SAN ANTONIO — Texas state lawmakers will be back in Austin next week.
The upcoming regular legislative session – which occurs every other year in the Lone Star State – is the first time the state House and Senate will meet since September of 2021, when lawmakers discussed COVID-19 mandates, property tax relief and other matters.
Dozens of proposed bills have been submitted since the filing window opened last year, touching on issues ranging from gun control and abortion to property taxes.
And one issue that’s likely to be divisive is money. The state currently has a $27 billion surplus, but top lawmakers are split on how to spend those dollars.
Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Texas Senate, wants to use that money to address property taxes.
“He wants to expand homestead exemptions… Governor Abbott has been much more aggressive in his plan to really buy down or even sometimes eliminate property taxes as a whole,” Andrew Brown, with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told KENS 5.
Patrick wants to continue providing property tax relief while adding more natural gas plants to support the state’s power grid.
Brown says he expects a “kitchen-table issue” session for lawmakers.
“Things related to the education of their children and the affordability of living in Texas, the high property taxes and the runaway inflation that we’re all struggling with. It’s going to be a very practical, pragmatic session,” Brown added.
Priorities for Brown's group include eliminating property taxes and lowering government spending. Another of its top priorities is putting parents in control of their child’s education.
Other groups such as Every Texan have different priorities, including having affordable healthcare for all Texans, increasing access to education and expanding voting access.
Lawmakers have also filed several bills in the wake of two major summer 2022 events: the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde and the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. You can see what legislation has been filed in the House and the Senate so far via the state's online database.
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