The Texas Report 7/10

The Texas Report 7/10

What’s Happening:

• Lt. Governor Patrick and Speaker Phelan announce Property Tax Compromise (More here)

• Texas sued over plan for floating barriers on the Rio Grande (More here)

• Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez joins US Senate race against Ted Cruz (More here)

Lt. Governor Patrick and Speaker Phelan announce Property Tax Compromise

Today, the Lt. Governor and Speaker issued a joint statement on their compromised plan for property tax relief.

The $18 billion in tax cuts will be spent as follows:

• $12 billion on reduction in the school property tax rate

• Every homeowner will get a $100,000 homestead exemption.

• Non-homestead properties valued at $5 million and under will receive a 20% circuit breaker on appraised values as part of a 3-year pilot project.

• Additionally, there will be savings on franchise taxes and newly elected positions for appraisal boards.

The bill will originate in the Texas Senate, and the constitutional amendment to be decided on by Texas voters will be introduced in House. Both will be filed today to pass later this week.

Speaker Phelan thanked "Rep. Morgan Meyer, Rep. Will Metcalf, and all the dedicated members of the Texas House" who helped reach a consensus. Phelan added that "negotiations with the Lieutenant Governor have been extremely productive by coming together and finding common ground."

Patrick thanked the "31 Senators for working together" and commended the process between him and the Speaker for "producing a great bill for homeowners and businesses."

This is huge news and is the compromise Texans have been waiting for since the beginning of the regular session in January. The bill still has to reach the Governor's desk and get his approval, but now the real questions begin on what is next up for special sessions.

Abbott has repeatedly said there will be a special session on school choice (vouchers), and with property taxes out of the way, that is the next biggest issue. Additionally, teacher pay raises will likely be considered at the same time.

Texas sued over border floating barriers

A Texas kayaking company has sued Governor Greg Abbott and the state over the decision to install floating barriers in the middle of the Rio Grande to try and dissuade migrants from swimming across it.

Jessie Fuentes, owner of Epi’s Canoe & Kayak Team, filed a suit in Austin, Texas on Friday to stop the state from placing the buoys which he claimed would prevent him from giving tours on the river and cause his company “imminent and irreparable harm.”

Fuentes said the construction near Eagle Pass, has forced his company to cancel a number of activities and prevented access to the river.

Construction workers started placing floating barriers on Friday, and last week four people drowned while attempting to cross the Rio Grande.

“This strategy will proactively prevent illegal crossings between ports of entry by making it more difficult to cross the Rio Grande and reach the Texas side of the southern border,” Abbott’s office said in a statement last month

Following news of the lawsuit Abbott Tweeted, “Texas Gov. moves forward with floating border barriers on Rio Grande. This is in addition to Texas using $5 Billion to build a border wall & deploy National Guard & Dept. of Public Safety Troopers. We'll use every tool to secure the border.”

The lawsuit adds that on top of hurting Fuentes’ business the buoys are unconstitutional. The suit asks a judge to halt the construction of the buoys, and Abbott emphasized that he is willing to fight this to the Supreme court because “Texas has a constitutional right to secure our border.”

State Senator Roland Gutierrez joins US Senate race

After months of rumors and speculation, State Senator Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) has officially joined the race for US Senate to attempt and replace Senator Ted Cruz.

Gutierrez is the second Democrat in the race and will battle Congressman Colin Allred (D-Dallas) for the Democratic nomination.

Gutierrez was elected to the Texas Senate in 2020 after serving in the Texas House since 2008 where in 2017 he was chair of the Defense and Veterans; Affairs Committee; before that, Gutierrez was a San Antonio City Council member. He is an attorney and founder of his own immigration law firm.

Much of his campaign announcement video is focused on the Uvalde tragedy in his district. During the most recent legislative session, Gutierrez held numerous press conferences at the Capitol with the parents of many of the victims and routinely worked to try and enhance gun laws or increase the age to buy a firearm.

Gutierrez often called for the firings of the officers involved in the shooting and the resignation of Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw.

Like Allred, Gutierrez brings up Cruz’s decision to leave the state during the 2021 Winter Storm and paints the Texas Republican party as one led by corruption and prioritizing big business over working-class people.

There aren’t any specific policy proposals on his website yet, but that will likely change over the coming weeks.

Since announcing in May, Allred has already raised $6 million for his campaign, setting up a very competitive Democratic primary for a major race in Texas.

Democrats haven’t won a statewide office and nearly 30 years, with O’Rourke being the closest in his 2018 race against Cruz.

Any Democrat running in Texas faces an uphill battle as the extremely well-financed O’Rourke lost to Governor Greg Abbott by double digits in 2022, and Republicans have continued to make strides in the traditionally Democrat-leaning south Texas.

I have yet to see any news of Senator Cruz reacting to the announcement, but the Texas Tribune reported a Cruz spokesperson said Texans will get to see Allred and Gutierrez “slug it out for who can be the most radical leftist in the state.” (More here)

In an interview with WFAA, Gutierrez contrasted the differences between him and Allred, adding he is a “no disrespect to Mr. Allred he is not my opponent it’s Senator Ted Cruz.” (More here)

Gutierrez said his campaign is set to ramp up towards the end of the Summer.

The goal of the Texas Report is to cover many of the important political decisions across Texas, and other news we think valuable to stay informed.

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