AUSTIN — The governor's blue-ribbon panel that will recommend how to fix Texas' tax system is drawing concern from some who say its reliance on business leaders could overshadow the voices of working-class Texans and educators with a big stake in its work.

The Texas Tax Reform Commission's work to modernize taxes is being undertaken with an eye to providing a sound funding source for public schools and relieving property taxes, an education funding source under strain.

Gov. Rick Perry's office and the Democrat he picked to head the panel, John Sharp, said its makeup reflects a need to focus on big challenges — changing the way businesses are taxed to reflect the economy and gauging such changes' economic effect.

But two Democratic lawmakers who frequently complained about the effect on consumers as the Legislature struggled to revamp school funding say the panel's representation should be broader.

"Where is the mother working two jobs to provide for her family?" Sen. Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso asked Tuesday. "Just like past proposals, after this committee's tax shift, Texas families will once again be hit with increased taxes."

Legislative efforts fell apart this year largely over how much of a tax burden should be borne by various businesses and how much should be shouldered by businesses vs. individuals. There also was disagreement over whether new state taxes should go only to local property tax relief or also to increased school funding.

Rep. Garnet Coleman of Houston said that despite the panel's aim of finding agreement on a broad-based business tax, "the absence of consumers and workers on the panel raises serious concerns that we may see yet another attempt to raise the Texas sales tax to the highest in the nation."

Coleman suggested that educators also should be added to the panel, because a goal is to provide a stable source of funding for education.

Sharp said, "I love Garnet to death, but I think if he died and went to heaven, he'd complain about his room."

Coleman called Sharp's remark "childish."

Dick Lavine of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for low-income Texans, said the commission's makeup shows a bigger problem, that "the entire project is conceived too narrowly."

Sharp said, "What this committee is designed to do is to figure out how to solve two problems. One is, property taxes have hit the wall and have got to be lowered. And two, the franchise tax is not working anymore.

"Only when you fix that are you ever going to have any hope of getting to a funding level for schools that ... some of these folks want to do," he said.

Sharp added that the Senate this year made clear its unwillingness to raise sales taxes too high, "and we're pretty cognizant of what the legislative possibilities are."

Sharp also said commission members have concerns for schools and students, not just business.

Michael Quinn Sullivan of the Texas Public Policy Foundation — which supports limited government and has a board member on the panel, Wendy Lee Gramm — said the committee members are well-versed in the pertinent issues.

"It is important to recognize that all of us are consumers," he said. "I know at least a couple of the members of the commission, and those are all people who work pretty darn hard."