Latest news with #HouseBill9
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Texas Laws Boost Homestead Exemptions For Homeowners
Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dustin Burrows hailed the passage of legislation aimed at delivering property tax relief on May 30, though critics argue the measures fail to address escalating tax burdens driven by government spending. The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 4, Senate Bill 23, House Bill 9, Senate Joint Resolution 2, Senate Joint Resolution 85, and House Joint Resolution 1, which, if approved by voters in November, will increase homestead exemptions and business property tax exemptions. 'Never before has the Texas Legislature allocated more funds to provide property tax relief than they did this session,' Abbott said in a press release. 'I will sign these bills into law to deliver lasting relief for Texans and their families, and I urge Texans to approve the new increases in the homestead and business property tax exemptions this November.' Senate Bill 4 raises the homestead exemption to $140,000 for all homeowners, while Senate Bill 23 increases it to $200,000 for seniors and disabled individuals. House Bill 9 enhances tax exemptions for business inventory, a move small businesses have pushed to eliminate. The joint resolutions propose constitutional amendments to make these exemptions permanent, pending voter approval. 'When I became Lieutenant Governor in 2015, the homestead exemption was a tiny $15,000,' Patrick said in the press release. 'Since then, we have increased it to $100,000, and with the passage of Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 23, it is now $200,000 for seniors and $140,000 for non-seniors. The average senior homeowner will no longer pay any school property taxes for the rest of their life as long as they live in their home.' Speaker Burrows added, 'With the Legislature's overwhelming passage of additional property tax relief, Texas home and business owners are on their way to keeping more of their hard-earned money.' Abbott declared property tax relief an emergency item in his 2025 State of the State Address, following a 2023 session in which Patrick called that year's relief package 'the largest property tax relief package in Texas history, and likely the world.' Despite these claims, property taxes rose by $5.4 billion in 2024, a 6.6% increase from 2023, according to state comptroller data cited by economist Bill Peacock, per Center Square. Counties raised taxes by 10.4%, school districts by 6.4%, special districts by 6.1%, and cities by 3.9%. Critics, including economist Vance Ginn, argue that the Legislature's approach of temporarily compressing rates and increasing exemptions merely shifts the tax burden without reducing it. 'Texans want to own their homes – not rent them from the government forever,' Ginn said, according to Center Square. 'They want a government that lives within its means, just like they do. And they want honesty – not headlines – from their elected officials.' Ginn advocates capping state and local spending growth to population growth plus inflation, requiring a two-thirds vote for increases, and using the state's surplus to eliminate school district maintenance and operations taxes. Fiscal conservatives have criticized the current budget as 'a bloated, big-government plan masquerading as conservative reform,' warning, as Ginn did, 'If we continue down this path, Texas won't just resemble California – we'll become it.' Taxpayers on social media have echoed these concerns, arguing the Legislature's spending habits undermine relief efforts.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas House and Senate strike agreement on property tax cuts
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — As the clock expired on the 88th Legislative Session, property tax relief was left on the chopping block. Governor Greg Abbott cited the failure to pass property tax relief as a reason behind numerous vetoes. Abbott ended up calling multiple special sessions dedicated towards property tax relief. On Monday, during the Texas House Ways and Means Committee, Chair Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas, announced there won't be a repeat of last session. 'We have reached an agreement with the Senate as it relates to tax relief,' Meyer announced from the dais. He had just left a pair of bills increasing the homestead exemption — Senate Bill 4 and Senate Joint Resolution 2 — pending in committee. '[Senate Local Government Chair Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston will] lay out a committee substitute for Business Personal Property (BPP) exemption — we'll be doing that at $125,000. Then we are passing these homestead exemption bills from Senator Bettencourt as is.' State of Texas: Lottery on 'life support' as Lt. Governor calls for ending commission Meyer's House Bill 9 initially proposed to increase the BPP exemption to $250,000 from $2,500. Bettencourt's updated version was sent to the Senate floor with a 9-0 vote on Monday. The BPP exemption allows homeowners to write off parts of their property if used for their business. 