Second special session ends with no property tax relief, no THC Ban

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(The Center Square) – The second special session has ended after the Texas Senate and House couldn’t agree on a property tax relief bill and Gov. Greg Abbott rejected another attempt by the state legislature to ban THC.

Abbott called two special sessions this summer after the regular session adjourned. The first was called to address six issues, the second to address 17, including congressional redistricting, flood relief, property tax reform among others, The Center Square reported. Later on, he added additional bills to the second special session call. All passed except for two.

One bill that failed was SB 10, to provide property tax reform for the largest cities and counties in Texas. Filed by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, it passed the Senate by a vote of 18-12. The House passed its amended version by a vote of 78-52. The Senate refused to concur with the House changes and a conference committee also failed to reach an agreement. The bill failed.

The bill was filed in response to Abbott’s proclamation asking the legislature to pass “legislation reducing the property tax burden on Texans and legislation imposing spending limits on entities authorized to levy property taxes.”

Bettencourt’s bill only applied to 5% of Texas cities and counties. It applied to those with populations of more than 75,000 and excluded special purpose districts, including Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs), which levy taxes. The bill required taxing authorities to get voter approval to increase property taxes but exempted smaller localities that account for 95% of Texas cities and counties.

State Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, who opposed it, said it was “essential” that the legislature “deliver property tax relief to the people of this state. Unfortunately, this bill is not a property tax relief bill. As I understand it, this bill only brings within its ambit roughly 5 percent of the taxing jurisdictions in this entity – who have essentially been singled out as being the problem as it relates to property tax.”

The House added amendments to remove the 75,000-population threshold exemption and made other changes. The Senate rejected these changes and the bill failed.

In response, Texas economist Vance Ginn said, “Texans know better. We don’t need half-measures like SB 10 that nibble at the edges. We need a real solution: eliminating property taxes once and for all.” Ginn, who helped author property tax relief during the first Trump administration and in Texas while previously at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, argues property taxes keep going up because state and local budgets, debt and spending keep growing.

SB 10 also didn’t include spending caps or debt restraints or close loopholes local governments exploit, Ginn argues. “Limiting the rate of [property tax] increase without curbing spending is like patching a leaking roof without fixing the hole.

“Texans deserve better than symbolic reforms,” he said.

The other bill that failed was SB 3, to ban THC. Filed by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, it passed the Senate three times, during the regular and first and second special sessions.

The Texas House and Senate passed a THC ban during the regular legislative session, which Abbott vetoed in the last hour of the last day allowed by the constitution after the legislature had convened. Doing so prevented the legislature the opportunity to override his veto.

Every law enforcement agency in Texas supported the ban. Abbott wanting to regulate THC is an attempt to legalize marijuana, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick maintains.

After having “long discussions” with the governor and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, Patrick said, “We were not able to come to a resolution.” He also thanked House Republicans “for joining the Senate in passing a complete THC ban during the regular session. My position remains unchanged; the Senate and I are for a total THC ban.”

With no resolution on the two bills, the legislature adjourned.