Opinion

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So this week for my scrawling on this page, I’m trying a different approach with things.

Our esteemed friend Gary Borders, the award-winning newspaperman and essayist, is the current curator of the weekly Capitol Highlights column, courtesy of Texas Press Association.

In the column, Borders follows a great tradition of breaking down current stories of statewide interest into brief bits of news. Read any of Borders’s weekly columns, and you’ll have a working knowledge of important issues facing Texans on any given week.

In following that sterling example (no pun intended…Borders’s predecessor is named Ed Sterling) I’ve decided to take the same approach with news stories that have stuck out to me but marinated in some of that Chris Edwards special commentary sauce you’ve grown to love (well, all three of you who read my rantings).

So here goes. This may be the only time I do this, but then again, it might just stick.

AG wants more power to prosecute election crimes

Last week, it was reported that Attorney General Ken Paxton wants more power to prosecute election crime, and several bills in this current legislative session would give it to him.

Although no evidence of widespread voter fraud has been found, Paxton has been actively pursuing election-related crimes since he took office in 2015.

How about a bill signed into law forbidding anyone under federal criminal indictment from serving as AG?

Abbott prioritizing budget surplus, schools and power grid

At his inauguration last Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott emphasized that this legislative session will be centered on the state’s historic budget surplus, parental rights in schools and public safety.

Additionally, Abbott said in this session “we will build a grid that powers our state – not for the next four years, but for the next 40 years.”

The aforementioned topics, as well as meaningful property tax reform, are issues that actually mean something to Texans. Stick to this, legislators, and deliver for your constituents and leave the culture-warring nonsense to the cesspool of social media.

Keyboard culture warriors react to Pink Floyd

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its legendary and mega-selling album Dark Side of the Moon, the band Pink Floyd changed its Facebook profile image to a prism outlining the number “50” and a rainbow color scheme inside of the zero.

The reactions to some of the band’s Facebook followers was nothing short of ridiculous, with some commenters making such solid gold replies as “are you going woke with rainbows, is there a straight flag, I want equal representation…” (yes, Facebook culture warriors are big fans of run-on sentences and bigotry).

Never mind the fact that the album’s iconic cover image features a rainbow color prism.

How exhausting it must be to have a knee-jerk reaction to turn everything into a political talking point as one’s super-power.

M&Ms replace “spokescandies”

In another example from the “everything’s a political talking point” frontier, Mars, the candy giant, announced on Monday that it is replacing its M&Ms “spokescandies” with the former Rentals keyboardist/former SNL cast member Maya Rudolph. This move came after right-wing criticism that the company’s anthropomorphic candies’ makeovers had gone too far.

For example, a new purple M&M was added to the roster, to represent inclusivity. The orange M&M was made to be an avatar for those struggling with anxiety.

So is Critical Candy Theory the new thing everyone should be up in arms about?

Santos continues to rankle

Embattled Empire State congressman George Santos (if that is actually his name) continued to draw controversy last week.

The newly sworn-in lawmaker has admitted to, um, reinventing large swaths of his resume, but in spite of that, he wound up with committee assignments, and insists he will only step down if the voters turn against him.

Recently video footage turned up of Santos as a drag performer. The silver lining here is that Saturday Night Live now has a fully formed comedic character that the show’s writers won’t even have to get that creative with in order to spoof.

Another good yearfor Dem Boys

Another 12-win season and respectable post-season showing from the Dallas Cowboys ended on Sunday with a fight-to-the-finish loss against the long-irrelevant San Francisco 49ers. Tough loss, to be certain, but it was a good season with an improved roster.

What are the haters and fans, alike, to do with their lives now?

Sullivan celebratesmilestone

Woodville icon and ace raconteur Fred Sullivan just celebrated a milestone birthday. If you happen to find yourself in downtown Woodville, drop on by Sullivan’s and wish Fred a most happy of happy birthdays.

If the world had many more folks like Fred in it, then the world would be a much kinder, more intelligent place.

Happy birthday, good sir!

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By Rep. Trent Ashby

As part of School Board Appreciation Month, I invite parents, teachers, and students to join me in recognizing our local School Board Members who have dedicated their time to serve our Texas students and communities.

