The Texas House will address its proposed budget for the next biennium Thursday during an anticipated hours-long debate that would also decide the fate of key policy items for Republicans.
consists of $288.7 billion in state and federal funds, including $130.1 billion in general revenue to spend over the next two years.
House Republican leaders have said the budget tackles some of their priorities, including providing tax relief to homeowners across the state.
In an editorial , House Speaker Dade Phelan said the state cannot ignore the problem.
鈥淚t is our job at the Texas Legislature to do what we can to maximize tax savings for Texas taxpayers,鈥� the Republican said.
Under the House plan, over $17 billion would be spent on property tax relief. The money would be used to lower the home appraisal caps to 5%. State law currently allows the appraised value of a home to be raised to no more than 10%.
鈥淭hat cap would mean that homeowners, renters, business owners, land owners, and owners of any other type of property would have more stability and predictability instead of facing an unexpected and unaffordable, say, 200 percent increase on their property value,鈥� Phelan said.
The Senate鈥檚 leader, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, opposes the plan. However, it will likely move forward in the House with the support of Republicans and Democrats alike.
The House budget also allocates $5 billion to public education funding, including an increase to the Basic Allotment, or the state per-pupil funding.
Educators and public school advocates have said that amount is not enough.
鈥淏udgets are a moral document; they tell you what you believe in,鈥� Zeph Capo, the president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, told reporters Tuesday. 鈥淎nd what I see in the budget right now is belief in wealthy landowners, I see belief in corporations. I do not see belief in families.鈥�
Partisan items and amendments
Thursday鈥檚 debate is expected to take hours since over 300 amendments have been filed. Some of the amendments seek to strike down or affect some of the most partisan items.
For example, the spending plan includes a provision that prohibits the use of public funds for 鈥淯nconstitutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs or Practices,鈥� otherwise known as DEI or affirmative action.
According to Cornell Law School鈥檚 , affirmative action is a 鈥渟et of procedures designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination among applicants, remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and prevent such discrimination in the future.鈥�
The amendment has been a priority for Gov. Greg Abbott.
House and Senate Democrats have opposed the efforts to ban the programs. filed by Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, D-Dallas, would eliminate the prohibition on DEI programs.
Another amendment would prohibit the use of public money for voucher-like programs like Education Savings Accounts and school vouchers.
Abbott and Republican leaders have been campaigning for allowing taxpayer money to be used to pay for private schools. However, most Democrats oppose the plan, and rural Republican lawmakers worry voucher-like programs will take away much needed funding from their districts.
to prohibit the use of funds for these types of programs was filed by Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Robstown. It has the signatures of Reps. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, and Stan Lambert, R-Abilene.
Another would reduce the salary of Attorney General Ken Paxton from $153,749 to $1.
The money would be used to settle an ongoing lawsuit brought by a handful of Paxton鈥檚 top staff over allegations of corruption.
Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, filed the amendment. In a statement to The Texas Newsroom he said Paxton must be held accountable.
鈥淭he Attorney General used his office to benefit his campaign donors,鈥� Talarico said. 鈥淗e should pay the price for his actions.鈥�
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