You’re a mean one, Gov. Greg Abbott, having emerged from your Grinch-like Laboratory of Awful, No Good, Very Bad Ideas located in dark limestone caverns deep beneath the Governor’s Mansion with a poison pill confection topped with sweet frosting. Like all mad scientists in every horror classic, his eyes positively gleamed as he gazed at his monstrous invention, a proposal that will effectively defund public education (the poison) by ending property taxes on homesteads for education (the sweet frosting).
But that’s not all. Our governor, in his eagerness to be ever more subservient to the oligarchs that bankroll him, has packed his proposal with even more “goodies” that will totally sabotage government at all levels by making it easier for citizens to defund their local governments.
Abbott proposes to limit local governments’ spending increases to the rate of population growth plus inflation or 3.5%, whichever is less. If a city wants to spend above that set rate, at least two-thirds of its citizens will have to vote for a higher tax increase. That will effectively make it nearly impossible for any local government in Texas to get anything done that its citizens need beyond the basics.
So not content to ruin Texas during his corrupt reign of error, Abbott, with a heart two sizes too small, hopes to plant an IED that will continue to destroy us years after he’s left the scene. How brilliantly evil in a mad scientist sort of way.
Our MAGA governor offered this nauseous proposal in his kickoff for his bid of an unprecedented fourth term as governor. First, he wants voters to have the chance to vote for a constitutional amendment that will abolish property taxes dedicated to public education. In his speech, Abbott contended that Texas would be able to afford to pay for education with its unusual surplus at the moment, acting as if the business cycle of periodic downturns will no longer be a thing. Republicans have said for years that government should be run like a business, but what business decreases its main income stream and expects not to go bankrupt?
In 2023, school districts collected $17.5 billion from single-family homes. How can the state make up that loss of revenue? Risibly, Abbott insisted that his proposal would lead to no sales tax increases. That’s a lie. We live in Texas, where our Constitution forbids an income tax, and now Abbott wants to decrease government revenue from property taxes. No matter what he says, common sense dictates there will have to be an increase in sales taxes, which are regressive and hurt the poor and working classes most.
Republicans used to at least appear to care about average people (remember “compassionate conservatism”?), but now after they’ve disenfranchised so many Texans with their voter ID laws and gerrymandering, they don’t even bother to pretend anymore. In our new gilded age, Republicans are again on the side of the robbers and care not at all that the rest of us are getting mugged, but understand that we, the robbed, are exactly who government is for.
The purpose of government is not, as our MAGA “brain trust” believes, to surrender our state to the highest bidders but to help average Texans. Abbott’s proposal will leave locals no way to stop the construction of AI data centers that use too much energy, raising prices and making unbearable noise pollution. With Abbott’s terrible, very bad idea, no government entity will protect Texans from the broligarchs.
Abbott wants to leave average Texans with public schools that are set up to fail and will only go downhill because of a lack of funding. Yet public schools are what made America. Investment in children now pays off multiple dividends in the future. A competent state government would insist on adequately funding public education for all as a primary responsibility of a free people, but since most Texas public school students (73%) are not white, who cares.
Unfortunately, we cannot count on Abbott the Grinch to have a life-changing revelation that would suddenly grow his heart two sizes, though I truly wish we could. Let’s remember that people aren’t stupid. A cut in property taxes would be sweet. Everybody wants to pay less in taxes, but the costs of Abbott’s proposal are too high. It will endanger our public schools and local governments protecting their people. It should be totally rejected, as should a fourth term for our Grinchy governor.
A fifth generation Texan and retired teacher, Ken Wheatcroft-Pardue still remembers the pure joy he felt on first reading Green Eggs and Ham.
This column reflects the opinions and fact-gathering of the author(s) and only the author(s) and not the Fort Worth Weekly. To submit a column, please email Editor Anthony Mariani at Anthony@FWWeekly.com. He will gently edit it for clarity and concision.
