By Jennifer Bendery, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX – It's almost noon on May 4 and it looks like a showdown is about to take place between the governor and the House leadership.
Minutes before legislators convened on the House floor to begin what was expected to be an all-day debate on HB 1, the public school finance bill, House Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) held a press conference to announce that Rep. Kent Grusendorf (R-Arlington) will file an amendment this morning to remove the hotly contested video lottery terminal (VLT) provisions of the bill in addition to language supporting a payroll tax. This last-minute announcement by Craddick essentially guts the bill since the two features are the primary tax structures included in the bill; a sales tax is the only measure left.
Why would legislators gut this much-anticipated bill at the 11th hour?
Craddick said the decision to remove both elements of the bill is in direct response to the governor holding a press conference yesterday to condemn the payroll tax for "placing a higher tax burden on Texas workers and their wages." Without a broad-based business tax included in the bill, legislators are left with no options for significant tax reform and are very uneasy about voting for a bill with a payroll tax in it if the governor is threatening to veto it, said Craddick. As a result, the bill is being gutted and vetted to the Senate for continued work. "When you're trying to get rid of a franchise tax," which has been criticized for being unfair and not generating steady revenue, "you need a broad-based business tax" in its place, he said.
"Overall, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, people want a long-term fix" for public school finance, said Craddick. But the governor's decision yesterday to pull the payroll tax off the table "really hurt us being able to come up with a plan." Noting that 70,000 new students join the state's public school system each year, Craddick described the current school finance system as a "1950s antiquated system" that fails to keep with this growing population.
What was predicted to be an all-day debate on the House floor could now turn into an hour and half of debate and pushing through a bill quickly to the Senate. Craddick said he expected a vote on HB 1 within an hour and a half of it being introduced on the floor. Legislators will be required to vote on Perry's plan first today, which was introduced by Rep. Jim Keffer (R-Eastland), and then on Grusendorf's revised plan.
When asked if Rep. Scott Hochberg's proposed plan for school finance reform would be discussed on the floor, Craddick said he hadn't seen the plan and that legislators are free to consider anything they want on the floor.
An interesting turn of events in today's already hotly contested agenda...