In Texas, where hemp consumables have grown rapidly in recent years, the ban threatens a major industry. The state's hemp industry generates nearly $5.5 billion in annual sales, translating to $268 million in tax revenue.
Some lawmakers, including Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have said the industry is poisoning children and is getting them hooked on drugs.
But for many business owners who have sunk their lives into the hemp business, this new prohibition will wipe them out.
Abbott: The end of school property taxes
Last week Governor Greg Abbott announced he is running for re-election. If successful, Abbott would become the longest-serving governor in Texas history, surpassing Rick Perry.
He launched the campaign by emphasizing conservative themes: maintaining Texas as a “bastion of common sense,” protecting Texas heritage and values, continuing economic growth, and cutting property taxes.
At a recent event in Tyler, Abbott said rising property taxes are the main threat to affordability for Texas homeowners and argued the state must act aggressively to keep people from being, in his words, “priced out of their own homes.”
Abbott said the state has already put a historic amount of money toward short-term tax relief — $51 billion last session — but he told the crowd that temporary cuts aren’t enough.
“That will improve your next property tax bill,” he said. “But what’s going to happen to the one after that? The one after that? Because what you’ve seen in the past is those property taxes just keep going up.”
His new plan has five major components:
First, he wants to cap local government spending to stop tax growth.
Abbott said the root cause of rising taxes is local government spending. Because property taxes are set locally — not by the state — he wants to impose strict spending limits on cities, counties, and other taxing entities.
“The state already has five legal limits that limit the ability for us to increase spending,” he said. “The same must be true for every jurisdiction that imposes property taxes.”
Second, Abbott is calling for voter approval — with a two-thirds threshold — for any property-tax increase.
Abbott says homeowners often face tax increases without knowing or approving them. His plan would require every single property tax increase to go before voters — and not just a simple majority. He wants two-thirds voter approval.
Next, he wants to allow voters to petition to roll back property-tax rates
Abbott wants to give residents the power to force a vote on lowering tax rates. If 15% of registered voters sign a petition, the rollback election would be triggered.
Abbott’s fourth proposal is to change the appraisal system: fewer appraisals and lower growth caps.
Many Texans blame their rising bills on rising appraisals. Abbott wants to change how often they occur and how high they can climb.
He proposes:
- Appraisals only once every five years instead of annually.
- Capping appraisal increases at 3% per year, down from the current 10%.
“There’s no reason for you to have to go through that appraisal process every single year,” Abbott said.
And finally, Abbott said Texas needs to eliminate school district property taxes.
This is the biggest and most controversial part of Abbott’s plan. He wants to reduce the school district portion of property taxes to zero. School taxes make up the largest share of a homeowner’s bill.
Abbott says Texans should vote on a constitutional amendment to eliminate them entirely.
“That property tax should be reduced to zero,” Abbott said. “And it should be the voters who have a right to vote on a constitutional amendment to eliminate the school district property tax in Texas.”
Critics warn that eliminating or dramatically reducing school‐district property taxes creates a big funding hole for public education unless a replacement revenue source is firmly in place.
One editorial in the Dallas Morning News called the plan “irresponsible.” And a column in the Houston Chronicle argued: “Gov. Abbott’s plan … will starve public schools … while he sends state money to private schools.”
Inside Texas Politics
For more on Abbott’s plan and more inside Texas Politics, I’m joined by Scott Braddock, editor of "The Quorum Report" and the host of "Quorum Report Radio," available on all podcast apps.
