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Abbott Entertains Possible Special Session
for Tax Plan that Could Be Doomed at Outset
Capitol Inside
December 16, 2025
Governor Greg Abbott's camp is floating the prospect for a special session on property tax relief during the upcoming election year in an attempt to muscle through a plan to abolish local school levies as a signature campaign promise despite opposition that could be insurmountable in the Texas Senate.
With an eye on a possible White House race in 2028, Abbott could be setting himself for certain failure if he ordered state lawmakers back to Austin during the interim before the next regular session at a time to pass a proposal that could be dead on arrival in the east wing of the Capitol based on comments from key Senate member.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has warned that Abbott's plan isn't feasible because the state can't afford it. State Senator Paul Bettencourt - a Houston Republican who's the chamber's point person on local taxation - contended in a television interview on Sunday that the governor's package would cost Texas government a mind-jarring $86 billion a year by doing away with property taxes that fund the public schools.
Bettencourt, the Local Government Committee chairman, said on the WFAA show Inside Texas Politics that the elimination of property taxes for schools would force lawmakers to raise the sales tax rate as high as 25 percent to keep the state's "discretionary budget" from being wiped out. The state sales tax in Texas has been 6.25 percent for nearly three dozen years. Texas cities can add 2 cents to the tax on consumer purchases - bringing the total levy to 8.25 percent for the lion's share of locales.
The Republican governor disagrees - arguing that Texas can foot the bill for the elimination of school taxes on property with perpetual revenue surpluses for which he apparently sees no end. The state has been flush with cash during the two most recent regular sessions from which biennial budgets emerged.
But what Abbott isn't telling Texans is that the Republican-controlled Legislature would not have been able to balance the state budget in 2021 without severe budget cuts or higher taxes if not for a $40 billion bailout from then-President Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress during the covid pandemic.
Not a single Republican in Washington D.C. supported the stimulus plan during the health crisis - and none of the GOP leaders and lawmakers in Austin expressed their appreciation to Biden and the Democrats for the massive handout. And none have acknowledged the long-term difference it's had on state finances while attempting to take the credit for a prosperous post-pandemic economy.
Bettencourt explained in the weekend TV appearance why special sessions typically take place at times when legislators are not distracted by re-election campaigns. The powerful solon admitted in a sugar-coated way that the midterm election in 2026 could be bad for the GOP.
"2026 - yes - is going to be a challenging year for Republicans,"
Bettencourt said on the show.
Patrick has proposed to boost the homestead exemption again in a plan that would give homeowners who are 55 years and older the same breaks that are currently available for seniors when they reach the age of 65. The Republican lieutenant governor has dubbed the counter-proposal as the Operation Double-Nickel plan.
Bettencourt said the Patrick plan would use one-third of a projected budget surplus close to $4 billion. "As long as we keep doing bite size chunks, then good things happen," the senator added. " The upside of this is pretty astonishing."
more to come ...
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