 'em up for criticism that they refused to support any new money for public schools. This criticism is especially valid if CSHB 1 fails, as Shapiro has promised. Or, 2) they refuse to amend HB 2, and we all come back for another 30 days of legislative bliss.
Right - it kills the dedication. Which for all intents and purposes kills the session, right? I mean, I don't see Perry signing a bunch of tax hikes unless it's guaranteed that the money goes to property tax reduction. Or am I wrong?
I don't pretend to be in Perry's head (under all that hair); but if they want to have a shot at meeting the court's mandate, the only bill that has to pass is HB 1. The dedication may be a political make or break for Perry, but it doesn't have to be in place for property tax relief to happen. My guess is that the prospect of giving Strayhorn the chance to decide whether or not to send money to schools this summer over a Supreme Court injunction if the legislative effort fails is a much bigger problem in the immediate future than trying to figure out how to make future legislatures use the new tax money the way Perry wants it used.
If HB 2 fails, it doesn't kill property tax reduction. It only kills the dedication. It's CSHB 1 that's the bill to watch. That's where the property tax reduction language currently resides.