HB 3 = Lots of Pain for Taxpayers, Zero Gain for Schoolchildren

HB 3 = LOTS OF PAIN FOR TAXPAYERS, ZERO GAIN FOR SCHOOLCHILDREN. Urge your state rep to vote "No" on HB 3.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Vote NO on HB 3!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I urge you to vote no on House Bill 3. This bill would increase taxes for 80 percent of Texans while providing not one red cent of new revenue for Texas schoolchildren.

This bill is nothing but a dollar-for-dollar tax swap, with zero new dollars for public schools--at a time when billions of dollars a year in new revenue are urgently needed to meet state requirements and achievement goals for our schoolchildren.

HB 3 would extend the misplaced priority given to property-tax cuts over education needs into the future, giving additional property-tax cuts first claim on any new revenue available in future years. That money would be swept off the table before any attempt is made to meet education needs.

HB 3 would raise the net tax burden for 80 percent of Texas taxpayers--all those with incomes below $100,000--and give a net tax break to those with higher incomes and greater property wealth. This is not a fair way to share the cost of essential public services.

Your vote against HB 3 also would force the legislature back to the drawing board on HB 2, a bad education bill that would leave our schools woefully under-funded and would widen disparities in school funding between property-rich and property-poor school districts.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
March 10, 2005

Background Information

The tax measure, HB 3, has enemies everywhere you look. Many business interests dislike the new payroll tax in the bill. Advocates for low- and middle-income Texans point out that the bill would give Texas the highest sales tax in the nation. An official state budget analysis backs up the claim that HB 3 would provide net tax cuts only for Texans who make more than $100,000 a year. The rest of us actually would pay higher taxes overall, because new taxes would more than offset the benefit of the one-third cut in property taxes.

The education community has no use for HB 3, either. It would provide a lot of pain for the vast majority of taxpayers but zero gain for Texas schoolchildren. HB 3 raises only enough money to offset property-tax reductions and "not one red cent more," to quote Rep. Grusendorf.

The defeat of HB 3 also would force the legislature back to the drawing board on HB 2, a bad education bill that would leave our schools woefully under-funded.