Posted on 07/17/2005 9:50:11 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
AUSTIN — As Texas lawmakers prepare to vote on a massive tax bill, some state Democratic Party leaders and grass-roots organizations are eyeing several Democrats who helped Republicans advance the controversial measure.
Democrats who vote against working families could find themselves facing party primary opposition just as six defeated House Democrats did last year, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting hinted.
Sen. Frank Madla, D-San Antonio, is one of the lawmakers in the spotlight. Communities Organized for Public Service/Metro Alliance has targeted him for what the group considers a vote against public education and children.
"Either do what is right for children or prepare for battle when you come back to Bexar County," Father Enda McKenna, pastor of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, warned of a bill that he says merely shifts the tax burden without significantly improving schools.
Lawmakers are working on a $7.5 billion school property tax cut. To pay for it, they want to increase the state sales tax, close loopholes in the corporate franchise tax, increase cigarette taxes and possibly expand the sales tax to car repairs and bottled water. Other possibilities include an alcohol tax increase and an admission fee for adult entertainment.
Lawmakers decided not to expand the business tax to all companies.
Madla defended his vote for House Bill 3 as a matter of helping small rural school districts in his sprawling district, which stretches to El Paso. The school-funding bill that lawmakers also are trying to finish would increase transportation allocations, Madla said.
The tax bill vote pushed him into a difficult spot, he said.
"I don't like the sales tax, but there's nothing else on the table," Madla said. "My dad told me that there's no such thing as a good tax."
But elderly Texans could see lower property taxes under the proposal, and they could put off buying items if the higher sales tax poses a problem, he said.
Lawmakers should concentrate on increasing public education budgets in an equitable way and with a fair tax bill in which "everybody pays — from the working class to the corporate giants," said Sister Gabriella Lohan with COPS/Metro Alliance.
"If they vote against the children and against the schools, they are going to hear about it," she said.
Madla joined Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-Edinburg, and Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, in voting for the tax bill. Without their support, the measure would have died in the Senate.
None of the 62 House Democrats voted for HB 3.
House and Senate leaders now are seeking a compromise before the 30-day special session ends Wednesday. A final vote could come early this week if negotiators can agree on a final plan.
As much as HB 3 cuts property taxes, the measure would be more of a tax shift. Households making more than $100,000 would see a tax cut, while those earning less would pay more taxes, according to a study by the nonpartisan Legislative Budget Board.
Support for the tax bill by Madla, Lucio and Hinojosa raised eyebrows, as most of their constituents earn less than $100,000. In Lucio's Cameron County, for example, 95.3 percent of households earned less than $100,000, according to the most recent census data. In Hinojosa's district, 95.2 percent in Hidalgo County and 92.3 percent in Nueces County households earned less than $100,000, according to the census.
Soechting, the state Democratic Party chairman, suggested that Democrats who vote with Republicans against the interests of working families "are going to find out it just is not going to be that comfortable."
"There's going to come a time very soon when voters across this state are going to unleash their frustrations and their anger against Republican leaders for continually lying, and those who dance with Republicans," Soechting said.
Democrat primary voters last year ousted incumbent Democrats who often voted with Republicans. Soechting speculated that the same could happen next year.
Lucio said he voted for HB 3 because he is confident that any increase in the sales tax rate will be limited to a half cent. House leaders, however, are pushing for a full cent increase. Lucio said he also thought the Senate would push to increase the existing homestead exemption from $15,000 to $30,000, which would give a bigger tax break for lower- and middle-income Texans. That did not happen.
"I voted for (HB 3) with the hope that we could do something significant and, quite frankly, it hasn't been what many of us expected," he said.
Lucio hinted that he voted for the tax bill to help Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst advance the measure to a conference committee with House leaders.
"Obviously we, at times, have to vote with the leadership in order to get things that we want for our districts," Lucio said.
Soechting said Democrats should not trade votes.
"Dammit, it's just time for them to do the right thing without regard whether some damn lobbyist is going to give them another big check down the road, or whether some guy like David Dewhurst is going to promise them that next time he'll really do what he didn't do," Soechting said.
Hinojosa's vote for the tax bill landed him on the conference committee, which is trying to write the final bill. He did not return phone calls.
Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, is one of the strongest critics of the school funding and tax bills, which he disparages as "the great Texas tax shift."
Nearly nine of 10 Texans will pay more taxes, he said, while the wealthy get a tax break and "our schoolchildren get an IOU."
"Anyone who voted for the great Texas tax shift needs to take a long look in the mirror and ask 'Who do you represent?'" he said. "No vote, no trade, no chairmanship is worth the harm to our children and our future."
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gscharrer@express-news.net
The Republican'ts, who couldn't cut spending and raised taxes, will be in trouble too.
No bias here, just facts. That's what I like about the editorial filters and all them checks and balances of the LSM.
Taxes Ping!
"Either do what is right for children or prepare for battle when you come back to Bexar County," Father Enda McKenna, pastor of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church,...."
Ummm, aren't leftists like this guy opposed to religion and politics mixing? Or only when it is conservatives like Pope Benedict?
"When rats attack rats!" Film at eleven. Hee hee hee hee!
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