Perry’s counting on voters not recognizing cause and effect
A South Texas sheriff is the first in more than a decade to refuse to accept certain parole violators at his jail, the strongest message yet to state leaders that counties are increasingly frustrated with housing prisoners without compensation.
The message resonates even louder these days because of overcrowding issues facing both Texas prisons and county jails, and Gov. Rick Perry’s recent veto of a bill that would have alleviated some of the problem.
So do you think the voters will see the cause and effect of this veto? As in the case of the community college health benefits, Perry vetoed funding that would have helped alleviate the local property tax burden. This is costing the tax payers of Bexar county a pretty penny.
About a third of the Bexar lockup’s 552 parole violators were arrested on blue warrants and have not committed any new offense, he said.
Perry, in his message to state lawmakers, said, “These offenders should not be given freedom when their return to prison or other sanctions are imminent.
“I understand and am sympathetic to the concerns of counties that are experiencing capacity problems at their jails because of the number of parole violators they must house, but I believe this bill will have negative unintended consequences,” Perry wrote.
The way I see it, the negative unintended consequences had more to do with Perry not being able to claim he delivered a property tax rebate from the state. He’s only willing to lower property taxes if he gets direct credit for it. With his vetoes, he has demonstrated that he has absolutely no problem with raising local property taxes. I guess he figures that most voters won’t make the connection. And he’s probably right. Where’s Roddy Stinson’s outrage when you need it.
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Filed under: Atascosa County, Blue warrants, HB 541, Perry veto, Rick Perry, Tommy Williams, bexar county, property taxes, texas
