State
Texas House Lawmakers File Legislation to Prohibit Social Credit Scores
Among the hundreds of pieces of legislation filed ahead of the upcoming 88th Legislative Session, some Texas state lawmakers are attempting to prohibit a phenomenon that has grown over the last few decades, instituted by a combination of government and…
School Choice In Texas… Will It Actually Happen?
Lately, there has been a lot of noise nationwide about school choice and here in Texas, that noise is no different as we head into the legislative session which begins in January. Much of the outcry for education reform comes…
Phelan’s Plans for $27B Surplus Don’t Include Property Tax Relief
On Thursday, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan addressed the Transportation Advocacy Group in Houston, speaking on transportation and infrastructure issues, among other items. In the course of his address, he indicated he has other plans for the projected nearly $27…
Property Tax Bills Filed in Large Numbers, a Good Sign for Taxpayers
On Monday, lawmakers in both the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate began the process of prefiling legislation ahead of the upcoming 88th Legislative Session, and hundreds of bills have already been filed. 2023 will be a contentious year…
Taxpayer Champion Seeks to Ban Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying for the Third Time
On Monday, the first day by which Texas state lawmakers could prefile legislation ahead of the 88th Legislative Session, newly elected State Senator-elect Mayes Middleton filed legislation seeking to ban the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying. Middleton, himself a TFR Taxpayer…
Recent Report Shows Texas’ Abysmal Record on Property Taxes
Recently, the Huffines Liberty Foundation released a report entitled “Texas Property Taxes: A State-to-State Comparison.” As the first in a three-part series, the report itself claims to be a road map to abolish property taxes in Texas, something the majority…
Taxpayer Champion Announces Candidacy for Texas Speaker of the House
On Friday, Republican State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (Arlington) officially filed as a candidate for speaker of the Texas House, challenging incumbent Speaker Dade Phelan (Beaumont). Tinderholt was first elected to the Texas House in 2015 and is a taxpayer champion…
Texas Given a ‘D’ Rating on Fiscal Health
Recently, Truth in Accounting released its 2022 Financial State of the States Report analyzing the financial health of all 50 states in the United States. They have released this annual report for the past 13 years. According to the report,…
Appropriations Committee Member Seems to Not Understand Basic Market Economics
The Texas House Appropriations Committee met Wednesday in what is likely to be the last public hearing they have before the next legislative session, which is set to begin in January of 2023. One of the items discussed was an…
No… We Don’t Need More Corporate Welfare in Texas
It never seems to amaze me how often “conservative” politicians are willing to give your money over to corrupt corporations in the form of corporate welfare. Recently, disgraced former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dennis Bonnen (then-state representative…
Cities Using Loophole to Raise Taxes Without Approval Elections
Many taxpayers have reached out to us regarding cities and other local political subdivisions raising taxes beyond their voter approval thresholds without triggering an election. Many have wondered how this is possible after the supposed “historic property tax reform” of…
In Debate, Abbott Says He Will Eliminate School Property Taxes
Last Friday, Texas taxpayers had a chance to watch the one and only debate between former U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D) and incumbent Governor Greg Abbott (R) before the November general election. The two addressed several issues important to Texans,…
Political Theatre on Fiscal Prudence in Texas House of Representatives
During the 86th legislative session in 2019, state lawmakers passed legislation related to strategic fiscal reviews of state agencies and programs, seemingly an attempt at fiscal prudence relating to the allocation of tax dollars at the state level for some…
Abbott Refuses to Relinquish Power, Extends COVID Emergency Again
Yesterday, Abbott renewed his COVID disaster declaration for another 30 days. Texas is now lagging behind the rest of the nation as one of only 12 states that have refused to lay down their unconstitutional executive power. This marks the…
Senate Committee on Local Government Meets on Important Taxpayer Items
This week, the Senate Committee on Local Government met to deal with a list of issues and charges, some of which involved property taxes, taxpayer-funded lobbying, and appraisal reform. In many ways, this was the Senate version of the charges…