Bulk of Texas Tax Reform Package Passes Senate

The Texas Senate has given final approval to House Bills 2, 3, and 4, which propose to change the way the state pays for its public school system.

These bills would broaden the business tax, taxing gross receipts of most businesses that make more than $300,00 per year at one percent. They would also modify the sales tax collection on used cars and dedicate the funds from today’s bills to lowering the property tax rate.

Senator Steve Ogden, who chairs the Finance Committee, said that the passage of these bills will slash property taxes and address constitutional challenges to the state’s public education finance system. “I think this was a historic day in Texas, because by broadening the business tax and lowering the rate, we were able to cut property taxes by the largest amount that anyone ever possibly imagined, and secondly, we now have in place a vehicle to permanently solve the continuous constitutional crisis we’ve been under ever since I’ve been in the legislature since the early nineties,” he said.

The bills now go to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature.

Session video and all other web cast recordings can be accessed from the Senate Web site’s audio and video archive pages.

Source: Texas Senate