Texas Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, of District 1 has no problem saying he and his fellow Texas Legislature members have failed miserably in their attempts for education reform and reducing property tax. He repeatedly said so during his speech at Monday's Citizens Advisory Council meeting.

"We failed you and I failed you ... Four times we tried, and four times we failed," said the senator.

First, he made sure to clarify the two issues as separate ones, and then addressed them as such. Eltife then gave his overview of the issues, and possible solutions he advocates.

For property tax, he explained for every 10 cents cut off the property tax rate, that's $1 million in revenue lost. That was the challenge for the legislature: find a way to cut the property tax but still get the revenue elsewhere.

"I advocated we do a broad-based franchise tax. It has to be fair and equitable," Eltife said.

Currently manufacturers are carrying the heaviest load of franchise tax, whereas service providers such as Southwestern Bell and AT&T have legally found a loophole to avoid it. Sixty percent of businesses, the service sector jobs, are not paying the tax, he claimed.