The Texas House of Representatives has already adjourned for the first special session called by Governor Greg Abbott. Governor Abbott called for a special session aimed to create legislation that would lower property taxes by compressing school district tax rates, and creating a mandatory minimum sentencing of 10 years for human smuggling. 

By cutting property taxes, Abbott specifies: “Legislation to cut property-tax rates solely by reducing the school district maximum compressed tax rate in order to provide lasting property-tax relief for Texas taxpayers.”

Compressing the tax rate means reducing how much property tax is funding schools and instead replacing it with sales tax and state funds, according to CBS Austin.

By stopping human smuggling, Abbott means, “Legislation solely for the purpose of increasing or enhancing the penalties for certain criminal conduct involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a stash house.”

Both of these were priorities of Governor Greg Abbott at the beginning of the legislative session. It is highly likely Governor Abbott will call more special sessions as his other priorities have not been met by the Texas Legislature. 

“Despite these major achievements, more must be done for the people of Texas. Many critical items remain that must be passed. Several special sessions will be required. To ensure that each priority receives the time and attention it deserves to pass into law, only a few will be added each session,” said Governor Abbott.

The House adjourned Tuesday passing House Bill 1 and House Joint Resolution 1 which would compress the school district tax rate by $0.162. 

HJR1 would allow Texans to vote on the measure, creating a constitutional amendment so that property tax relief would not be limited by the Texas Constitution’s spending limit. 

Additionally, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would make the minimum sentence for human smuggling 10 years. Since the House adjourned, that means they will not meet again for the rest of the special session. 

The Texas Senate passed its version to cut to compress school district tax rates by $0.10. But they’ve also added the Homestead Exemption Act to increase it from $40,000 to $100,000, something the House did not include. 

The Senate also has a similar bill against human smuggling. That should not be an issue between the chambers. 

However, property taxes have always been an issue between the chambers of the Texas Legislature throughout the session. 

The House wanted to reduce the appraisal cap in Texas from 10% to 5%, meaning a home’s taxable value would not rise more than 5% every year despite market value. However, they wanted to give this not only to homeowners but also to commercial properties. 

Rivaling that plan was the Senate’s proposal to increase the Homestead Exemption Act from $40,000 up to $70,000 plus an additional amount for those who are disabled and seniors 65 and up.

But since neither agreed on how to handle property taxes, the Governor forced them to resolve the issue by compressing the maximum school district tax rate. 

The Legislature has allocated $17 billion in its biennial budget toward lowering property taxes in the state. 

We must cut property taxes. During the regular session, we added $17.6 billion to cut property taxes. However, the legislature could not agree on how to allocate funds to accomplish this goal. Texans want and need a path toward eliminating property taxes. The best way to do that is to direct property tax reduction dollars to cut school property tax rates,” said Governor Abbott. 

The House appointed over 12 billion for funding schools that will lose money from a lower tax rate, in their plan. While the House has already adjourned, the Senate will have to decide if they will agree to the House Bill or not pass anything. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, however, is not backing down from increasing the Homestead Exemption Act, which he has been fighting for this legislative session. Patrick is holding onto having a provision for increasing the homestead exemption.  

Special sessions are only for 30 days maximum. The House adjourned before the morning was over on the first day of the special session.