GlobeSt.com UPDATE: House Fells Texas' Non-Disclosure Status

"Most of the debate took place on whether it would be public. Ultimately, the resolution said 'yes, it will be,'" William Allaway, president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association in Austin, tells GlobeSt.com about Monday's late night vote. The Senate has yet to take action on its form of the education finance legislation. Once that's done, the measure will bounce back to the House for another vote. "It's not clear to me that the House would be in a mood to pass something dramatically different if it came back from the Senate," he says.

Should a vastly different bill return to the House, resolution is provided in a conference committee that would weigh both sides and issue a report that then goes onto the governor's desk. "Now that the House has actually done this thing," Allaway says, "there's a reasonably good chance they will get this done in this session."

The House today will vote a second time, but it's merely a matter of formality, Allaway says. Any revision now would require a two-thirds vote unlike yesterday's amendments which were secured with a simple majority.

Texas is one of 12 states with non-disclosure protection for property sales. For previous story, click here.

As passed last night, non-disclosure will require buyers to fill out a purchase statement within 10 days of recording deeds and submit it to the chief appraiser in the respective county. "It is disclosure requiring me to disclose the price that I paid," Allaway explains, citing a host of exclusions that resulted from the House floor debate. The provision excludes court-ordered transfers, deed in lieu of foreclosure swaps, hand-offs of partial ownerships and eminent domain transactions. It also doesn't apply to deed of trust or the release of an encumbrance.

The House also approved a business tax, but the amended version gives owners the right to choose the existing franchise tax or the employer-paid payroll tax. And for the first time, professional services like doctors and lawyers will be taxed--if the proposal passes muster at all levels. Last night's vote also raised the state sales tax to 7.25% from 6.25% to make it the highest in the nation.

Texas presently pays 38% of the $30 billion per year education tab, according to published accounts. HB3, as passed last night, boosts the ante to 60%.