'It's only Monday, but a great start to small business week at the Capitol! Proud to sponsor HB 9 & HJR 1 by House Chair @MorganMeyerTX in committee today, and passing them out on unanimous 7-0 votes!,' Bettencourt posted on X. 'This helps all Texas businesses by dramatically increasing the BPP (Business Personal Property) exemption from $2,500 to $125,000— delivering ~$2,500 in avg. savings per @txbiz and my estimate, but especially for small business owners saving them their time as well as their money!' Bettencourt has two bills currently pending in Meyer's committee. SB 4 increases the general homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, which will save Texas homeowners an average of $363.44, according to Bettencourt. Senate Bill 23 increases the additional homestead exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners from $10,000 to $60,000. Bettencourt estimates an extra $454.30 average savings for senior and disabled homeowners. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Arts grants head to Montana governor without cuts restored
Lawmakers have sent a bill funding arts grants to Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte without restoring awards that were cut amid a scuffle — driven by Anaconda Republican Rep. John Fitzpatrick — over organizations that didn't present their applications before a legislative budget subcommittee. The grants bill, House Bill 9, is a routine funding measure that routes investment earnings from the state's coal trust to grants that support cultural and aesthetic projects. As it was introduced this year, based on grant applications compiled by the Montana Arts Council and included in Gianforte's budget proposal, the bill would have allocated $954,000 to 75 organizations, with most awards either $12,000 or $13,500. However, Fitzpatrick and other lawmakers on a budget subcommittee voted in February to strike grants for 17 organizations that didn't appear in person or virtually at January committee hearings. They also reduced grants for another 10 organizations that had provided only written testimony. The funding that was freed up by those cuts was redistributed to other applicants, increasing the remaining allocations. At the time, Republican and Democratic committee members expressed concern about the non-appearances, which they said kept them from being able to effectively evaluate the proposals. 'It's not a very heavy lift to sit on a Zoom call for 15 minutes and give a presentation about your project and maybe answer a question or two from the committee in exchange for $12,000, $13,000,' Fitzpatrick said at a Feb. 17 meeting. 'But apparently we have a number of people who don't think that's part of the process.' Materials from the Arts Council provided to grantees in advance of the January hearings had indicated that testifying before the committee was optional. 'You are not required to testify, but the committee chair strongly encourages everyone to participate,' those materials read in part, adding that applicants could testify in person, via writing or by a Zoom video call. The arts council staffer who manages the grant program, Kristin Burgoyne, apologized for giving applicants the impression that testimony was optional, saying at a Feb. 21 meeting of the full House Appropriations Committee that she had misinterpreted Fitzpatrick's expectations. As the arts grant bill advanced through the remainder of the legislative process, lawmakers restored funding for a few applicants that they judged to have extenuating circumstances for not providing verbal testimony — in one case because an executive director had left for another job and in another because an executive director had died. However, Fitzpatrick has resisted restoring other grant awards, instead using the funding cuts to broadcast his displeasure with how the Arts Council, a state agency, is managing the grant program. He's said he doesn't like how the grants are awarded to some of the state's largest arts organizations session after session, creating a dynamic he's likened to an 'entitlement program.' 'The Arts Council I think has made a serious mistake,' Fitzpatrick said as the bill was debated on the House floor April 7. 