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May 06, 2005
Pollyanna's Problems
Dark clouds have gathered, masking Lt. Governor David Dewhurst's previously sunny outlook on the Texas Senate's business for this legislative session. Will his planned parade all the way to Washington and the U.S. Senate be rained out?
It turns out that while it's great to talk about how unified the Senate is, and to be oh-so optimistic about property taxes and school finance, reality has a way of interfering with the best laid plans. Pollyanna's got problems.
Clay Robison has the lowdown on the revenue side in today's Chronicle. The Senate plan would cut property taxes by about 27% over the next two years, but it turns out the homestead exemption is gutted, affecting some 400,000 folks just in Harris County.
To offset the lost revenue, both a payroll and business franchise tax are being looked at, but guess what? A bunch of businesses aren't happy with either. And as the TAB and TRMPAC controversies show, business has more than just a little influence among the Republicans running the Capitol these days.
Decisions, decisions. We know Lt. Governor Dewhurst just wants to get past this and move on to important stuff, like his campaign for U.S. Senate, but these pesky little problems like balancing the State budget keep getting in the way. The Senate's gotta decide on its tax bill, it has to reach a compromise with the House, and the Governor has to sign it.
No fun. It's just like President Bush said -- this governing stuff is hard.
Posted by houtopia at May 6, 2005 09:55 AM