Statement From State Rep. Pete Gallego On HJR 1

[Press Statement from State Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine)]

“I appreciate Jim Keffer setting HJR 1 for a public hearing tomorrow and accommodating my request to move this resolution instead of the more problematic alternative. The vast majority of members want to expeditiously give senior citizens and the disabled the same tax relief given to all other Texans last year. This is a great way to show all Texans that Democrats and Republicans are working together to provide our elderly and disabled with the property tax relief they were promised.”

Background and History

Last week, the Senate opted to entangle their proposed constitutional amendment regarding tax relief for seniors with language used to justify busting the state’s spending cap for the first time in history. Over the weekend, Speaker Craddick embraced the same problematic idea, despite the fact that many members believe that any discussion of busting the state spending cap is premature until a proposed state budget is available for review.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) was dead on when they said “it’s wrong to hold tax cuts for seniors hostage to the spending cap issue.” The umbrella of giving senior citizens the tax break they have earned should not be used to provide cover for busting the spending cap, especially when the specific expenditures (and amounts of those expenditures) for which the cap is to be busted are unknown.

Yesterday, State Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine) sent a letter to Speaker Craddick asking that HJR 1 be brought to the floor as a stand-alone measure. HJR 1 had not even been set for hearing prior to Rep. Gallego’s letter - only HJR 60, which coupled the senior citizen tax relief with busting the spending cap - had been filed. Today, Rep. Gallego asked a series of parliamentary inquires on this same topic.

Immediately after Rep. Gallego concluded his inquiries regarding the need to get HJR 1 to the floor, Chairman Keffer moved to suspend all necessary rules so that his House Committee on Ways and Means could hear HJR 1 in committee tomorrow.