Up & Down in Texas politics: Budget battles; pot bills

Battle lines are being drawn in the looming budget war between the Texas Senate and House – and a key source of conflict is simple enough for even non-accountants to understand.

The upper chamber wants billions of dollars in property tax cuts that would save the average household around $200 a year. The lower one is backing the first sales tax reduction in state history.

The House plan would cost billions too and save taxpayers a little less, about $172 annually for the average family of four. But it would benefit everyone, not just homeowners.

Republicans control both the House and Senate, but the tax cut discord got testy in a hurry.

After House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dennis Bonnen unveiled his chamber’s plan, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Senate, noted that Gov. Greg Abbott wants meaty property tax cuts. Patrick called the House plan “out of step with Texans, my office and the governor.”

It’s too soon to tell which will win out – or how some kind of grudging compromise will be struck.

Here’s a look at other people and issues that had strong weeks – and didn’t – in Texas politics.

School Finance Overhaul

House Public Education Committee Chairman Jimmie Don Aycock unveiled a formidable $3 billion plan to fix the way Texas pays for schools, which has been dogged by three decades of legal battles. The plan deemphasizes the “Robin Hood” system, where school districts in wealthy parts of the state share property tax revenue with those in poorer areas. Aycock says he can muscle the plan through the House, but it may stall in the Senate. There, education leaders are far more focused on a major school voucher plan giving parents public funding to pull students out of struggling public schools and send them to private alternatives.

Attorney General Ken Paxton

Prosecutors in Paxton’s home county have turned a criminal complaint involving his admitted securities violations over to the Texas Rangers for investigation. Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis’ announcement came amid criticism that his office had slow-played a possible investigation. Paxton was fined $1,000 by the Texas State Securities Board last year for being paid for investment advising without registering. A criminal complaint in the matter was filed by Texans for Public Justice, a left-leaning watchdog group that filed the complaint that got ex-Gov. Rick Perry indicted on abuse-of-power charges. This time, it argues that Willis should recuse himself because he and Paxton are friends and business associates. Paxton spokesman Anthony Holm says there’s no case.

Marijuana Measures

Bills to decriminalize marijuana have virtually no chance of passing the GOP-dominated Legislature. But at least they’ve now had a Texas Capitol hearing. Supporters waited late into the night, then testified with gusto before the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Three Democratic bills would reduce possession of small amounts of marijuana to a low-level misdemeanor or fine, while tea party-backed Rep. David Simpson of Longview is seeking outright legalization. The devout Christian says God made marijuana and the government shouldn’t ban it.