The Senate Committee on Property Taxation met yesterday afternoon and approved an amended version of the Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 2—the omnibus property tax reform bill. Voting in favor of the amended bill were the authors—Senators Paul Bettencourt, Angela Paxton, Brandon Creighton, and Kelly Hancock. Senator Chuy Hinojosa registered a “present-not voting” vote. The amendments were…

TTARA Legislative & State Tax Meetings Will Be Combined on Wednesday, February 13 Starting at 9:00 a.m. The legislative and state tax meetings scheduled for 9:00 and 10:00 am this WednesdayFebruary 13 will be combined and begin at 9:00 am. We are doing this in recognition of the conflict with the House Ways and Means Committee which convenes…

New TTARA Research Report on the 2020-21 State Budget Now Available Online The 86th Texas Legislature is well underway and Comptroller Hegar has laid out the official revenue estimate and the House and Senate budgets have been unveiled. In our latest research report, “Fiscal Picture in Focus: The 2020-21 Snapshot Looks Very Good” we take a…

Property Tax Reform Bills Introduced This morning, Governor Abbott, Lt. Governor Patrick, House Speaker Bonnen, and Committee Chairmen Senator Paul Bettencourt and Representative Dustin Burrows held a press conference to announce the filings of identical property tax reform bills— HB 2 by Burrows and SB 2 by Bettencourt. The bills include many, but not all, of the elements…

In this Issue Speaker Bonnen Announces Committee Assignments Bills of Interest: Property Tax, School Finance, Sales Tax and Franchise Tax Upcoming TTARA Meetings Speaker Bonnen Announces House Committee Assignments The Ways and Means Committee is particularly important to TTARA as it oversees all state and local tax legislation. Dustin Burrows (R – Lubbock) is the…