How much?

From what I've heard, the special session in April is going to focus on a proposal that is essentially identical to HB3 and another proposal to increase the business tax. My assumption, and I could be wrong, is that they'll look at switching to combined reporting so that partnerships would be liable if they have a nexus with Texas. That would provide something like $400 million in additional revenue to the state. That's something like $100 per student in state aid if none of that money reduces other tax levies. Increasing the sales tax will essentially result in no increased revenue because all of the bills include requirements that property taxes are lowered with the revenue. If that wasn't there, the state is looking at something less than $2 billion in extra revenue to play with. Reasonable estimates are that Texas needs to spend about $4 billion more on education in order to guarantee all students the opportunity for an adequate education. Not looking at revenue, the business tax seems like better policy because tax bills will more accurately represent recipients of state services. That's a good thing. An increased sales tax is probably not a good thing for most Texans. I will say though, Texas has a fairly good sales tax. The only real problem is that there is no mechanism through which to offset the regressive nature of the sales tax. That's why a state income tax would be a good thing. The problem with a state income tax is that it would be spent primarily as property tax relief. Why wouldn't the state use it to lower the sales tax instead? The property tax is deductible on federal income taxes. The sales tax is only deductible if the state doesn't have an income tax. The federal government will subsidize property tax payments, but not sales tax payments, so it stands to reason that people will be better off paying property taxes as opposed to sales taxes. Beyond that, the property tax is a very stable tax. The property wealth will be in the district regardless of the business cycle. There are certainly some problems with a the property tax and some people are adversely effected by it, but those people tend to cluster. Rather than providing general relief, the state could provide additional aid to poorer communities. The state could develop a circuit braker like the Homestead Tax Credit in Wisconsin. There are good forms or tax relief and they all start with a state income tax.