With the House passing House Bill 2 and House Bill 3, the focus on school finance turns to the Senate. Border senators weighed in on the subject Wednesday.

"We are moving to a mix of consumption taxes that has made us the most regressive state in the country with House Bill 2 and 3. Those bills moved literally billions of dollars of taxes to middle- and low-income Texans," said Sen. Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso). "When all is said and done, House Bill 2 and 3 is about tax cuts to the wealthy."

Shapleigh said that Texans needed to be aware of the historic shifts House members made in the school finance system. He said House Bill 2 "de-linked" the wealthiest districts from the rest of the state to define "a separate and very unequal education system." The legislation also did away with 'weights' embedded in the funding formulas.

"We know that it costs more to educate on the issues of poverty and language yet we have taken the weights out of those formulas. Even the report that was done during the interim acknowledges that it costs about $1,200 more to educate a child that has language and poverty issues," Shapleigh said.

Appearing at a press conference with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and other Senate leaders, Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) said that Democrats and Republicans in the Senate were working together to put Texas children first. Zaffirini said her focus was on excellence in education, not merely adequacy.

"It will be our pleasure to study thoroughly the House bills that will be sent to us to ensure that we save the best possible parts of House Bill 2 and House Bill 3," Zaffirini said.

Like the House plan, the developing Senate plan cuts school property taxes by a third. The cut would be offset in part by raising the state sales tax from 6.25 percent to 6.75 percent. The House version raised the state sales tax rate to 7.25 percent.

Dewhurst said the Senate wanted to help 90,000 Texans who qualify for food stamps through the Lone Star Card get a rebate on the sales taxes they pay. "We're very focused in the Senate on the regressive nature of some taxes, and that's why we've been focused on how we reduce the tax incidence level for the poorest in our society," Dewhurst said.

The Senate plan also proposes a statewide property tax. "The most equity can be ensured through a statewide property tax," Dewhurst said.

Meanwhile, two civil rights groups issued a statement Wednesday blasting House Bill 3 for being regressive. The NAACP and LULAC urged the Senate to develop a plan that distributes taxes equitably without targeting the working class or poor.

"The problem with a lot of these bills that are being passed is that they are not geared toward middle- and lower-income families, who are the majority," says NAACP Education Chair Denise Upchurch.

LULAC Chief of Staff Adrian Rodriguez said Texans were not buying into the sound bite of property tax relief.

"Our state already has such dismal figures in terms of the highest percentage of uninsured children, 50th in graduation rates, and the largest prison system," Rodriguez said. "By adding to our regressive sales tax, Texas will be last in several more categories. The House leadership agenda to restrict the advancement of the middle class has been made very clear."