Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Thursday called on Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas House to support the Senate's plan to lower property taxes.
He made a pitstop in Dallas on Thursday on his tour across the state to talk about property relief and the political deadlock that continues in Austin.
The Republican lieutenant governor has been embroiled in a spat with the governor and House Speaker Dade Phelan since the end of the regular session after the governor said the House had the best plan for lowering property taxes during the first special session.
"It'll be a sad day if the House and the governor say, 'it's our way or the highway,'" Patrick said during the press conference in Dallas.
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The governor had called a special session on May 29 to find an agreement on property tax cuts amid rising property values.
It all comes down to two plans on how to best distribute over $17 billion set aside for property tax relief.
The House plan – supported by Gov. Abbott – aims to send most of that money to school districts so they can lower taxes on all property owners of homes and businesses alike. It does not include any additional homestead exemption and spreads the $17.6 billion of relief across both residential and commercial property owners.
The Patrick-supported Senate plan sends less money to school districts, but focuses instead on giving homeowners bigger breaks and bumping up the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000.
"The Senate has had this bill since the beginning of March. The senate passed their bill unanimously 31 to nothing, twice," said Patrick.
The House plan passed quickly before they adjourned from special session "indefinitely". The senate won't budge from their concerns.
“I don’t like to be in a fight with the House or the governor. But we're not taking money out of the pockets of the average homeowner and giving it to big business and the wealthiest in Texas. Not going to do it,” Patrick said. "We don't even have anyone to send a bill to right now. So the house members and speaker Phelan, they need to get their butts back to work in Austin."
Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, criticized the House for gaveling out of the session last month after putting up a property tax bill that only includes compression and not the previously passed increased homestead exemption of $100,000.
He added a chamber isn't allowed to sine die without approval from the other chamber and that the House left the session without Senate approval.
"Our plan is the fairest to every homeowner," Patrick has said, adding his plan would save homeowners more money and the homestead exemption was previously passed by the House by a vote of 147-0.
Abbott, meanwhile, has said he'd call "special session after special session until a solution is reached."
The governor also gave an ultimatum this week, saying he will veto bills awaiting signature if the two chambers don't figure it out by Sunday. There are over 200 Senate bills and about 100 House bills that await action from the governor.
"There will be no future special sessions unless and until the Texas Senate and Texas House get together and come up with an agreement about how we are going to implement $17.6 billion and cutting property taxes on Texans."
The governor has signaled he's willing to compromise as long as both sides come to a solution together.
"He has said -- and I think it's important that he's said -- that whatever bill the House and Senate send to him, he will sign,” Patrick said.
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