Free Republic

The Senate on Tuesday approved a major overhaul of the state's business tax to pay for property tax cuts . . . . . . [Governor] Perry made it the centerpiece of his effort to raise enough money to cut school property taxes by one-third . . .[. . .]The new tax headed to Perry's desk would replace the corporate franchise tax. With a rate as high as 1 percent, it would be based on gross receipts. Businesses could deduct their salaries and benefits or their manufacturing and production costs. It has riled some conservative activists who say Perry's plan...

As expected, both the House and Senate went “sine die” this morning, ending a 30-day special session that, for all practical purposes, ended more than two weeks ago when the House rejected school finance reform. Gov. Rick Perry is expected to hold a news conference early this afternoon, where he’ll likely tell us what comes next. Few around the Capitol expect Perry to call a third special session on school finance reform until the Texas Supreme Court rules this fall on whether the current system is unconstitutional. That means lawmakers are free to go home — and find out hear...

Only Texas families making more than $140,853 a year would get a tax break under a multibillion-dollar proposal crafted by Senate leaders to reduce local school property taxes through higher state levies on businesses and consumers. Those earning less would bear a heavier tax burden on average under the bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee, which leaders said will be considered by the full Senate today. If the Senate passes it, the school finance bill would head to a conference committee that would try to work out differences with a tax-swap measure previously approved by the House. The largest...

USD 220 Superintendent Jerry Cullen said Tuesday he was upset that lawmakers did not approve a school finance plan for 2004-2005, but he was glad a Shawnee County District Court judge had scolded them for failing to act. "I'm glad he came down hard on them, because they really disappointed me," Cullen said Tuesday. "I really thought we had enough people in the House and Senate that they would step up to the plate and do the right thing. Unfortunately, I was wrong." Along with other educators in southwest Kansas, Cullen was studying Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock's newest...

<p>National education researchers scolded Arizona for widening the funding gap between its rich and poor students at a time when most states are closing the divide.</p> <p>Arizona spends nearly $1,000 less per child to educate its poor students than it spends on wealthier students, giving it the sixth-highest such gap in the nation, according to research released Wednesday by the Education Trust.</p>