Lawmakers act to ‘unclog’ talks on cutting taxes

AUSTIN — Lawmakers who have been tussling over how to cut Texans’ taxes made moves Tuesday to start talking about the issue.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick picked a team of senators to negotiate unofficially with the House on tax cuts.

House Speaker Joe Straus, meanwhile, referred Senate tax bills to his chamber’s Ways and Means Committee, allowing members to begin considering them.

“We need to unclog all this and get the discussions going,” said Senate Finance Chair Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, who heads Patrick’s tax-talk team.

The House and Senate have been stuck on the issue of tax cuts.

Their differences have been highlighted by Patrick’s oft-stated resolute support for a Senate tax package that includes a bigger exemption from school property taxes for homeowners. Senate leaders also are highlighting a bill to require 60 percent of local government board members to agree in order to approve an increase in property tax revenue.

Property vs. sales tax relief

Patrick, who leads the Senate, has said he won’t support a state budget unless there also is property tax relief.

But the House, instead of backing property-tax relief, has passed a package that includes a sales-tax cut.

Both chambers have included a business-tax reduction in their packages, which exceed $4 billion over the next two years. They have different approaches to reducing business taxes, but that disagreement hasn’t been as big as the property-versus-sales tax argument.

Senators approved their package in late March, and the House okayed its package last week.

Patrick “just is ready for us to start talking,” Nelson said in an interview. “He is still very committed to property tax relief, but I think we are anxious to start working with the House.

“I’ve never had a discussion with (House Ways and Means Committee Chair) Dennis Bonnen on sales tax,” Nelson said “It’s time.”

Nelson said that Patrick “feels very strongly that it has to be” property tax relief “but he told me to look at everything.”

“He has given me a lot of latitude,” she said.

Members of the team

The team chosen by Patrick includes Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who has pushed to more strictly limit the amount that local entities can increase local property tax revenue without a vote of the people – including the measure requiring the 60-percent vote.

It also includes Sens. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe; Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville; and Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio.

Bonnen, R-Angleton, said he would “welcome any discussions to do what’s right for Texas.”

“All along, I’ve thought that it’s important that we have an open dialogue and discussion of ideas, and Senator Nelson has been a true leader in this process,” Bonnen said.

It’s important that lawmakers begin moving soon if they hope to pass tax cuts in the regular legislative session. The session ends June 1, and legislative deadlines for passing bills kick in earlier.

The tax-cut issue also affects the state budget for the next two years. House and Senate members already are negotiating differences in that spending plan.