With more than 5 million students throughout the State of Texas, these local leaders deserve our gratitude for their leadership and devoted service on behalf of our school districts, administrators, teachers, and students.

The School Board Appreciation theme for 2023 is “Forward, Together,” which, in my opinion, perfectly encapsulates our shared commitment to the success of our public schools and a brighter future for Texas students.

In my most recent column, I discussed the Comptroller’s announcement of the Biennial Revenue Estimate, which outlines funds available for the legislature over the next two years.

Against that backdrop, on Jan. 18, leadership in both the House and Senate filed a preliminary base budget, which will serve as a starting point for the legislature to begin budget negotiations. House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1, reflect the priorities of each chamber and will be debated throughout the session to arrive at a final budget for the 2024-2025 biennium.

While the priorities for each chamber are reflected in the fine print of their respective proposals, there a quite a few similarities. Both chambers have proposed to spend roughly $130 billion in general revenue over the upcoming biennium, which is well below the constitutional spending cap.

Without wading too deep into budget minutia, I want to highlight some of the priorities that are clearly defined in each of the filed budget proposals.

For example, both versions dedicate $15 billion for property tax relief, including an additional $3 billion to buy down local school and property tax rates. This is welcome news, as skyrocketing appraisal values combined with record levels of inflation have shouldered too many Texans with an exorbitant property tax bill.

I’m pleased to see that both chambers are prioritizing property tax relief in their base proposals, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to find additional solutions to help provide meaningful relief to Texas property owners.

I’m also pleased to report that House Bill 1 makes significant investments in public safety and criminal justice by dedicating over $17 billion to support the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, correctional officers, rural law enforcement, and bolstered border security efforts. I applaud the Texas House for prioritizing the brave men and women who help keep our communities safe.

Additionally, both chambers are proposing to make strategic investments in public education. As school districts across the state struggle with teacher shortages, learning loss, and countless other challenges that have arisen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, both chambers’ proposals feature a $36 billion investment to help address these challenges.

These resources will be used to increase teacher incentives, raise the basic allotment, enhance technological and instructional materials, and importantly, strengthen our school safety initiatives. Our public school classrooms are the bedrock of our communities, and ensuring our educators and students have the resources necessary to provide a quality learning environment is vital to the success of our children and the future of Texas.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact my office if we can help you in any way. My district office may be reached at (936) 634-2762. Additionally, I welcome you to follow along on my Official Facebook Page, where I will post regular updates on what’s happening in your State Capitol and share information that could be useful to you and your family: https://www.facebook.com/RepTrentAshby/.

Trent Ashby represents District 9, which includes Trinity County, in the Texas Legislature.

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By Richard Lee
Senate correspondent

AUSTIN — The amount that homeowners can write off of the taxable value of their home before assessment would nearly double under the budget proposed by the Senate on Wednesday.

SB 1, filed by Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Joan Huffman of Houston, would increase the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000 at a cost of $1.8 billion for the state. Another $12 billion has been earmarked for further property tax cuts to be proposed in separate legislation.

This makes good on a promise made just one day earlier by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as he was sworn into his third term in office.

“The Governor and the Speaker and the members, we’re going to find a way for long term property tax relief with the billions of dollars from this surplus, because you come first — it’s your money,” he said in his inaugural speech before thousands on the north Capitol grounds Tuesday.

Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott laid out property tax cuts as their top priority at Tuesday Inaugural Ceremony. They were also united on the subject of school choice, saying that this will be the session in which the state joins 30 others in passing some sort of choice program.

Though the legislation is still forthcoming, such measures typically allows parents to withdraw their students from public school and take the amount the state is spending to educate them to go to a private school. This plan has faced staunch opposition in the past, especially from small, rural districts who need every dollar they have.

Patrick said this session, the plan will ensure these rural schools are taken care of.

“The Governor and I will have a plan to protect those schools financially and to make sure those parents have choice also,” Patrick said. “We are going to pass school choice.”

Another issue both men raised in their inaugural addresses is electric grid stability. With the 2021 winter storm still fresh in the minds of lawmakers, there will likely be a bevy of bills aimed at ensuring the lights stay on in Texas no matter what.

