Appearing on KNEL’s Morning Program Thursday, District 53 State Representative Andrew Murr outlined the key issues he believes the Texas Legislature will be facing during its current session.
The 53rd District represented by Murr includes McCulloch, Mason, Menard, Llano, Kimble, Bandera, Crane, Crockett, Edwards, Kerr, Llano, Medina, Pecos, Real, Schleicher, Sutton and Upton Counties.
Rep. Murr said a major issue for the Texas Legislature will be dealing with the State’s current large budget surplus of between $40 to $50 million. The difficulty for the Legislature he said will be deciding how to spend that money, while also looking at how to return some of it to taxpayers.
A priority for Rep. Murr will again be to push for property tax relief for Texans. One of the first bills introduced in this session by Murr would prohibit school districts from imposing Maintenance and Operations taxes on property owners. That proposal, he said, would slash individual property taxes by one-half. Other bills introduced by Rep. Murr would toughen the penalty for voter fraud, and give greater liability protection to farmers and ranchers involving livestock accidents on roadways.
Rep. Murr indicated other key issues to be considered by the Legislature will be effects of the on-going border crisis, ensuring the state’s electric grid can meet future demands for heat and air conditioning, broad band capability throughout the state, rural health care and the question of legalized gambling in Texas.
