The Texas Report 5/17

The Texas Report 5/17

What’s Happening:

• Florida law enforcement headed to Texas Border (More here)

• Property Tax Updates (More here)

• Teacher Pay Raise Legislation

• Texas Legislative Update

• Texas Attorney General settles with Marriott (More here)

• 12-year-old charged with murder in killing of Sonic employee (More here)

Florida Law Enforcement

Tuesday afternoon, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that he is sending more than 1,100 state law enforcement and National Guard members to Texas' border with Mexico.

The number is a nearly tenfold increase from a similar move in 2021. In a statement, DeSantis said, "The impacts of Biden's Border Crisis are felt by communities across the nation, and the federal government's abdication of duty undermines the sovereignty of our country and the rule of law."

DeSantis will be sending:

• 800 National Guard members

• 200 agents from the state Department of Law Enforcement

• 101 state highway patrol troopers

• And equipment, including unmanned drones, waterborne vessels, and fixed-wing aircraft.

DeSantis' office said the personnel will be at the border for 30 days, with a possibility for extensions.

Governor Abbott sent a letter to every Governor requesting support in responding to the ongoing border crisis. In his letter, Abbott blames the Biden Administration for the "ongoing border crisis." He calls on his fellow Governors to utilize the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which empowers states to assist one another in disaster or emergency. (More here)

This announcement comes just weeks ahead of DeSantis's expected presidential kickoff, following weeks of signaling that he had an immigration-focused announcement. Florida and Texas law enforcement agencies, have been communicating for over a week to help prevent any delay in deployment.

We will see what additional operational details we can find.

Property Tax Update

Tuesday evening, House Speaker Dade Phelan posted the "new" Texas House Plan for Property Tax Relief on social media. Property taxes have been a major discussion this session as each Republican leader promised significant relief during the 2022 campaign season.

Things got complicated because the Speaker and Lieutenant Governor each had very different ideas for how to approach the issue, which has been one major significant tension between the two chambers.

The two major differences in the proposals were the Speaker wants to set a 5% appraisal cap limit for residential and commercial property. At the same time, the Lt. Governor primarily supports increasing the Homestead Exemption to $100,000 for seniors and $70,000 for those under 65. The Senate version has reached the House, and the House has now added language into the bill to attempt to compromise.

What changed:

• The new bill includes 5% appraisal caps for residential and commercial property.

• Homestead exemptions would be raised to $100,000 and then $110,000 for Texas seniors.

• Adds $15.5 billion into the public education system.

I've yet to see any message from the Lieutenant Governor or Senate sponsor regarding if this language is acceptable. However, this has been a major point of contention and has caused most state budget talks to stall as both chambers try to insert their multi-billion dollar plan.

The House will consider the new version of this bill (S.B. 3 & S.J.R. 3) on Thursday.

Teacher Pay Raises

Legislation to increase teacher salaries advanced from the House Committee on Public Education Tuesday afternoon. S.B. 9 by Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) is intended to provide $2,000 salary increases per classroom teacher in districts with more than 20,000 students and $6,000 per teacher in districts with fewer than 20,000 enrolled students.

S.B. 9 was unanimously passed out of the House Education Committee and will likely be voted on by the entire House early next week.

The House Public Education Committee also took several other votes on important legislation but notably left S.B. 8, the current school voucher bill pending in committee.

As we explained on Monday, the new school voucher bill would create "education savings accounts" targeted only at special needs students and students at F-rated schools. These changes significantly lowered the cost of the bill. However, many House Rural Republicans are still concerned about potentially using public money to send students to private schools.

Additionally, concerns were raised with the bill's new language as it would triple the number of exams students need to take throughout the school year.

The voucher legislation was not voted out, and the clock is rapidly ticking on priority bills for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Should voucher legislation not pass, Governor Abbott has committed to calling special sessions to get the legislation passed.

Other important education bills signed this week:

• S.B. 11 by Senator Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) and Representative Ken King (R-Hemphill) this legislation is the Senate's school safety bill and would increase the current School Safety Allotment per student, create an Office of School Safety and Security in the Texas Education Agency and more. At one point, this bill required a security guard on every school campus, but the House author said that requirement had been removed. (Passed 11-1-1 with only one no vote.)

• S.B. 1515 by Senator Phil King, which would require posting the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. (Passed 10-3)

TEXAS LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

Some of the major bills to watch this week:

• S.B. 15 by Senator Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) and sponsored in the House by Representative Valoree Swanson (R-Houston) would require athletes at public higher education institutions to compete in their biological sex at birth. This legislation is intended to prevent transgender athletes from competing in sports following their transition.

  • S.B. 15 is on the House floor today and will likely face numerous attempts to procedurally kill the bill.

• S.B. 1070 by Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) and Representative Jacey Jetton (R-Fort Bend) would require the state of Texas to leave the multi-state voter cross-check E.R.I.C. system. (Electronic Registration Information Center) Eric is a multi-state system used to help clean voter rolls. However, some voter fraud activists allege the system has shared personal data with unauthorized third parties as part of a scheme to enroll ineligible voters. This legislation was actually on the House floor yesterday, then through a procedural move, it was kicked off. It has since been revived and sent back to the committee.

We will include a more detailed legislative report on Friday.

Texas Attorney General reaches settlement with Marriott

The Texas Attorney General's (A.G.) office announced Tuesday that it had entered into a settlement with Marriott International to ensure the company discloses all the fees and rates consumers would pay in its advertisements and room booking process.

The AG said the settlement would prohibit Marriott from participating in "unlawful, unfair, and deceptive trade practices in violation of Texas law with respect to the advertising of hotel room prices."

The office outlined the following requirements for Marriott:

• Disclose all "resort fees" and the total price of rooms as the most prominently displayed price.

• Display room reservation search results for rooms by total price.

• List "resort fees" separately from taxes or other government-imposed fees.

• Disclose "clearly and conspicuously" the goods and services such fees cover.

Attorney General Ken Paxton added, "In recent years, travelers have been caught by surprise with costs much higher than the room rates they believed they had booked. Because of this settlement, Marriott will take additional steps to guarantee that the advertised cost of rooms is representative of what consumers will be charged."

The AG's office announced it had filed a similar suit against Hyatt, alleging the company has violated Texas consumer protection laws by "charging consumers expensive mandatory and unavoidable fees in addition to daily room rates." (More here)

12 - year old murders Sonic Employee

A 12-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man have been charged with murder after the boy fatally shot an employee at a Sonic Drive-In restaurant in Keene, Texas.

The shooting occurred last Saturday at a Sonic in Keene, Texas, about 30 miles south of Fort Worth. Angel Gomez went to Sonic and began acting "disorderly" and was confronted by Sonic worker Matthew Davis. Davis confronted Gomez for urinating in the parking lot, and eventually, the confrontation turned physical.

During the altercation, a 12-year-old passenger in Gomez's vehicle retrieved a firearm and fired multiple shots, striking and killing Davis. The weapon used was believed to be an "AR-style" rifle, and the incident involved at least six shots being fired.

Police said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident, not racially motivated or gang affiliated.

After the shooting, Gomez and the 12-year-old fled the scene, but Gomez later returned and was arrested.

The 12-year-old suspect was found and apprehended in Rio Vista, Texas, where law enforcement recovered several firearms.

Matthew Davis, the victim, leaves behind a 10-year-old son. A fundraiser has been initiated to support Davis's family and cover funeral costs, which has already raised over $10,000. (More here)