The latest Biennial Property Tax Report from the Texas Comptroller confirms what many Texas homeowners and fiscal watchdogs, like TFR, already suspected: property taxes did, in fact, increase in 2023 by $650 Million despite promises of relief.  While this news…

Overview The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides Texas’ labor market data to examine how people are doing across the state.  Figure 1. Texas Labor Market by Industry Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Figure 2: Real Gross Domestic Product…

TLDR: Taxpayers made their voices heard: “no more backstabbing.” The time has come for many incumbent politicians to pack their bags… Yesterday, the Texas Primary Elections were held, with taxpayer foes across the State being defeated or forced into runoffs,…

Texans are upset that their property tax relief is less than the Texas Legislature promised last year. While Texans for Fiscal Responsibility wrote about how we should expect this outcome, the reporting and claims about this relief were that it…

After months of delay following Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s call for a financial audit of the effort to impeach and remove Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton this year, new revelations about the actual cost to taxpayers surfaced last week. These…

Texas’ Local Debt Crisis: Unpacking the $461.3 Billion Burden In a startling revelation, the Texas Public Policy Foundation reported a significant surge in Texas’ local debt, now towering at an unprecedented $461.3 billion as of the fiscal year 2023. This…

Texas lost jobs in October and faces major headwinds with a weak U.S. economy and a poor performance by this year’s 88th Legislature. There is a better way. Free-market capitalism is the best path to let people prosper, as it…

Filing to be on the primary ballot in March is open for a thirty-day window. As anticipation for the March primary elections rise, candidate filing to be on the ballot in either party officially began on Saturday, November 11th.  Candidates…

Tuesday was election day, and Texans across the State went to the polls to cast their votes on fourteen constitutional amendments, various local propositions, and a scattering of elections for office.  Let’s briefly look at the election day results and…

Early voting for the 2023 November election is officially underway, and voters across Texas are headed to the polls.  This election held on November 7th is focused on fourteen constitutional amendment propositions, many of which will have a significant impact…

Texas has been a leader in job creation. But Texas faces major headwinds as this year’s 88th Legislature has looked more like California than what Texans expect. There is a better way. Free-market capitalism is the best path to let…

Recently, Truth in Accounting (TIA), a fiscal watchdog organization, published a report titled “Financial State of the States 2023” shedding light on the perceived fiscal health of all 50 states in the United States based on key factors. According to…

The State’s metaphorical piggy bank continues to fill up with surplus dollars from your wallet, says the Texas Comptroller.  Last Friday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released the Certification Revenue Estimate(CRE) for the fiscal 2024-25 biennium. The CRE revises estimates from…

The Texas State Legislature meets for its Constitutionally-required regular session once every odd-numbered year for 140 days from roughly mid-January to the end of May. The Governor can call additional special sessions of thirty days at any point outside of…

It is that time of year again! When Texas taxpayers are reminded that they, in fact, do NOT own their homes, but rather pay perpetual rent to the government via the property tax. That’s right, soon property tax bills will…