The New Tax Plan: Mainstream Media Misses The Point

Up to now, I’ve seen few stories in the Mainstream Media that actually get the facts about Rick Perry and the Texas Tax Reform Commission’s new proposals right.  And, contradictions within the media are rampant concerning whether the plan actually has a snowball’s chance in hell of passing. WOAI in San Antonio is touting, for example, that Perry forsees no major obstacles to its passage while the Houston Chronicle notes that a “lack of consensus” threatens its passage.
Meanwhile, the El Paso Times is actually telling the truth about the plan and the fact that it will do little to help the situation, and even showing the (lack of) impact the plan will have on El Pasoans:

Two out of three El Paso families would receive no benefit from a proposed tax overhaul, and the county’s poor school districts could grow even poorer in comparison to wealthy school districts, critics of Gov. Rick Perry’s tax plan said this week.

“Like all tax proposals of the last seven sessions, Perry’s plan is another ‘Great Texas Tax Shift,’ ” state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh said. “Middle-class Texans pay more, and the very wealthy pay less.”

…

“The priority here is not schools,” Shapleigh said.

…

Under the plan, the school property tax rate would drop from $1.50 to $1 per $100 of property valuation. A new business tax, increased cigarette taxes and about $1 billion of surplus funds in state coffers would replace the $6 billion cut in revenue from property taxes.

…

An analysis by the bipartisan Legislative Budget Board shows that households with annual income less than $54,000 would receive, at most, a .1 percent tax reduction under the plan.

About 75 percent of El Paso families make $50,000 or less per year, according to census data.

Households with annual income of more than $104,000 would receive at least a 3 percent tax cut.

It’s a good thing that at least one Texas newspaper is telling its readers that the plan would have essentially no positive impact on their lives.

“Texans want us to educate our children, not pass more tax cuts to the wealthiest Texans,” Shapleigh said.

The tax commission’s plan does not include more money for schools, nor does it change formulas that determine how money is distributed to schools.

Yet another good thing for the El Paso times to point out; it’s something that’s been missed, by and large, by the mainstream media in Texas.

Dick Lavine, a policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for low- and middle-income Texans, said if the tax plan is implemented as it is currently written, lawmakers could risk running afoul of the Texas Constitution again.

“This really isn’t a fully developed plan,” he said.

The state constitution requires that all Texas children receive an adequate and equitable education.

The state’s share-the-wealth, or Robin Hood, school finance formulas allow wealthier districts to keep slightly more property tax money than the state gives to property-poor districts. All nine school districts in El Paso County are considered property poor.

Under the commission’s plan, the state would pick up a bigger share of education funding, allowing school districts to charge lower property tax rates and still bring in the same amount of money.

School districts would also be allowed more discretion to raise money locally by increasing property tax rates.

The problem, Lavine said, occurs because property-wealthy school districts are able to generate more money than property-poor districts that tax at the same rate. But the commission’s plan includes no new money to ensure poorer school districts can get access to similar amounts of revenue when they tax at the same rate as richer school districts.

Why is it, with the exception of the El Paso Times, that the mainstream media isn’t reporting this issue accurately? Could it be that reporters and editors themselves don’t understand (a) the plan, (b) the system of financing public education in Texas and (c) Texas tax laws in general.

I’d suspect that’s part of it, along with the fact that it is much easier to crib from the TTRC’s glossy online report than it is to actually learn about some of these major issues.

With very few exceptions, I’ve found that Texas newspapers (from the big ones like the Chronicle and the Morning News to smaller ones like the Caller-Times, Morning Telegraph, and others) simply don’t seem to have writers that both understand public school finance in Texas and can write about it in a manner that is understandable to their readership.

And, you don’t need to be a “policy wonk” to understand the system. Ask around. There are plenty of educators, legislators, and policy analysts who do understand the plan and can explain it to you.

Perhaps other dailies would do well to follow the El Paso Time’s example and actually tell people what the plan’s impact would be in their community.

Related posts:

1. Wow. The Mainstream Media Picked Up On Something Important
2. The Tax Plan: Will It Cost More Than Advertised?
3. Franchise Tax Misses The Target
4. Mainstream Media’s Takes On The First Day Of Pre-Filing
5. Is The Mainstream Media Trying To “Back Door” An Attack On Chet Edwards?