On HISD
It will happen soon. Commentary is talking about TEA naming a new HISD superintendent and Board of Managers. It is supposed to happen tomorrow. The current superintendent has a farewell Op-Ed in today’s Chron. That is the featured photo today. Let’s get it done so we can take back our HISD.
Meanwhile, a headline from a front-page story in today’s Chron says:
District enrollment has fallen 12% since 2016 peak
That district is HISD. Enrollment has fallen from 216,106 to 189,934.
That’s a loss of 26,172 students. Wow!
At this point, let’s hope for the best from the new Board of Managers.
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Scott Braddock of the Quorum Report predicted this in a tweet yesterday afternoon. See this from the Trib:
After weeks of bickering over whose proposal to cut Texans’ property taxes is better, House Speaker Dade Phelan sent a clear message to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, his Senate counterpart, on Tuesday: Take our pitch or leave the special session with nothing.
That message was delivered when the House abruptly adjourned Tuesday after swiftly passing bills on property tax relief and migrant smuggling — the sole items that Gov. Greg Abbott demanded from a special session that began Monday night.
Soon after the vote, Abbott appeared to back the House’s move, while Patrick signaled he wasn’t ready to back down.
The adjournment means the chamber can’t meet for the rest of the special session, leaving the Senate to accept the version of the bills the House passed or not pass any bill this session.
That bold legislative gambit appeared to be an effort to force the Senate to accept two House bills — one that would increase the minimum sentence for someone convicted of smuggling people and operating a stash house to at least 10 years under state law, and another that would use $12.3 billion in state funds to reduce school property taxes across the state.
For the smuggling bill, that might not be a huge hurdle. A similar version has been filed in the Senate.
But for property taxes, it would require Patrick, who presides over the Senate, to essentially accept what Phelan is pushing without making any changes. And given how Patrick and Phelan have clashed over property taxes for most of the year, that might be a tough pill to swallow.
Abbott, who was silent on property tax cuts during the regular session, ended up siding with Phelan over Patrick shortly after the vote on the House bill.
“It provides more cuts to property tax rates than any other proposal at this time,” he said. “It is supported by the most respected tax think tank in the state, as well as more than 30 homeowner, consumer, and business groups across the state. I look forward to signing it when it reaches my desk.”
But Patrick was not ready to concede to Abbott and Phelan. In a statement released Tuesday night, Patrick said Abbott was misinformed about the roles of the governor and the Legislature, arguing that Abbott cannot dictate the language in a bill. Patrick repeated a statement he made earlier in the day on the Senate floor that the upper chamber’s legislation was germane to the focus of the special session.
“Governor Abbott has finally shown his cards. He chooses to give homeowners 50% less of a tax cut, nearly $700 a year, to give corporations more. This is not what homeowners expected when they voted for him,” Patrick’s statement read.
Here is the entire Trib read: Texas governor, House speaker at odds with Senate over property tax plan | The Texas Tribune.
Patrick started yesterday morning giving a speech in Austin trashing the GOP Speaker on the property tax issue. The Speaker responded by killing the Senate’s version, passed the House measure and then adjourned.
Patrick can ask the Senate to accept the House measure, or let it die and adjourn. Then Abbott would have to decide to call another special.
After the House killed the Senate version, Scott Braddock predicted the House would pass their version and then adjourn. They did.
Advantage to the Speaker on this move.
What a clown show and you know that.
Stay tuned!
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We won last night.
