NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan reached an agreement to offer Texans property tax relief after their month-long standoff on Capitol Hill. The Democratic primary for the US Senate against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz has intensified. And conservative groups have launched billboards and a website to defend ousted and suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.
CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink covers these stories and more on this week’s episode of Eye on Politics (original air date: July 14).
Each week, CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and catch new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7:00 PM on CBS News Texas.
Finally, a deal
Property tax relief is coming soon to Texas home and business owners. The Texas Legislature passed three bills aimed at reducing the school portion of the property tax bill.
On Thursday evening, both the House and Senate passed three bills worth $18 billion in property tax cuts. Here’s what the legislation does:
Lowers the school property tax rate for all property owners and businesses.
The homestead exemption will increase to $100,000 for most homeowners and $110,000 for homeowners over 65 and those with disabilities.
For a home valued at $330,000, the median in Texas, lawmakers said it’s worth about $2,600 in savings over the first two years for most homeowners and about $3,000 over the first two years for homeowners with over 65 and/or disabled.
The legislation also limits increases in the assessed values of commercial and non-residential residential properties.
The measure provides savings to small businesses by increasing the franchise tax exemption to nearly $2.5 million.
Lawmakers said it means 67,000 small businesses in Texas won’t have to pay the franchise tax at all.
The bills now head to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.
After the House passed the bills, we spoke with Speaker Phelan about the new deal, when lawmakers will provide new money for public schools, teacher pay raises, and more.
Watch the full interview below.
Who is challenging Senator Ted Cruz?
The Democratic primary for the US Senate in Texas is heating up.
This week, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, whose district includes San Antonio and Uvalde, announced that he hopes to unseat two-term Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.
He entered the race two months later Colin Allred, Congressman from North Texas (D-Richardson) launched his bid for the United States Senate.
In a one-on-one interview, Gutierrez told Jack why he’s running:
“At the end of the day, Ted Cruz has been part of a problem in this state, in America, that has been nothing but a cancer.”
Gutierrez has become one of the Texas Legislature’s staunchest advocates increased restrictions on the sale of weapons.
Before he can challenge Cruz in the general election, Gutierrez must first win the Democratic primary and win Congressman Colin Allred of Richardsonwho launched his candidacy at the beginning of May.
Since then, Allred has raised more than $6 million and has $8.6 million in his campaign account.
Watch Jack’s full interview with Gutierrez below.
Conservative groups reject impeachment of AG Ken Paxton in Texas House
The Defend Texas Liberty PAC has placed a billboard in Republican state Rep. Glenn Rogers’ home district in Parker, Palo Pinto and Stephens counties.
The billboard says he voted with 61 Democrats to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“I voted the way I felt was the right way to vote,” Rogers told CBS News Texas on Wednesday. “Over 70% of Republicans voted the same way I did. So they conveniently left that fact out. But our voters are smart enough to see that. We didn’t condemn Ken Paxton. We just say there was enough evidence to move this case to trial.”
Rogers said she heard from constituents who supported her decision and those who harshly criticized it.
“There are a lot of people upset about the impeachment and I can understand that because Ken Paxton has done a lot for Texas,” he said. “He fought some of Biden’s liberal policies.”
Luke Macias, the director of the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, said this is something the PAC “has done consistently with liberal Republicans wherever they are in the state.”
He went on to say that they will “communicate with voters through any method of communication to make sure they really know what’s going on.”
Paxton’s Senate impeachment trial begins on September 5. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and called the impeachment a farce. Senators will decide whether Paxton will keep his job or be removed from office.
Learn more by watching the video below.
Read more about Ken Paxton’s impeachment here.
Jack Fink
