Texas House Cowers to Wall Street, Neglects Working Texans (April 2)

TLPC Press Release HJR 4_April 2 2025.pdf

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For Immediate Release: April 2, 2025

Media Contact: Cody Meador, Executive Director, Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus

(512) 463-0454, info@texaslpc.org

Texas House Cowers to Wall Street, Neglects Working Texans

Austin, Texas – On Tuesday, April 1, Texas House leadership positioned HJR 4 to be the first bill heard on the House floor this session, proposing a constitutional ban on taxes on securities market operators and transactions. While 28 Democrats stood strong in solidarity with working families and against forever tax breaks for stock brokers, it was not enough to block the two-thirds vote needed to pass a constitutional amendment. HJR 4 is expected to pass easily in the Texas Senate, and it will then be placed on the November 2025 ballot for approval by the voters of Texas.

The Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus Executive Committee issued the following statement:

“TLPC fights unapologetically for the working people of Texas to have a fair shot at prosperity. HJR 4 is a blatant Wall Street handout. At a time when working families across Texas are pleading for relief—from soaring housing costs to underfunded schools and unaffordable healthcare—House leadership has made its priorities crystal clear: protect wealth, not people.

Texas already has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country. People who earn the least money in our state pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes compared to people who earn the most money. A Texan earning less than $40,000 a year pays approximately 14% of their income in taxes while a Texan making $195,000 or more pays less than 4%. Every single tax carve-out designed to entice and benefit large corporations and the ultra-wealthy further shifts the tax burden onto the shoulders of those working the hardest to make ends meet.

Voters will make the final decision whether HJR 4 becomes law in Texas. This is an election that can be won. The time is now to begin organizing our communities to put working families over Wall Street. As DNC chair Ken Martin asks, "Are we on the side of the robber baron, the ultra-wealthy billionaire, the oil and gas polluter, the union buster, or are we on the side of the American working family?”

This is a call to action.”

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See the House record on this bill and vote here: https://journals.house.texas.gov/hjrnl/89r/pdf/89RDAY36FINAL.PDF#page=6