AUSTIN, Texas – With no agreement likely to be reached before the end of the First Called Session of the Texas Legislature on a tax bill, the following statement was issued by the vice president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation:
“It’s unfortunate that an agreement hasn’t been reached on property tax relief, but the direction being taken by the House and Senate conferees is encouraging,” said Michael Quinn Sullivan. “It’s good to see that Chairman Keffer and Speaker Craddick are continuing to offer up compromise plans to the tax bill even at this late hour. That both chambers developed tax plans providing greater transparency is significant. More significant is that both have taken seriously the importance of not harming the state’s economic competitiveness by enacting new classes of business taxes.”
Sullivan continued, “I think most Texans are hopeful that when the governor calls a second special session, the House and Senate will move very quickly to pass a bill that looks a lot like the one offered today by the House conference committee negotiators. It’s not perfect, but it certainly moves Texas in the right direction.”
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