A key state legislator has drafted a compromise plan that she hopes will breathe new life into the waning effort to overhaul the way Texas pays for public education.
Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, co-chair of a working group charged with overhauling the system, said August is the last realistic opportunity to address school funding and property tax reduction in a special legislative session.
Gov. Rick Perry, who has the authority to call lawmakers back to Austin, also has set August as the target date. The Legislature holds its next regular meeting in January.
"I have a continuing concern that we are running out of time," Shapiro said. "An August session is very important. We keep talking about education being a No. 1 priority for the state of Texas, so we need to put our money where our mouth is. If we wait until January, it will get caught up with all the other issues."
In May, a special session on school finance ended in failure. Perry has said he hopes to call lawmakers back this summer if a consensus can be reached.
The state's leaders say they're still optimistic that an agreement can be forged. But behind the scenes, hope seems to be dimming.
Shapiro distributed her plan this week to members of two working groups, made up of both House and Senate members. The plan, she said, is a compromise of ideas from both sides.
"I listened to both groups, I've been to all the meetings, and I took their thoughts and ideas and put them in a proposal," Shapiro said.
Her plan would reduce local property taxes by more than 20 percent initially and would raise an additional $1.5 billion for new education programs, such as a teacher pay raise and bilingual initiatives.
Property taxes, which now account for the majority of the education budget, would be replaced with increases in the sales tax, motor vehicle sales tax and cigarette tax.
A business license fee proposal, still being worked out, would take ideas from differing House and Senate proposals and offer businesses an option that best suits them, Shapiro said.
Perry has warned that he would oppose any business tax, but was "receptive" to the most recent proposal, Shapiro said. Shapiro presented her proposal to Perry on Wednesday afternoon.
The total cost of the plan would be $5 billion, including new programs and $3.5 billion in property tax reduction.
Income from legalizing video gambling at horse race tracks, divisive during the Legislature's most recent attempt, is not included in Shapiro's plan, but she said it could be offered separately to further reduce property taxes.
"There are a variety of issues in much of this proposal that either please or displease, but overall, we're going to have to compromise," Shapiro said, noting that both Democrats and Republicans could find things that they liked in her plan.
Shapiro said she worked closely with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in drafting the plan. Dewhurst has met this week with key senators in an effort to move along the stalled process.
"I've been working with Sen. Shapiro on a comprehensive school finance plan for almost two years now, and I applaud her laying out a plan to move the process forward which contains many of the elements we have discussed and which the Senate supports," Dewhurst said Wednesday.
A spokesman in Perry's office did not immediately return calls to The Associated Press.
Some of the considerations would require a public vote, and Perry has said late August is the deadline to get such a vote on the November ballot.
In addition, several schools are suing the state over current funding and are set to go to trial Aug. 9. Speaker of the House Tom Craddick has said he would prefer to wait until after the trial.
Upcoming national political conventions also limit the window of opportunity for lawmakers to return to Austin.
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