Senator Betancourt,
welcome back to the program.
The governor has now backed the
House version for property taxe,
the compression version.
Does that mean the Senate's ideo
increase the homestead exemptio?
Is that officially dead now?
No. It just means that we've got
two people we need to convince.
And but the one person that we t
have to convince is all 5.72 min
homeowners in the state of Texas
when you look at the Senate pla.
It basically saves about $12150
a year to $14150 a year.
It's Blockbuster Eye popping numbers.
About half of that is
the homestead exemption.
So the public needs that homestd
exemption to get that level of savings,
and I look forward to a
robust debate about it. Is
there conversations
happening in the background?
Are people talking back and
forth to the governor and to
speaker feeling to see if there
can be an agreement on this?
Well, there were conversations that I
can remember, that of Saturday, Sunday,
Monday and Tuesday, just to start with.
But the bottom line here is that
the home set exemption has alwas
been a big part of the Senate's
plan when we first laid it out.
In February, March, April,
it's not something that you cane
away because if you do take that away
the the homeowners all 5.72 miln
get about half of what they sho.
The house needs to come back and
pass the plan that's the bottom line.
They by by bypassing their plan
and signing dying it makes it vy
difficult to have a discussion.
So we'll be in next week working
on another bill and in the Senae
and I hope they come back and wk
on the Senate bill it's.
The Texas Two step It's the rigt
plan for Texans because you get
compression for all taxpayers and the
homeowners get an whopping $1000
homestead exemption and it's permanent.
That's the big difference betwen
the two plans.
The homestead exemption is permanent for
5,000,000 plus homeowners in the state.
Senator, what do you make of
the House passing its version,
throwing it back to you guys in
the Senate and just a journey.
Well, that would not be the preferred method
of negotiation that I would like to have.
I you know it's generally takeso
parties being present to have a discussion.
And so we're going to continue o
go back and work at the Senate.
We got another bill to work on next week.
I hope they reconsider and come
back to the table because the
homeowners need that money.
They are the ultimate consumers
generally in society.
They pay for businesses,
they pay for themselves,
they pay for government.
And it's very important that thy
get that property tax relief and
look for a 30 year mortgage Jas,
we're talking about $20,000.
I mean this is not insignifican,
this is real money for an averae
homeowner and we're talking abot
the average value of the home
in the states for the $331,000.
So this home set exemption is
going to be wildly popular like
the last one passed 85%.
I with the public I think this
one will pass even higher.
The House is adjourned.
So it's just the the Senate thee
in in the Capitol right now.
What are your options from here?
Well, there is something called restore.
They can come back.
There is some art,
you know, archaic language.
There's always something, you k,
is that going to happen do you think?
Well they could they should.
I mean we're going to come
back and continue to work.
The the the problem here is that
like everybody can have an opin.
But at the end of the day,
what matters to Texas taxpayersd
the bottom line is we're not gog
to leave 5.72 million homeowners
completely behind on the tax bi.
It look, what's worked that we I've seen,
that I've been working on for years is
we've got average home bills in Houston,
Austin and San Antonio down last year.
Well, it's because we had compression
and a homestead exemption.
Now what didn't happen in the Ds
Fort Worth area is they didn't get the
same good tax rate votes that occur down,
you know, in these other cities.
But with this amount of money,
$17.6 million in compression
and homes and exemptions,
everybody's bills going to be
down everywhere in the state.
And that's going to be true,
no really,
no matter where you're paying school taxes.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrickd
us last week that the House and Senate
were we're on the 1 yard line when it
comes to this issue with property taxes.
Just before the session ended last week,
the regular session ended.
What happened to that?
Well, the problem is that you
can be on the 1 yard line,
but it's not a touchdown.
That's just the bottom line.
And with all of these discussios
the I think the intent of the
Senate has been crystal clear,
which is compression is somethig
that we actually I filed for the first
time in 2021 in the special sessions.
The homestead exemption is.
As as was a compromise at the ef
2021 brought by Lieutenant Gove.
So we're combining both of those plans and
we've been consistent of that all year.
So we need to stay with that.
You know having a switch to just
a compression only plan means
that homeowners will get a lot
less like about half of what thy
could get with the homestead.
So this is a not an insignificat
argument that's happening here.
Because if you're a homeowner
and you're expecting, you know,
you know, a tax cut of about 13,
some odd dollars, well,
the problem is you just lost 681
if you don't get that homestead.
And the only way to get it is fr
the house to pass it and for the
public to vote on it in Novembe.
And that's a big sticking point.
And that occurred,
started occurring on Monday bece
what happened was we were told it was,
you know, a compression or bust.
And sorry,
we're going to keep working bece
that's not a good enough answer
for 5.72 million Texas homeowne.
Did
it surprise you to see the gover
come out and say he favors compression?
Well, everybody can have an opinion and it's
great that we have now heard that opinion
on the first day of the special session.
But we've already had enough discussion and
we know how the tax roll works to where.
To get the extra savings for homeowners,
you've got to have the exception exemption,
excuse me, And you need it for two reasons.
One, you need it for the dollar amount,
but you need it for the permane.
Because once the public votes and sells a an
increase in those things and it's permanent,
it stays part of the landscape.
It means every year you're going to get
that exemption no matter where you live,
and that's a very powerful idea.
That I hope everyone recognizest
the end of the day and and we're
just going to keep talking about
because I know it's the right solution.
I think it's the Texas two step
compression and homestead exempn
that I think it's best for Texas
homeowners and Texas taxpayers,
the senator are there, are thery
behind the scenes negotiations in any
informal talks happening right ?
As best I can tell,
there's talks happening informa.
There's talks happening on Twit,
There's talks happening on Face.
There's talks happening in the media.
Yes, there's talks happening.
But I think it's important just to take all
the the froth out of any discussion and
just say what's best for Texas taxpayers.
Well, a 21.8% reduction in taxes wherever
you are on your tax rate is a great thing.
And an extra $100,000
exemption for homesteads,
Is it a fabulous thing?
And the combination of that is a Texas
two step we all should be dancing to,
and that's why the Senate
has it in their plan.
And that will save roughly $1310
on average for every homeowner,
all 5.72 million of them in the state.
And that's why the Senate is
pushing homestead exemptions.
Senator, before we let you go,
when I ask you about special sessions,
I mean the the first one seems
essentially dead or how many
more do you expect this summer?
Well, you know, I, I really have
nothing else to do this summer.
So and I mean we also have the impeachment,
you know, so we're the Senate's
going to be back no matter what.
So I just hope the House comes k
and we could talk about this rey
good property tax plan because Texas.
Homeowners deserve a
homestead exemption increase.
It's part of $17.6 billion.
We have the money,
they'll vote for it in November and it
will hit their tax bill immedia.
And that's the type of of of
quick response that government
should have when they've got
$17.6 billion of money to spend.
Senator Betancourt, we always
appreciate the time. Thank you,
and let's hope we all
live long and prosper. I'm