AUSTIN, Texas, April 9 (UPI) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a plan to tax business and cigarettes to fund public schools, but needs support of the lieutenant governor and the House speaker.
The April 17 special session will be the legislature's fifth try in the past two years to find a way to finance public schools that is less reliant on property taxes, the Houston Chronicle reported.
What's different this time is a June 1 deadline set by the Texas Supreme Court, which said the current finance system violates the state constitution. The court said it will prevent schools from opening this fall if a new system isn't in place.
If a meltdown over school finance causes Republicans to lose elections this fall, House Speaker Tom Craddick's future as speaker could be in jeopardy.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is insisting on teacher pay raises and new high school initiatives to go along with the tax bill.
"It's difficult to reach a consensus among members when you don't have the top three leaders working with the same plan," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston.
