In The Race For Texas Governor, Two Candidates Offer Very Different Plans

This week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune.

By Rhonda FanningJanuary 19, 2018 1:34 pm, , ,

It’s time to talk about the week in politics with Emily Ramshaw, editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune.

This week, Governor Greg Abbott introduced a new proposal for property tax reform.

The new plan, Ramshaw says, would “force local municipalities and local governing bodies to go before voters if they wanted to raise tax revenue more than 2.5 percent.”

One of the Democratic contenders in the governor’s race, former Dallas County sheriff Lupe Valdez, sat down with the Tribune’s Evan Smith this week, and she also talked taxes, with a somewhat different take.

“She said she’s open to a tax increase,” Ramshaw says. “In fact, there were a lot of things she wanted to do, including raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to somewhere between $12 to $15.”

The Trib’s Abby Livingston wrote this week that Hurricane Harvey relief funding will be a key issue going into the 2018 elections

“It could play a role in a couple of open congressional races,” she says.

Written by Jen Rice.