07.19.05
School Finance
It’s Monday or 3rd session for school finance
Tax break deal needed or lawmakers may spend August in Austin
– reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11
With little time left to make a deal, lawmakers struggled Sunday to resolve differences on a scaled-back school finance and tax swap package.
House and Senate rivalries and lingering disagreements over sales and property taxes threatened to bring a special legislative session to an end without any significant legislation being passed.
The session can run until Wednesday, but because of legislative rules and the threat of a filibuster, lawmakers needed to strike a deal Sunday or today to have time to pass legislation.
Dewhurst: Schools come first
THE LEGISLATURE
Non-education bills are on hold until an accord is reached, he says
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
As House and Senate negotiators met behind closed doors on an education funding bill, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Thursday he would hold non-education legislation hostage until an agreement is reached on school finance.
The other legislation involves pay raises for judges, restrictions on the government’s ability to seize private property, bonds for university construction projects and the telecommunications industry.
Education spending demands reworked
Lawmaker backs off his plan to give 65% of funding to teach core subjects
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
Note to all the school districts screaming over state Rep. Kent Grusendorf’s education bill that would make them spend 65 percent of their money teaching only subjects that are tested on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills: Message received.
