AUSTIN, Texas -- From day one, state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, has opposed the GOP-led effort to restrict local property tax collections.

Senate Bill 2 requires local governments to hold an election before raising 3.5 percent more property tax revenue than the previous year. Republican leaders have billed the measure as a critical check on spiraling property tax bills and a major reform of the tax system. 

But municipal leaders and Democrats have said it’s too low. Seliger, meanwhile, adds it takes away too much control from local officials and the voters who elect them.

“One of the most negative things to come out of this session is the fact that I believe local control, and thereby smaller government, is right now on life support and I really regret that and I think over time in the state of Texas, we will really regret that,” Seliger said.

Seliger argued if the state was given the same limits by Washington, lawmakers would be in an uproar.

“All we’re doing is limiting the revenues that local entities get – cities, counties, school districts. The same sort of thing that if the federal government told us we had to reduce our taxes, be they severance taxes or sales taxes, we would be absolutely apoplectic here in Austin,” he said.

SB2 is currently being negotiated by lawmakers in a conference committee.

Click the video link above to watch our full interview with Sen. Seliger, including his take on where school finance reform sits and his opposition to the so-called "Save Chick-fil-A" bill.