HB2 / HB3: The men at Enron would be impressed.

[crispini]

I'm afraid the Kronenberg report is for subscribers only, but even this little snip of the story makes me :mad:

STUART GREENFIELD, Ph.D: THE MEN AT ENRON WOULD BE IMPRESSED
Greenfield says bills fail on all stated goals
As a former state employee and interested, but biased (a bias that legislators will do the right thing) observer of legislative events, I could only roll my eyes at the latest efforts to address the school finance issue. During last summer’s special session, the State’s leadership specified a number of goals they would attempt to achieve. These goals included:

Eliminating Robin Hood
Achieving Absolute Equity for all students
Ensuring sufficient revenue to fund public education
Devising a transparent and simplified finance system
Have a positive impact on the Texas economy

The special session was not able to arrive at an acceptable plan that met the requirements of the Governor and was agreeable to both houses of the Legislature. During this regular session considerable time and resources have been devoted to developing acceptable legislation. Unfortunately, all versions of the two bills (HB 2 and HB 3) that have been proposed rivals the worst major legislation ever considered by the State’s legislators.

The proposed legislation does eliminate Robin Hood and replaces it with the Sheriff of Highland Park plan – take from the poor and give to the very, very rich. The tax equity note for HB 3 showed that only those with family incomes above $80,000 would receive a tax cut of more than 1%. Families with income below $80,000 would find their taxes increasing by 1.5%. In the original Senate bill, CSHB 3, only Texans in households with incomes above $140,000 would have received tax relief. Their taxes would decline by 1.5%. Taxes for households with income under $100,000 would increase by 3.1%.

from http://www.quorumreport.com/