Abbott praised last session’s efforts toward that goal.

“Last summer we set 11 all-time power generation records and last month, we weathered brutally freezing temperatures across the state all without any disruptions,” he said, “This session we will build a grid that will power this state, not for the next four years, but for the next 40 years.”

Patrick was more specific about plans for stability, saying that the state must incentivize dispatchable generation, like natural gas plants, in order to ensure there is plenty of electricity to meet the demands of one of the fastest growing states in America.

“We need dispatchable energy we can count on. We will add more megawatts of thermal generation and strengthen the grid,” he said.

Many of the priorities laid out by Patrick for the session are well-represented in the Senate draft budget released Wednesday afternoon. It includes $350 million for rural law enforcement, and $2.5 billion to create a university fund for institutions outside the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems. It would allocate $4.6 billion towards state border security efforts, more money for state hospitals and mental health services, and $228 million towards foster care reform.

Huffman, in her first session heading up the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement accompanying the release that the budget continues the conservative and sustainable spending policies that have left Texas in such an advantageous position. She also acknowledged that there is still much that could change between today and when a final budget, passed by both chambers, is presented to the governor for his signature.

“The base budget is a starting point, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to develop a conservative and sustainable budget that addresses our needs and strengthens our economy.”

The Senate reconvened Tuesday.

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By Richard Lee
Senate correspondent

AUSTIN — The amount that homeowners can write off of the taxable value of their home before assessment would nearly double under the budget proposed by the Senate on Wednesday.

SB 1, filed by Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Joan Huffman of Houston, would increase the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000 at a cost of $1.8 billion for the state. Another $12 billion has been earmarked for further property tax cuts to be proposed in separate legislation.

This makes good on a promise made just one day earlier by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as he was sworn into his third term in office.

“The Governor and the Speaker and the members, we’re going to find a way for long term property tax relief with the billions of dollars from this surplus, because you come first — it’s your money,” he said in his inaugural speech before thousands on the north Capitol grounds Tuesday.

Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott laid out property tax cuts as their top priority at Tuesday Inaugural Ceremony. They were also united on the subject of school choice, saying that this will be the session in which the state joins 30 others in passing some sort of choice program.

Though the legislation is still forthcoming, such measures typically allows parents to withdraw their students from public school and take the amount the state is spending to educate them to go to a private school. This plan has faced staunch opposition in the past, especially from small, rural districts who need every dollar they have.

Patrick said this session, the plan will ensure these rural schools are taken care of.

“The Governor and I will have a plan to protect those schools financially and to make sure those parents have choice also,” Patrick said. “We are going to pass school choice.”

Another issue both men raised in their inaugural addresses is electric grid stability. With the 2021 winter storm still fresh in the minds of lawmakers, there will likely be a bevy of bills aimed at ensuring the lights stay on in Texas no matter what.

Abbott praised last session’s efforts toward that goal.

“Last summer we set 11 all-time power generation records and last month, we weathered brutally freezing temperatures across the state all without any disruptions,” he said, “This session we will build a grid that will power this state, not for the next four years, but for the next 40 years.”

Patrick was more specific about plans for stability, saying that the state must incentivize dispatchable generation, like natural gas plants, in order to ensure there is plenty of electricity to meet the demands of one of the fastest growing states in America.

“We need dispatchable energy we can count on. We will add more megawatts of thermal generation and strengthen the grid,” he said.

Many of the priorities laid out by Patrick for the session are well-represented in the Senate draft budget released Wednesday afternoon. It includes $350 million for rural law enforcement, and $2.5 billion to create a university fund for institutions outside the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems. It would allocate $4.6 billion towards state border security efforts, more money for state hospitals and mental health services, and $228 million towards foster care reform.

Huffman, in her first session heading up the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement accompanying the release that the budget continues the conservative and sustainable spending policies that have left Texas in such an advantageous position. She also acknowledged that there is still much that could change between today and when a final budget, passed by both chambers, is presented to the governor for his signature.

“The base budget is a starting point, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to develop a conservative and sustainable budget that addresses our needs and strengthens our economy.”

The Senate reconvened Tuesday.