TEXAS, USA — While lowering property taxes has been a hot topic in Austin this legislative session, State Senator Royce West says that wouldn’t do enough to help all Texans.
So, the Dallas Democrat is proposing the state lower the sales tax as well, something he says Texas can easily afford.
“The latest revenue estimates that I have going out to 2028 shows that the state will average about 8% to 10% growth over those many years,” West told us on Inside Texas Politics.
West’s proposal, SB 1000, would reduce the sales tax by a half-penny, from 6¼-cents to 5¾-cents per $1 spent.
The Democrat says that would cost the state around $7-8 billion per budget cycle.
He says they’re still working the numbers to learn exactly how much it would save Texas families, but one estimate puts it in the hundreds.
“One of the estimates that I have is that it will save approximately $400 a year for a family of four,” he said.
West also tells us he’s glad Texans are talking about the comments he made on Inside Texas Politics a couple of weeks ago regarding school choice, and whether he’d support vouchers or education savings accounts (ESAs).
He says his first choice will always be the public system and he thinks with all the brilliant minds in Texas we can find a “public solution” to support our schools.
But the Senator then doubled down on his previous comments.
“I take nothing off the table, though. Nothing off the table. I don’t want to have a situation where we have had a school that’s failing for five or six years in the same specific geographical area and we’re having public professional not being able to come up with a solution,” said West.