The Texas Report 6/21

What’s Happening:

• Senate set to outline rules for the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton (More here)

• House Speaker announces new committee on property tax reform (More here)

• The Public Utility Commission calls for energy conservation amid extreme heat spike. (More here)

Senate rules for the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton

The Texas Senate met Tuesday to hear from a seven-senator committee directed to establish the rules for the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton. Despite several lengthy meetings behind closed doors, the Senate took no public trial plans.

The Senate is set to come back at 10:00 am today. On the final day of the regular legislative session in late May, following the House impeachment of Paxton. The Senate created a committee to present rules back to the Senators for governing the impeachment trial. Many around the Capitol and state have anxiously awaited these rules to provide a set date and clearer picture of the future of the trial against Ken Paxton.

The resolution that created the committee also gave Patrick the authority to set an impeachment trial to begin no later than Aug. 28.

What's happening, and why does this matter:

• In the final week of the Texas legislative session, the House voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton in historic fashion.

• Following the House decision, the Senate has to hold a trial regarding Paxton's impeachment and decide whether to fully strip or restore him to office.

• Paxton was impeached based on 20 articles of impeachment brought by the Texas House General Investigating Committee alleging abuse of office, obstruction of justice, and more.

Senate committee members have not publicly discussed their work, but that has not stopped Paxton's allies and the House impeachment managers from lobbying for their preferred package of rules.

Paxton's legal team, led by boisterous Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, has urged the committee to recommend rules that would allow the Senate to toss out the House-approved articles of impeachment, calling the procedure a "kangaroo court" because Paxton was not allowed to defend himself.

Lt. Governor Patrick recently weighed in with conservative radio host Mark Davis and said, "We actually have to address the issues. If not, they could keep Ken Paxton away from doing his job forever. … In general, we have to deal with it."

In other recent impeachment news Attorney General Paxton's wife, Senator Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), said she will attend the proceedings and "carry out my duties, not because it is easy, but because the Constitution demands it and because my constituents deserve it." This doesn't officially mean that Senator Paxton will vote for or against her husband, but it makes it clear that she will be there for the proceedings.

Also, the University of Texas at Austin recently did polling showing A half of Texas voters — and a slight plurality of Republicans — believe the state House's impeachment of now-suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton was justified.

• Released Tuesday, the survey found that 50% of voters considered the impeachment justified, and 17% did not. One-third said they did not know or had no opinion. Among Paxton's fellow Republicans, 31% said the impeachment was justified, and 30% said it was not. Thirty-nine percent said they did not know or had no opinion.

• The poll conducted June 2 - 12th found that Paxton's approval rating had declined to its lowest point in the poll's history.

• Thirty percent of voters approved of his job performance, compared with 41% disapproved. The split was 39-35 in April.

  (More polling)

House Speaker announces new committee on property tax reform

Yesterday, Speaker Dade Phelan announced a new select study committee on sustainable property tax relief. Composed of 13 house & 3 public members, the committee will be weighing and crafting the House proposals for property tax reform.

Specifically, the committee is tasked with:

• Evaluating the dynamic effects of tax rate compression, limits on taxable value, and homestead exemption increases to maximize savings to property owners.

• Studying the viability and sustainability of eliminating maintenance and operations taxes by 2035.

• Examining historical rates of appraisal increases and recommending methods to reduce the tax burden of appraisal increases.

• Examining the long-term value of homestead exemptions in conjunction with appraisal increases.

The House members are led by Representative Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) and Rep. Shawn Thierry (D-Dallas)

The three public members are Cheryl Johnson, Brad Livingston, and Don "Skeeter" Miller.

This committee is important because they will be the lead House members negotiating, crafting, and studying multi-billion dollar property tax relief proposals. The House and Senate still need to come to an agreement on property tax relief. (Full list of members)

Over $17.6 billion has been appropriated for property tax relief, but the leadership in the House & Senate have yet to come to a compromise on how best to use those funds for Texas.

The Senate passed a new version of their property tax plan yesterday, doubling the business franchise tax exemption to nearly $2.5 million. And proposing $400 million more than previously budgeted for relief. Under their plan, homeowners would see their homestead exemptions rise to $100,000, and the homestead exemption for homeowners over 65 would increase to $110,000.

The Senators said that provides savings of nearly $2,600 to most homeowners for the first two years and nearly $3,000 in savings for the first two years for homeowners over 65.

The Public Utility Commission calls for energy conservation amid extreme heat spike. (More here)

Texas' grid operator asked residents to use less electricity between 4:00 and 8:00 pm Tuesday as the power demand soared because of high temperatures.

There was sufficient power to meet demand, but an irregular number of coal and natural gas power plants were offline, causing the conservation request. Wind turbines were also producing relatively less power compared to past summers.

Demand rose above 79,000 megawatts at 4 pm, according to ERCOT, which manages the power supply for most of the state. That's just below the record for highest energy use – 80,148 megawatts – set last July.

Weather officials issued excessive heat warnings for a large swath of the state, including central and southeast Texas, where the heat index could reach 117 or 118 degrees.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas asked residents to conserve energy early to ensure adequate power to meet demand. However, in a statement, they stressed that it wasn't an emergency rather a routine action that could "help lower demand for a specific period of peak demand time, which is typically late afternoon into the evening hours."

This past legislative session, there was significant discussion around improving grid reliability, and the focus was primarily to incentivize natural gas and other fossil fuel power supplies as opposed to wind and solar power. Lawmakers established a new low-interest loan program for natural gas companies, which will have to be approved by voters in November.

Solar and wind companies also won't be able to access the new school district tax breaks intended to serve as an economic incentivize for businesses moving/expanding in Texas.

To lower energy use, ERCOT recommends that residents raise the thermostat by a degree or two if safe, refrain from running large appliances such as the washing machine and dryer, and turn off and unplug lights and other appliances that aren't needed.

Businesses can turn off unneeded lights and equipment and shut off air conditioning units after business hours.

The major grid reform bills failed to pass this legislative session.