AT THE CAPITOL
News from the 88th legislative session
QUOTE OF NOTE
Early bill filings show education, property tax relief among major priorities for 2023 legislative session
“I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO 2023 AND ANOTHER
PRODUCTIVE LEGISLATIVE
BY HANNAH NORTON
during the academic year and to raise the state allotment to $7,075 per pupil. Property taxes Texas has one of the highest property tax rates in the nation. This is because the state does not charge an income tax. Additionally, local property taxes are used to fund schools, city infrastructure, emer- gency services and more. Multiple bills have been filed to eliminate or reduce schools’ maintenance and operations taxes, which fund day-to-day operations and employee salaries. Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction, filed two bills to eliminate the tax. HB 29 would create a joint commit- tee that would deal with the details of eliminating the tax, while HB 38 would increase certain state taxes in place of the local property taxes.
NUMBER TO KNOW The number of bills filed by Texas lawmakers a month from the start of the Jan. 10 session. Lawmakers started filing bills Nov. 14 and have until March 10—the 60th day of the session—to submit bills for this Legislature. 1,100+ SESSION THAT WILL SET THE STAGE FOR AN EVEN GREATER TEXAS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.” LT. GOV. DAN PATRICK Sign up for our newsletter at communityimpact.com for daily updates throughout the session. SUBSCRIBE TODAY
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas ranks in the middle of a sampling of Southern states when it comes to pre-K through 12th- grade overall per-pupil spending. Funding comes from local, state and federal sources. These numbers from the Census Bureau in 2021 show some of the surrounding states: STATE COMPARISONS
A month before the Jan. 10 start of the 2023-24 legislative session, Texas lawmakers had filed over 1,100 bills. Thousands more are expected to be filed, but only some will become laws. Lawmakers have until the 60th day of the session—March 10—to file prospective pieces of legislation. Education funding and property tax relief were two major topics of early filings. Education and public schools Changing the way Texas funds public schools is top of mind for many educators, administrators and parents. Schools earn $6,160 per student who meets the average daily atten- dance threshold. Bills have been filed to require the state to fund schools based on the average number of students enrolled
$11,075 Louisiana
$10,388 Arkansas
$10,177 New Mexico
$9,827 Texas
$9,323 Oklahoma
$9,284 Mississippi
SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU/COMMUNITY IMPACT
$8,625 Arizona
Homeschool Days at the ICR Discovery Center
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February 21–23, 2023
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