The Frightening Impact of the House Tax Bills

The tax bills passed by the House of Representatives on Monday are the Texas version of California’s notorious Proposition 13: the door is slammed forever on additional state funding for education.

1. HB 1 lowered property taxes for big business and wealthy homeowners.
2. HB 2 dedicates ALL future revenue growth from “new” business taxes to property taxes.
3. HB 3 is the new business income tax. None of that money will ever be spent on educating our school children, as directed by HB 2.

It is likely the state Senate will give public education some crumbs from the current budget surplus. However that will be a one-time, small appropriation. It’s not even a band-aid. It’s a bribe; it’s empty, election-year rhetoric. What these bill guarantee:

1. No future money for education;
2. The likelihood that vouchers will be heralded as the answer to a public school crisis CAUSED by the people backing school vouchers;
3. Continued deterioration of public schools;
4. Happy Big Business (taxes for companies like Exxon are cut dramatically);
5. Shock among small business owners, who had no idea Gov. Rick Perry and the legislature were cutting Exxon’s taxes while punishing the corner store and the neighborhood plumber.