'Instead of vetting these projects and creating some criteria to rank them and select some that should be better than others, they've kind of treated this thing like running salami through the slicer — everybody gets a piece of the pie.' A separate bill sponsored by Fitzpatrick, House Bill 757, would rework how the arts grants are awarded in future sessions, requiring the Arts Council to rank proposals with a system that prioritizes smaller organizations and ones that haven't received recent grant awards. That bill has passed both chambers of the Legislature with bipartisan support and is headed to the governor. As the debate has drawn on, Fitzpatrick drew criticism for not disclosing that his wife, Connie, is on the board of a grant recipient that got more money than originally proposed. St. Timothy's Summer Music Festival in Anaconda had its grant increased from $5,000 to $12,600 as a result of the cut dollars being redistributed. State law generally requires legislators to disclose conflicts of interest before taking part in a legislative matter 'that would directly give rise to an appearance of impropriety as to the legislator's influence, benefit, or detriment.' In a statement to the Daily Montanan, Fitzpatrick said he isn't affiliated with the festival himself and does 'not personally benefit' from the grant. Fitzpatrick's son, House Majority Leader Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, referenced the Daily Montanan's coverage of his father as he made an ethics disclosure during the House debate on the grants bill. 'My mother is a board member of one of these groups that's getting some money here under this — I guess I'll disclose that,' Fitzpatrick said. 'I guess I'll disclose that for him too.' Among the organizations that lost funding as a result of the wrangling over the bill are the Emerson Center for the Arts & Culture in Bozeman, the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings, the Billings Symphony Society, the Bitterroot Performing Arts Council, Butte Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization, Cohesion Dance Project in Helena, the Daly Mansion Preservation Trust in Hamilton, the Glacier Symphony and Chorale in Kalispell, the Grandstreet Theatre in Helena, the Lewistown Arts Center, Queen City Ballet in Helena and the Whitefish Theatre Co. A full list of the organizations funded or defunded as the bill heads to the governor's desk is here. ___ This story was originally published by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate stands by decision to cut some arts groups' funding, give more to others
The main stairway to the third floor of the Montana Capitol building is seen on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. (Nathaniel Bailey for the Daily Montanan) A controversial bill to support arts programs but that left more than a dozen without expected funds passed a near-final hurdle in the Senate on Monday. On a 29-21 vote, the Senate approved House Bill 9, with a reminder from Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula, of the source of the funds for the programs. 'These projects are powered by coal,' said Boldman, who carried the bill in the Senate. HB 9 appropriates $953,500 for cultural and aesthetic grants, including money for museums, at least one library, a history project, dance company and other arts groups. Originally, around 75 groups asked for grants of $12,500 to $13,000 each, but that's not how legislators allocated the dollars. Earlier this session, sponsor Rep. John Fitzpatrick, R-Anaconda, sparked criticism from people in the arts community after he suggested groups whose representatives didn't testify at the Capitol about their programs were 'slackers' and shouldn't get funding. 'They're running a business, and they can't even take five minutes for a 'give-me' check?' Fitzpatrick, chairperson of the subcommittee, said earlier. Some arts leaders said they didn't know their appearance was mandatory. Staff from the Montana Arts Council, which administers the program for the state, told lawmakers that they had mistakenly communicated to the groups that their attendance was not required, and attendance would not impact funding. Nonetheless, legislators in the subcommittee unanimously agreed to cut funding from groups that didn't show up in person to testify and reduce funds for groups that submitted only written testimony. Lawmakers subsequently made only slight adjustments to the bill, and on the Senate floor Tuesday, Boldman stressed that the funding allocations are up to legislators, who are not a rubber stamp. 'It's not a lot of money, but it's still public money, so we do take that seriously,' Boldman said. She said if groups didn't appear either remotely or in person, then their applications weren't funded, and 17 fell into that category. However, Boldman described the funded projects as 'awesome' and representing counties across Montana. She described the process in response to a question from Sen. Jacinda Morigeau, D-Arlee, about how funding decisions were made. Morigeau said some of her constituents had reached out to tell her the process wasn't clear this year. 