Free Republic

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry has launched a statewide campaign ad, touting property tax cuts accomplished during the special session that ended last week. The 30-second ad, shot by Weeks & Co., will play in major markets for an undetermined period. Text: (Mr. Perry, standing in front of a frame house with a Texas flag) "A $15 billion property tax cut and more money for schools. We kept our promise to you. The average homeowner will receive a $2,000 tax cut. Every teacher will receive a well-deserved pay raise. We closed corporate loopholes and created new protections to keep taxes...

Gov. Rick Perry has put in writing what he's been saying for weeks: During the special session that starts Monday, he expects lawmakers to cut school property taxes and retool business taxes before they take up other topics — including a possible teacher pay raise or tweaks to the ways schools are managed. In a Wednesday letter to House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, Perry says the session will begin at 2 p.m. In the letter, Perry directs legislators to "significantly reduce property taxes and to make substantial reforms to the franchise tax so that it is fairer and broader, and...