Bush visit puts Abilene back in state debate

Here's a surprise: Name a tax - any tax - and somebody will oppose it.

When Gov. George W. Bush first declared war on property taxes, the whole state cheered. They're too high and getting higher, they're arbitrary and unfair, and everybody who pays them hates them. Finally, someone who could do something about it was going to.

Last month, soon after presenting his tax reform plan to the Legislature, Bush's scheduled trip to Abilene to promote it was canceled by tornado warnings in Austin. At that time, Bush was still riding a crest of support for his basic idea, which seemed to have caught legislators off guard.

But the tenor of public discussion has changed considerably during the intervening weeks.

Find a replacement

The problem, of course, is that the state still has to take in a certain amount of money in order to keep furnishing the services we all expect the state to provide, such as schools, roads, courts, prisons. And if we knock out a big chunk of the tax revenue earmarked for the biggest budget item - public education - then something has to replace it.

In exchange for lower property taxes, Bush's plan calls for raising and expanding the state sales tax and for adding a new tax on business activity. Now that people have had time to examine the fallout more closely, a lot of them are unhappy about what they see.

Do we, for example, want to start paying sales tax on things like advertising, bookkeeping, auto repair, hair care, legal representation, dental work, home electricity, water, veterinarians and jet fuel? Do we want a higher sales tax on gasoline? And won't that tax on businesses simply be passed on to consumers?

Much of the enthusiasm that first greeted Bush's proposal is now turning to frowns of skepticism. Mechanics probably aren't too happy with some of the areas suggested for new sales taxes. Neither are pet owners nor electricity users nor water drinkers nor dentists nor barbers nor lawyers nor advertising suppliers. Pick your tax, and somebody is against it.

Upping the ante

Plus, the Legislature has regained its footing and kicked up the ante in this high stakes political game. If we start playing around with revenue for schools, lawmakers decided, then we'd better re-examine the entire subject of public school financing while we're at it, just to make sure we're not shortchanging schools.

For that matter, legislators went on, as long as we're talking about a major tax change, why do it piecemeal? It's as good a time as any to think about restructuring the whole state tax code. And that's what the Legislature is looking at now.

Instead of ducking out, as he had ample excuse to do, Bush has rescheduled his visit to Abilene. He'll be at the Tom Roberts Conference Center at Hendrick Medical Center at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday to explain what he wants Texas to do about taxes and to answer questions about his plan.

The governor deserves a lot of credit for making himself available to us, and his visit here can be as valuable as we make it. We owe him a fair hearing, just as he owes taxpayers and schoolchildren a rationale for the changes he wants to put into effect.