Title: Texans demand Property Tax reform at rally
Original CoS Document (slug): texans-demand-property-tax-reform-at-rally-2
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Created: 2019-05-01 12:49:37
Updated: 2022-09-16 01:37:06
Published: 2019-05-02 03:00:00
Converted: 2025-04-14T21:03:08.649062622
If legislators don’t feel the eyes of Texas on them as they debate solutions for the property tax crisis, they aren’t paying attention.
Texans of all ages and backgrounds gathered at the State Capitol on April 16 to show every state representative, from the governor on down, that we are fed up with being taxed out of our homes.
This legislative session began with big promises of property tax reform. But when proposed solutions turned to merely substituting one tax for another, some 300-plus Texans decided it was time to remind our representatives that the people are paying attention.
COS Texas State Director Shelby Williams generated much of the energy behind the event and served as the emcee. Other speakers included COS Co-Founder and President Mark Meckler, Julie McCarty with the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party, Michael Quinn Sullivan of Empower Texans, conservative activist Weston Martinez, Mike Openshaw of Texas Legislative Watch, Kara Kwan and Kendall Mason of Faith Academy in Marble Falls, and eight-year-old Olivia Williams, daughter of Shelby Williams.
After cheering on the speakers on the south steps of the capitol, rally attendees moved inside to the rotunda and sang two echoing renditions of “The Eyes of Texas” to drive home the we-are-watching-you message.
Rally attendees then moved to galleries above the House and Senate floors to literally lay their eyes upon their legislators in action and then visited their representatives’ and senators’ offices to share their thoughts about property tax reform.
After the rally, photos of one attendee from Austin named Lanny went viral of Facebook. Lanny wore a sign calling for an end to “Legalized Plunder” and to the property taxes that every three years are equivalent to the original cost of his home.