Konni Burton’s Hot Take:

Konni Burton’s Hot Take:

Republicans Need to Lead on Property Taxes, Not Bicker About It.

Konni Burton, Founder and CEO, The Texan

Everything is bigger in Texas and — as every homeowner knows — that includes our property taxes.

Texans have long demanded relief, but this legislative session is already nearing its end and we still have no idea if the Republican controlled Senate and House will come to an agreement on the type of appraisal reform offered — if any.

Unfortunately, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Dade Phelan are publicly feuding over the path forward to reforming taxes and appraisals, while Gov. Greg Abbott has talked up a good game but offered no actual game plan.

Patrick claims the public is on his side by pointing to a poll released this past week by the Texas Association of Property Tax Professionals. But upon closer look, the poll actually shows Texans would welcome either chamber’s appraisal reform plan.

During my time in the Senate, I saw this same kind of feuding between Lt. Gov. Patrick and then Speaker Joe Straus. It’s a ridiculous game of cat and mouse between the House and Senate to see who will blink first over each chamber’s priority legislation. And this “competition” festers and rears its ugly head among the state reps and senators too. There’s retribution, stalling, and childish antics between the two chambers when each doesn’t get their way.

I hated it then, and I hate it now.

So it comes as no surprise that they’re at it again. What is so frustrating to me is, this isn’t the typical Republican vs. Democrat major policy disagreements that we’d all expect, but rather Republicans fighting each other on an issue that they should gladly be working together on to solve!

Republican leadership and Republican elected officials need to set aside personal egos and show voters they are united and working together to solve this pressing issue for their fellow Texans.

Republicans have all three branches in Texas government and have had for at least 20 years now. But if Patrick and Phelan want to keep the political map from looking as blue as the weather map in February 2021, then they need to stop this public squabbling and show voters Republicans can work together, not act like quarreling children.

It is time they get in a room, talk face to face, and come to an agreement on relieving the crushing weight of property taxes. And frankly, if they don’t initiate it on their own, Gov. Abbott needs to step in and make it happen.

There is good news. They both actually already agree on a major component of the property tax plan. The bad news is that both men seem hell bent on digging in their heels over one aspect of it — with the possibility of derailing it all.

From the Battle of the Alamo to the discovery of oil at Spindletop, Texans have a proud history of tackling tough problems head-on. The property tax problem is no different and Republicans need to show us they are united.

We have a massive budget surplus. We have a bureaucracy with more state boards and commissions than the number of counties in Texas.

It shouldn’t be that hard for Republicans to unite on reining in our bloated government and take the burden off of everyday Texans. And when they do that, they’ll secure the Republican majority for years to come.

First Principles of Liberty

First Principles of Liberty

First Principles of Liberty: Know Them! Use Them! Teach Them!

View every action of every level of gov’t through these!

First principles: the foundation of American freedom and liberty. Rejecting the oppression of their British rulers, America’s Founding Fathers established the American republic on our First Principles to secure our freedom and liberty.

We are the only nation with a unique creed of liberty based on the self-evident truths that all men and women are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; and that governments are instituted to protect those rights and derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Stated differently, America was founded on certain First Principles:

♦ The rule of law is a First Principle that mandates that the law governs everyone.
♦ The First Principle of unalienable rights recognizes that everyone is naturally endowed by their Creator with certain rights.
Equality is a First Principle that recognizes that all persons are created equal.
♦ The First Principle of the Social Compact recognizes that governments are instituted by the people and derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
♦ The First Principle of limited government means that the protection of unalienable rights is the legitimate purpose and limit of government and requires the government to be strong enough to fulfill its purpose – yet limited to that purpose.
♦ Final First Principle – the right to declare revolution when the other First Principles are being routinely and repeatedly infringed by the government over the objections of the People.

Our Declaration of Independence declares these foundational principles as the philosophical underpinning of the American Revolution. Once independence was secured, the Founders labored to ensure that the Constitution was the embodiment of a government based on these First Principles.