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Tuesday, May 27, 1997

Fingerpointing uncalled for, senator says

By JUAN B. ELIZONDO Jr. Associated Press

AUSTIN - The Republican-controlled state Senate is not to blame for the death of GOP Gov. George W. Bush's initiative to significantly lower local school property taxes, a leading Democrat said Monday.

Over the weekend, Bush and key lawmakers announced that the House and Senate - despite the governor's direct input - could not reach a compromise between two plans meant to cut school property taxes by expanding and raising some state taxes. Some House lawmakers blamed the Senate, which is under Republican control for the first time in 120 years.

"They couldn't agree when to have supper," said Rep. Mark Stiles, D-Beaumont, and a member of the House-Senate committee that failed to find middle ground.

Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, led the Senate effort. He said comments like Stiles' were made out of frustration, adding that there's no need to blame anyone.

He said speculation that the Senate let down the state's Republican governor was just that: speculation.

"We never asked for 'yes' or 'no's' on the final proposal," he said. "I can tell you that from the members I spoke to, Democrats and Republicans, there were a lot of various reactions."

Bush and legislative leaders crafted a last-ditch proposal to cut local school taxes by about $4 billion every two years. It would have raised about $2.2 billion in new state taxes and used budget cuts and money left from the last two-year state budget to pay for the property tax cuts.

The proposal did not meet enough lawmakers' approval and Bush gave up the effort.

The House had passed a $5 billion plan. The Senate approved a $2.5 billion proposal.

Lawmakers on Monday were drafting a bill to give Texans an extra $11,000 exemption on their homestead property taxes. That would be a tax cut of about $140 per homeowner.

Bush said that would give Texans a permanent property tax cut, even if it is not the size he had hoped for. Lawmakers say they can get that bill passed before next Tuesday.

"We all worked hard to do what we thought was right and we can join together to give Texans a billion-dollar tax cut, an accomplishment that we all can be proud of," Bush said after the larger effort died. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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