The election of a new Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives will likely have the biggest impact on what will happen at the Texas Legislature this year. The outgoing Speaker, Republican Joe Straus, has been criticized by some for being “too moderate” and praised by others for being the only voice of reason among State leadership. Last year, after five sessions with the gavel, Representative Straus announced his retirement from the Texas Legislature.
Straus will be missed. He was considered by many to be a moderating voice in the Legislature, advocating for business-friendly policies over libertarian ideals.
The new Speaker will officially be elected by their peers on January 8, 2019, the opening day of the Legislative Session. That said, we will likely know the identity of Straus’s successor before then. He (or she, although there are not currently any announced female candidates) will inherit the challenges of school finance and continued Hurricane Harvey recovery. For schools located on the Texas Gulf Coast, these issues are one in the same. According to capitol insiders, these will dominate the legislative agenda this session.
Texas schools are financed through the collection of local property taxes that are then distributed through a recapture program, more commonly known as the Robin Hood plan. School districts with higher property values are required to give money to the state that is distributed to less wealthy school districts. In the Harvey aftermath, many students have relocated to areas inland, leaving coastal schools in need of expensive repairs with lower property values, meaning less income for the districts.
Meanwhile, Texas property owners have been applying political pressure on state leaders to reduce property tax burdens, arguing that Texans never really own their homes. But the Texas constitution doesn’t allow for a state income tax and many believe that increasing the state sales tax is a regressive form of taxation, adversely affecting those with lower incomes because they spend a higher percentage of their paychecks on retail. Fortunately, oil and gas revenue is up, but that’s unpredictable income and likely not permanent.
While there is great optimism at the capitol that new leadership in the Speaker’s office will present an opportunity to address deregulation, health care, and property taxes, the truth is that the legislature is likely to be mired down, again, in school funding issues.
To learn more about Texas Interim Committees, check out the rest of this series:
- Part One dives into how Hurricane Harvey will impact the legislature.
- Part Two expounds upon the budget process.
- Part Three discusses Texas’s healthcare and funding.
- Part Four covers the reduction of regulatory burden
