Wednesday, May 28, 1997

Legislature stubs its toe in sprint to finish

While the rest of us were enjoying the three-day weekend that signals the beginning of summer vacation, the Texas Legislature was hitting a serious glitch or two.

First came Saturday's announcement that passing a property tax reform bill is impossible.

Since it began on Jan. 14, this issue has so dominated the legislative session that it's no exaggeration to say the push to restructure the burden of property taxes on Texas homeowners has defined and consumed it. Examination and debate of alternative plans have taken up so much of legislators' time and energy that many other legitimate concerns were simply pushed aside until the next session in 1999.

Even cynical observers predicted the Legislature would agree on something called tax reform, declare victory and go home. But the matter proved too complex for lawmakers to handle.

Governor's initiative

This five-month exercise in frustration began at the initiative of Gov. George W. Bush, who started urging lower local school property taxes more than a year ago. But after Bush delivered his blueprint for cutting property taxes to the House and Senate, those two branches quickly drifted far afield from the governor's starting point - and from each other.

By the time each house passed its own property tax bill, it was hard to think both had started out at the same place. Every interest affected - from businesses to partnerships to schools themselves - lobbied for this exemption or that consideration, and everyday Texans were hard pressed to understand exactly how either version would save them in one area or cost them in another. Worse, the two bills were $2.5 billion apart, and that was just too wide a gap to close.

The problem, simply put, is that if you cut one major source of school funding, you have to find other sources to make it up.

The House cut more in property taxes, which meant more new taxes had to be raised. Not so willing to increase new taxes, the Senate cut property taxes less. No compromise could get enough votes to pass. Countless hours of work have therefore gone for naught. The best homeowners can expect is a modest increase in their homestead exemption, a far cry from the ambitious prospects of January.

Second train wreck

Still reeling from this setback, the Capitol was rocked Monday by Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, who single-handedly killed 52 bills passed by the Senate and due for House debate in retaliation for the Senate's not requiring parents be notified if their teen-age daughters seek an abortion. Another 39 bills were similarly endangered.

A Republican from Burleson, Wohlgemuth alone could do this by raising a "point of order," objecting that the House Calendars Committee did not mention where it was meeting when it scheduled the Senate bills for House debate.

Thus, thousands more hours spent writing, debating and voting on bills has been wasted.

One representative's personal vendetta and the entire body's failure to reach a compromise on property taxes are threatening to leave this session of the Legislature in shambles. At a time when we need government to demonstrate it can work, this is not the best way to serve the needs of the people of Texas.