Texas State Capitol
Congress has filed hundreds of bills before the 88th Texas Legislature session, which begins on January 10. Due to a $27-billion state surplus from property taxes, lawmakers have filed dozens of bills to cut property taxes. A bill drafted by Democrat Representative Richard Peña of Laredo calls for a temporary $360,000 homestead exemption. A statement submitted by Republican Andrew Murr of Junction calls for eliminating school district maintenance and operations taxes.