(So do you really want HB 3 right now folks? - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Texas needs a fair broad-based, low-rate business tax. But is our state so leaderless and bereft of principle that to pass HB3 we have to laden it with special tax goodies for the powerful and well-connected?
These special interest tax loopholes are worth up to $1.5 billion, according to the SA Express News. If we closed these loopholes, we could provide a $5,000 pay raise for Texas’ middle class teachers, who are paid $6800 less than the national average. But who cares about our teachers and the middle-class taxpayers who will subsidize these tax breaks? What do they matter when there is a Roman feast to be had?
Here are some goodies obtained by the restaurants, oil and gas industry, banks, financial vehicles of the wealthy, and real estate firms (which I am sure are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg):
I apparently didn't make my point clear in "Doctors' Greed Gone Wild," since most comments defended doctors and the need to raise Medicaid reimbursements. Medicaid reimbursements clearly need to be raised substantially and Texas needs a real health care plan so we dramatically reduce our nation-leading percentage of unsinsured.
But the doctors' "unreimbursed" care deduction is the wrong way to deal with these issues and is grossly overbroad. The right way to deal with Medicaid is to substantially increase Medicaid reimbursements in specific amounts for specific procedures and treatments. The wrong way is to grant a blanket across the board tax deduction for all payments for all procedures for Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, Workers' Comp, and the Military's TriCare plan. Even less justified is the additional tax break for insurance company under-payments as determined by doctors.
People need to read the details of the deduction in HB3 and not just bemoan our generally sorry health care system. This crappy deduction will not achieve its public justification and is grossly overbroad and poorly thought out.
To me, this deduction reeks of greed and not the public interest.
(Another prospective new writer for the upcoming month, I'd like to see what y'all think. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
The Doc’s amendment to HB3-- allowing doctors, dentists, and other medical professionals to deduct their costs for "unreimbursed" care-- takes greed to a new level. The amendment is nothing but a disguised tax expenditure to benefit a privileged few at the expense of other taxpayers and funding for our kids’ education. Talk about power-drunk piggies at the trough.
Health care professionals have the highest earnings in the US. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the top 11 of 13 occupations in earnings are health care professionals. Anesthesiologists top the list, making a median annual income of over $326,000. The average person in the US earns around $28,760. And with Texas' grossly regressive taxes, health care professionals, who rank among the wealthiest Texans, are paying today in state and local taxes 3% of their income-- while middle class Texans are paying 8% and the poor 11%.
But oppressed and suffering terribly financially, Texas medical professionals decided it would be right and just if they got a special deduction for “un-reimbursed” care. Many others provide charitable services-- lawyers, public relations specialists, accountants, non-professional people, etc--but only the docs get a charitable deduction. How sweet it is.
There has been much back and forth traffic via e-mail about the now adopted Calendar Rule that limits amendments to the all holy tax bills. From Quorum Report...
The House voted Friday to limit the scope of amendments that can be considered on three of the five tax bills to be considered next week. House Speaker Tom Craddick said the chamber would try to address all five bills Monday.
Democrats strongly opposed the rules changes, saying House leadership was interested in stifling debate on teacher pay raises and other components of school improvement. Craddick said the Calendars committee was trying to limit the debate to matters addressed in the governor’s call.
From House Democratic Caucus leader Jim Dunnam.
In a just released statement, House Democratic Caucus Chair Jim Dunnam bemoaned Speaker Craddick's refusal to recognize him to consider some House procedural reforms.
He said, "Throughout these special sessions, we’ve seen devastating rules that have prevented every single member from offering any amendments that spend one dime on public education. Tomorrow we expect to see another rule proposed designed to stop any legislation to help improve schools. In other words, if the proposed rule passes, there will be no additional money dedicated to our schools, our kids, or our teachers. One of the provisions in the open government proposal—that Speaker Craddick killed today—would require a 2/3 majority of the House to pass such devastating and harmful calendar rules that restrict debate and handcuff members."
I love that title, but I can't take credit for it. This is from the Texas Democratic Party:
(Austin , TX ) - Today, House Speaker Tom Craddick and House Republicans passed sham "procedural" rules designed to prevent House Members from using any of the state's surplus or new Perry tax revenue to improve our children's schools. The rule essentially denies lawmakers the opportunity to offer amendments, or proposals of any type, that would use these funds for Texas schools.
