“Effort to fix payroll error for state National Guard troops falls short in Texas Senate” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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An effort to reimburse thousands of National Guard troops who racked up a combined $9.3 million in federal taxes because of a paycheck error while serving on Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission has fallen short of key legislative deadlines.
House Bill 3031 by Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, would create a grant program to help about 7,400 troops assigned to Operation Lone Star who had higher tax bills than expected because the state made a tax withholding error on their paychecks.
Lawmakers had set aside $6 million in the budget to fund the grant program, if the bill received approval, to help the troops pay the unexpected taxes caused by the state’s error. The average impact on service members was $867.29, but there were nearly 300 instances with “special circumstances” that are not included in that average, according to Johnson.
HB 3031, however, was not voted upon before a Wednesday deadline for action by the Senate.
The bill was overwhelmingly approved by the House with only 17 days…
