AUSTIN — For more than a decade, Gina Hinojosa has been trying to get Texans to pay a state income tax. High Tax Hinojosa said income taxes were the “third leg” of the taxing stool that Texas was missing. She said a state income tax just “makes sense.” You can’t claim to address affordability in Texas and also work to institute a new income tax on hardworking Texans. But that’s exactly what High Tax Hinojosa is doing.
“Gina Hinojosa has a proven decade-plus record of advocating for a state income tax for Texans. In fact, she called a state income tax the missing ‘third leg’ of a taxing strategy that just ‘makes sense.’ A state income tax didn’t make sense to Texans when they voted overwhelmingly to ban it in our state constitution. This isn’t California. This is Texas.”
— Catherine Frazier, Texans for Greg Abbott Communications Director
Gina Hinojosa has been advocating for a state income tax in Texas since 2016.
- In a 2016 interview with KXAN, Gina Hinojosa said, “We rely so heavily in the state on property taxes, too heavily, in my opinion, because we don’t have we don’t have the third leg of that stool… income taxes.” (YouTube)
- In a speech at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin she said that Texas is “missing” a state income tax and that it was the “third leg of the stool that we need.” (YouTube)
But Gina isn’t just about a new state income tax. As an Austin Independent School District (AISD) board member, she was also happy to raise property taxes making sure that every household in AISD had less money in their pockets when she left the board.
- The total amount of AISD property taxes imposed increased by nearly $405 million, or 52%, during Hinojosa’s tenure on the Board. (FY 2020 Budget Table 8)
- In her first year on the School Board, she voted to increase property taxes on the average Austin home by nearly $140. (FY 2018 Budget Table 20)
- Her second year on the Board, she voted to increase property taxes again – by $230 on average. (FY 2018 Budget Table 20)
- In year three, as AISD board president, she increased property taxes yet again by over $170 on average. (FY 2018 Budget Table 20)
- It gets worse. In year four, Hinojosa voted to increase property taxes by more than $330 on average. (FY 2018 Budget Table 20)
- Over her four years on the AISD School Board, Hinojosa voted to increase property taxes on the average Austin home by nearly $900 total. (FY 2018 Budget Table 20)