Patrick and House Swap Insults on Conflicts
as Property Tax Showdown Gets Personal
Capitol Inside
May 30, 2023
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick set the stage and tone for a summer bloodbath at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday when he raised the specter that House Speaker Dade Phelan was attempting to line his own deep pockets when he refused to capitulate the day before in a standoff on property tax relief.
The House responded in kind today when a Republican representative suggested that GOP State Senator Paul Bettencourt of Houston had a major conflict of interest as well in his role as the sponsor of the property tax proposal in the upper chamber.
The Republican lieutenant governor aired his grievances in a meeting at the Texas Public Policy Foundation before the first of multitude special sessions that Governor Greg Abbott got under way on Tuesday afternoon. State Rep. Justin Holland of Heath when he questioned the connections between Bettencourt's work in Austin and his business as the owner of a consulting firm that represents clients who are challenging taxes and appraisals.
Patrick suggested that the speaker's family business Phelan Investments would have substantial amounts to gain from a reduction in the appraisal cap for residential and commercial property as well. The House approved a reduction in the cap from 10 percent to 5 percent of appraised value for home and business owners alike. The Senate rallied behind a homestead exemption and refused to consider a lowering of the state-imposed ceiling on appraisals.
Patrick indicated that House leaders had offered to compromise with an appraisal cap reduction of only 2 percent. Phelan and his allies backed a pact that featured both a homestead exemption and a slashing of the appraisal along with state-mandated cuts in local tax rates. But Patrick said the speaker yanked the proposed homestead exemption from the House's bargaining package before the first special session got off the ground today.
"“I couldn't figure out — why is he so hooked on this 8 percent for all businesses cap?” Patrick told his audience at the TPPF event. “I own a lot of property — not that it’s about me. Now, any time anyone says it’s not about me, it’s usually about them. “If you go to Phelan Investments online, they own everything.”
Patrick pointed the finger at Phelan for the property tax negotiations collapse in an angry rant on Twitter after closing down the regular session in the Senate before dark on Monday.
"Speaker @DadePhelan left a meeting in a huff with @GovAbbott and me last night, killing the largest property tax cut in history by demanding an appraisal cap for business commercial properties that most business associations don’t even want," Patrick contended.
"When asked how this new cap would be paid for, he said schools should spend less money," the lieutenant governor tweeted. "And then he said, in a special session, he was taking the $100k Homestead Exemption off the table, reversing his members' vote of 147-0. Today, even before a special session has been called, the House pulled the $100k Homestead Exemption they bragged about just a week ago off the table for only compression. I will not back down from giving homeowners a $100k Homestead Exemption & getting Texas the biggest tax cut in history."
Abbott dubbed the gathering that he set to begin last night in empty chambers as Special Session #1. Abbott limited the opening agenda to property tax relief and an increase in the penalty for smuggling migrants into Texas from Mexico.
The Senate faces the additional task of putting Attorney General Ken Paxton on trial during the summer in the wake of his impeachment in the Texas House on Saturday. Patrick appointed a special Senate committee to set the groundrules for the Paxton case by June 20 with expectations of a trial to begin on or before August 28.
Patrick gave Abbott a wish list of nearly two dozen dead bills that he wants the Legislature to resurrect in special session.
more to come ...
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