(Texas Scorecard) – Although the Legislature isn’t in session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick continues targeting House Speaker Dade Phelan, accusing him of falsely taking credit for property tax relief, including a homestead exemption increase last year.
In a post labeling Phelan as a “RINORAD” (Republican in Name Only, Really a Democrat), Patrick accused the House Speaker of “killing massive conservative legislation” and attempting to rewrite history in an op-ed in the Beaumont Enterprise regarding the property tax relief legislation.
“Dade is a bald-faced liar on this issue, and he knows it. He claims the House took the lead in passing the homestead exemption, but the truth is he tried to kill the $100K homestead exemption for four months after he passed it, just for show. It’s revisionist history for Dade to try to cover up his multiple attempts to kill the bill,” Patrick wrote in a post on X.
During the 2023 legislative session, the House and Senate were at odds throughout the year on their approaches to property tax relief. While the House pushed for stronger appraisal caps, the Senate advocated for an increase in the homestead exemption.
Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, supported a plan to use funds to help buy down—or “compress”—local school property taxes.
The two chambers couldn’t reach an agreement before the end of the session in May, leading Abbott to place property tax relief on the agenda for the first special session.
No agreement was reached until a second special session was called, during which a plan was passed that included the homestead exemption increase.
“Dade finally folded after almost four months of trying to kill the homestead exemption in the regular and special sessions, and the $100K homestead exemption ($110K for seniors) passed the House 133-4. This showed that House members wanted the exemption for homeowners in their districts just as badly as the Senate. The fact that Dade kept his own House members from voting shows he didn’t care about them or the homeowners they represent. The voters then overwhelmingly passed it in a constitutional amendment last November,” wrote Patrick.
Patrick then described his efforts to build a working relationship with Phelan following the vote:
“After Dade agreed to the $100K exemption, I decided to take the high road and invited him to the Senate floor for final passage. I thought I’d try to start a new relationship one more time. He came. But within a few months, he was back to his divisive games. He fabricated preposterous lies attacking the Senate because he didn’t like the verdict of the impeachment trial. He then refused to personally vote for school choice, which helped to kill it in the House. Once again, pleasing House Democrats led to 24 Republican House members either retiring or being defeated in the primaries.”
Patrick concluded by pledging to expose Phelan every time he attempts to take credit for legislation he tried to block:
“I understand the DWD (Done with Dade) group is growing within the House. His only path to remain Speaker is for all or a large majority of Democrats to vote for him. Let’s not forget that he won his recent primary runoff by about 300 votes because Democrats crossed over in big numbers and took the Republican primary from the voters of East Texas. Dade Phelan is the ultimate #RINORAD.”
Phelan did not respond to a request for comment.