"Tom Craddick and his Republican foot soldiers are working against Texas children," said Texas Democratic Party Communications Director Amber Moon . "By voting for the rule that slams the school doors shut and denies even the discussion of much-needed school funding, Republicans have shown they care more about election year politics than providing our children textbooks."
"The people of Texas have demanded that the legislature invest in our schools in addition to addressing property taxes, but Republicans are holding our kids hostage for a tax bill that doesn't put one dime into their future," said Moon. "Students are reading from out-of-date textbooks in over-crowded classrooms. Yet Republicans are refusing to even discuss the pressing needs of our neighborhood schools."
Democrats in the House have developed the "Hochberg Plan", which will improve public education and deliver much-needed funding to Texas schools in addition to providing meaningful property tax relief for homeowners. The Democratic plan would reduce class sizes, fund new facilities and technology, raise teacher pay and restore health insurance benefits for all educational employees. However, Speaker Craddick has refused to even allow a vote on the common-sense Democratic plan even though the House passed a similar plan with bipartisan plan last August.
"Democrats in the House are working hard to respond to the demands of all Texans and fix our schools. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership has turned a deaf ear to the message sent by voters in this year's primary elections--that they are ready for a change from the failed Republican leaders who have turned their backs on the kids, teachers and parents in our state," Moon concluded.
Looks like this is gonna be over before it begins. I predict that with the election year looming, the Republicans in the house will pass some sort of crappy tax bill. Then they will go home, pat each other on the back and expect to be sent back to the Lege.
...we’ve worked hard to support legislators' goals of lowering your property taxes while adequately funding public schools.
They're also happy to point out BAD ways of financing schools - like a real estate transfer tax and a tax on services like, oh, I don't know... real estate services.
Meanwhile the Texans for Taxpayer relief website went dark pending revision, shortly after Chris Bell charged they had stepped over the line into illegal lobbying. http://www.taxpayerrelief.com/
The Texas Legislature's 3rd Special Session on school finance begins today. Share your thoughts about the upcoming session - what needs to happen, what you think will happen, etc. - with us in the comments section below. In the mean time, I've re-posted an old letter from the past special session below the fold. Take a read through, and have a good first day of session.
Every Texan agrees that our children's education is of the utmost importance. That's why parents and voters are fed up with the failed Republican leaders who choose to play partisan politics instead of passing a real bipartisan solution to fund our public schools and provide relief from skyrocketing property taxes.
This state is incredibly pig-headed and plain dumb. How goes our future depends on how goes public education. If we continue our short-sighted cheapness and don’t properly fund public education, our state is going down the toilet. We will have a declining standard of living, few good paying jobs, and a bitter, polarized population. (Read The New Texas Challenge, by Steve Murdock, the state’s demographer, if you don’t believe me).
We need to make a stand starting now—this Special Session-- for funding and improving our schools. That’s why I and others are asking folks to sign an e-petition at http://www.fundtexasschools.org demanding our Legislature begin to recognize economic and demographic reality and invest in our children's schools and teachers.
Here is reality. Texans are competing economically based on our knowledge and skills in a global information age world. Our kids will have to be more knowledgeable and skilled than kids in India, Ireland, and China, not just kids in Oklahoma or Louisiana. Texas has a rapidly growing population of students, mostly disadvantaged and minority, who historically have had lower educational achievement and higher dropouts. By 2040, we will have 7 million students, who are 80% minority, according to Steve Murdock. We need to invest in our kids, not deny reality and undermine our future.
Yet our state treats public education like it's just one more thing to buy on the cheap and show benign neglect. No matter how well we spend education funds or how good our school accountability system is, we aren’t going to get the job done spending almost $1500 less per student and $6800 less per teacher per year than the national average.
Please send the hard of hearing Legislature a message: Invest Now In Our Kids, Invest Now In Our Future. Please sign our petition at http://www.fundtexasschools.org.
...to a new organization formed to support his school finance tax plan, according to a story that Harvey Kronberg is reporting on Quorum Report.
Using a vehicle called "Texans for Taxpayer Relief" (a 501(c)(6) entity) they plan to raise and spend a million a week over the next five to six weeks to fund advertising to build support for the governor's plan - apparently while the lege is discussing it.
One burning question - will those contributions be subject to any disclosure at all? The website at http://taxpayerrelief.com doesn't have much to say about who is behind it.