'I just wanted to stand up on their behalf and say that it is a real detriment to some of these small rural, rural, rural programs, that they weren't funded,' Morigeau said. However, Morigeau also said she would encourage them to apply again in two years. Sen. Bob Phalen, R-Lindsay, wanted to know if some of the establishments that received funding were 'still displaying obscenities.' Phalen said he wasn't referring to any specific project but to a bill he sponsored in 2023 to curb obscenity. In response, Boldman said she wasn't aware of any establishments showcasing obscene material. Earlier reporting by the Daily Montanan found the applicant for one group requesting money was Fitzpatrick's wife, and it was among those that received more money than originally proposed, and the only one to receive more than twice its original request. Fitzpatrick, though, earlier told the Daily Montanan that he didn't have a conflict of interest to disclose, at least not any more than he could be seen to have one with any other number of groups in his district. On the Senate floor, Boldman said she too is connected with some of the groups, such as a children's theater in which her son participates. Sen. Christopher Pope, D-Bozeman, said he supported the bill, but he also didn't want to see arts organizations stricken from the bill in the future, having seen 'quality organizations being crossed off.' However, Sen. Denley Loge, R-St. Regis, said the grants help small communities such as his, and he appreciates the idea that those who want support show up. 'It shows that they have to have a little skin in the game of time and involvement,' Loge said. The bill earlier passed the House on a 58-39 vote, and it needs to pass another vote in the Senate.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigration attorneys file complaint about ICE raids in NM
Mar. 17—SANTA FE — Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 48 undocumented immigrants in New Mexico. Immigrant rights advocates and attorneys still don't know the names or locations of those individuals. A coalition of advocacy groups held a news conference Monday morning at the Capitol to announce a complaint the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over the weekend regarding the arrests and lack of information. They also urged state legislators to pass two immigration-related bills, one that would end civil immigration detainment in New Mexico, House Bill 9, and another barring the use of state resources for the enforcement of federal immigration arrests or detainment, Senate Bill 250. ICE, along with other federal agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in early March held a weeklong "enhanced enforcement operation" in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Roswell, resulting in the arrests of 48 immigrants in the country unlawfully, 20 of whom had criminal charges or convictions, according to ICE. On March 16, ACLU-NM interim executive director Leon Howard and senior staff attorney Rebecca Sheff filed a complaint, which the ACLU shared with the Journal, about the operation to the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, both of which are under the purview of DHS. The complaint included four requests: an investigation into the 48 arrests; ensuring the physical and psychological well-being of the arrested individuals; ensuring the arrested individuals are not retaliated against as a result of the complaint; and pursuing accountability for all involved personnel and contractors. "We don't know what's happened to these four dozen New Mexicans. They've effectively disappeared," Sheff said at the news conference. She said advocacy organizations — ACLU-NM, Somos un Pueblo Unido and New Mexico Immigrant Law Center — haven't encountered the unnamed 48 individuals in the ICE detention facilities in New Mexico and are unsure if the arrested immigrants are still in the U.S. She said DHS hadn't notified ACLU that it had received the complaint, as the complaint requested, as of Monday morning. Twenty-one of the arrested individuals have final orders of removal, according to ICE. "These arrests exemplify the type of criminals living among us and highlight ICE's commitment to our agency's primary mission — protect public safety," said Mary De Anda-Ybarra, enforcement and removal operations field office director in El Paso, in a statement on March 12. ICE didn't immediately respond to an inquiry from the Journal asking for the names and detainment locations of the arrested individuals or, alternatively, a reason for the anonymity. Meanwhile, legislative efforts related to immigration rights are inching along in the Roundhouse. But with less than a week left in the session, time is running out to get bills to the governor's desk. House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, is waiting for a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and has already passed the House. Senate Bill 250, prohibiting state agencies from using resources to enforce federal immigration laws, is sitting on the Senate calendar and still needs to pass the House of Representatives. Despite the looming Saturday session deadline, advocates noted that there's still time. "People in our community are gone," said Marcela Díaz, founding executive director of Somos un Pueblo Unido. "Workers are gone. Family members are gone. Neighbors are gone. ... We have to be more bold in protecting our communities."
