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Call to Action to Preserve Legislators' Flexibility to Raise Necessary Revenue

HJR 81 by Parker is on the House's Major State Calendar for Thursday, May 10. HJR 81 would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to submit to the voters a law creating a state personal income tax. The Texas Constitution, Art. 8, Sec. 24, already guarantees that a personal income tax cannot become effective without voter approval in a statewide referendum. Once approved, the rate of an income tax cannot be raised without additional voter approval. Two-thirds of the revenue from an income tax would go to reduce school property taxes, which could not then be raised without approval of voters in a school district. HJR 81 would introduce an unnecessary additional barrier to voter consideration of a personal income tax, undermining the principle of majority rule. Pick up the phone right now and call your representative to tell them to vote NO on HJR 81. Find your representative at http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/. For further information on a Texas-style personal income tax, visit http://www.cppp.org/research.php?aid=591.