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Texas Republicans Seek End of Johnson Amendment

Posted on June 22, 2022

The Republican Party of Texas wants to get rid of the federal tax code provision that prohibits political campaign intervention by churches and charities.

A plank in the Texas GOP’s 2022 platform calls for repealing the Johnson Amendment, the section 501(c)(3) provision that bans partisan political activity by charities and houses of worship.

The Johnson Amendment “assaults the free speech of pastors and religious organizations,” the platform says.

The anti-Johnson Amendment language isn’t surprising, given that Republicans and conservatives have long complained that the law infringes on freedom of expression and religious liberty.

In February 2021 several House Republicans reintroduced legislation to repeal the Johnson Amendment.

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The Texas GOP platform contains other proposals that could dramatically reshape tax policy.

The proposal includes eliminating the estate tax, inventory taxes, business franchise taxes, and taxes on phone and internet services.  It would also replace the income tax with a flat tax or a consumption tax “that reduces the overall tax burden.”

On the issue of school choice, the party supports tax credits and exemptions for education and choice within the public school system. At the college level, it opposes mass cancellation of student loan obligations but supports tax credits and reduced interest rates to help students who are deeply in debt.

The party seeks to “axe the property tax” by replacing it with an alternative other than the income tax and requiring voter approval to increase the overall tax burden. The Texas Legislature should immediately adopt a transition plan that is a net tax cut, according to the platform.

The Texas GOP supports incremental steps toward abolishing the property tax.

The party would dedicate surpluses to buy down school district maintenance and operation property tax; replace the appraisal system with one that values property at the purchase price; require appraisal districts to publish the amount of property taxes and appraisals attributable to each rental unit; and close the “Unused Increment Rate,” which it says allows taxing entities to bypass recently added limits to property tax increases.

Any large city or county that reduces its police budget by more than 10 percent should have to cut its property tax revenue by the same percentage or more, the platform says.

Also included in the proposal is a “Truth in Taxation” provision that says taxes established for a particular purpose shouldn’t be used for another purpose. Specifically, tax revenue derived from gasoline taxes and all other taxes or fees on vehicles should be used only to build and maintain roads, not diverted to uses such as mass transit, rail, restrictive lanes, and bicycle paths, it says.

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