At odds over cutting property taxes, Patrick challenges Abbott to 'Lincoln-Douglas debate'

AUSTIN — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, in his first open disagreement with Gov. Greg Abbott, challenged his fellow Republican to a "Lincoln-Douglas-style debate" Tuesday where the top two state leaders could hash out their differences on how to deliver tax relief to Texas property owners.

Patrick and Abbott, both in their third terms, have been sparring in tweets and speeches from afar for the past week after the governor sided with the tax cut plan the Texas House passed last week.

In a freewheeling news conference in the Capitol, Patrick defended the plan adopted by the Senate, where he presides, because it delivers more for homeowners while the House plan spreads the tax cuts more broadly so that owners of commercial real estate and raw land get a larger share.

"Let me be clear, I'm not here to start or continue a fight with the governor," Patrick told reporters. "Why I am here is to fight for 5.7 million average homeowners who under the governor's and House plan (would) get less than under the Senate plan."

After ticking off the high points of the Senate, which would both lower tax rates and boost the homestead exemption afforded to homeowners to $100,000, Patrick brought up the idea of a one-on-one debate between him and Abbott.

"If the governor disagrees with me, then I invite the governor to a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate on this issue," Patrick said. "We're not going to back up on this."

The reference dates to 1858 when Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were both candidates for the U.S. Senate from Illinois and debated seven times. Douglas was elected. The two would match up again two years later as presidential candidates. Lincoln won that round.

At his own news conference about an hour later at the Capitol, Abbott sidestepped a direct question about whether he would participate in such a faceoff.

"When it comes to property taxes, what really needs to be done is to focus on reaching an agreement between the House and Senate," Abbott said. "And the only thing that we're going to focus on this session and successive sessions is making sure we (cut) property taxes."

More: Why the wary alliance of Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick is now approaching open hostility

When the regular legislative session ended May 29 with no agreement reached by Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, and their leadership teams, Abbott called both chambers back to work in what was supposed to be a 30-day special session that began the following day.

But instead of returning to the bargaining table, the Senate swiftly passed the plan it had been working on for the past five months. The House passed a new version of its own plan, which was closer to Abbott's liking, and declared the special session over in the lower chamber.

Patrick said at the time, and repeated for emphasis with reporters Tuesday, that the Senate has no interest in shelving the work it has been doing on a property tax bill since before the regular session even began by simply accepting what the House had sent it.

He said the House should rescind its decision to close shop and return to work given that the special session is not due to end for three weeks. Phelan's office did not respond to a question about whether House members would be summoned back to Austin.

While Patrick continued to say Abbott was either misinformed about the details of the tax plan he has endorsed or simply mistaken about how it would play out should it become law, the governor showed no interest in trading punches.

Instead, he cast the impasse as a House-Senate dispute that he witnessed firsthand in the closing days of the session when he had both Patrick and Phelan at the same table in his office for "hour after hour" until time had run out.

"The House and the Senate were completely dug into their positions," Abbott said. "And they wanted to stay in that position."

Abbott gave no time estimate for when a deal may be hammered out. But he did say he'll keep lawmakers in Austin until a tax plan adopted by both the House and the Senate lands on his desk.

"I'll call a special session after special session after special session until a solution is reached," he said.

John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JohnnieMo.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Patrick calls for public debate with Abbott over property tax dispute