April 22, 2004, 2:12PM

House to roll out school finance plan this weekend

Associated Press

AUSTIN - The House leadership is preparing to debut its proposal this weekend for allocating money to Texas schools, key legislators said today.

In a letter to superintendents of Texas schools, state Rep. Kent Grusendorf, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on Public School Finance, said he expects a House researcher to lay out the proposal to a legislative committee on Saturday.

Urging the superintendents to attend the meeting to weigh in on the proposal, Grusendorf called the plan "one of the most equitable systems ever considered by Texas."

Rep. Dan Branch, a Dallas Republican who serves on the committee, said the way state money is allocated to schools will be taken up by the committee Saturday. Lawmakers are still narrowing down the list of options for raising money after reducing property taxes.

The education committee spent most of today discussing details of the plan proposed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry, which would lower property taxes and replace them with an array of sin taxes.

Perry's plan would separate business and residential property taxes, making business property taxed at the state level while homeowners would be taxed at the local level. Both would be lowered at different rates.

The property tax reductions would be replaced with revenue from state-taxed video gambling, a cigarette tax and a $5 admissions fee to adult entertainment establishments.