A key Texas Senate panel agreed Thursday to spend $9 billion on public education and property tax relief, matching the amount approved by the House hours earlier. The two spending plans differ on how to slice up that multi-billion-dollar pie, however.

Of all the places Gov. Greg Abbott might go for policy ideas, it’s hard to imagine a less likely place than California.  But the uber-expensive, highly-taxed, bluest-of-blue states may actually hold the answer to an issue Abbott called an “emergency” during his State of the State address.

Giving every property owner in Texas a significant tax cut is expensive, but there are less ambitious plans under consideration along with the big ones.

Sempra Energy plans to build two production units known as trains at the site that are capable of producing up to 11 million metric tons of LNG each year. The new plant is expected to be completed in January 2023 as part of an investment estimated to be worth at least $5.6 billion.

What one hand gives, another hand might take away. At least that seems to be part of the necessarily painful conversation in Austin as lawmakers work through the challenges of property tax relief.