News and Commentary

NewsFederal

They Dare Not Call it a Recession

Thursday, Americans woke up to the news that the U.S. economy continued to contract for the second straight quarter. For Americans who have been experiencing a higher cost of living in the last year or so, it is not necessarily…

Explainers

Explainer: What Is The Overton Window?

If you have spent any amount of time in politics I am sure you have heard the phrase “The Overton Window” before. Today we are going to talk about what it is, and how to use this concept to our…

News

Do Not Let Texas Lawmakers Plunder Our Money

Last week, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced an updated revenue estimate, which increased our continually growing budget surplus by nearly $14 billion. Yes, you heard that right $14 billion more! This raised the previous estimate from roughly $13 billion to…

News

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Announces Historic Surplus in Updated Estimate

Thursday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released his updated revenue estimate for the state of Texas. Previously the surplus estimate coming off of the most recent legislative session was around $8 billion. This estimate was updated in November of 2021 to…

News

Texas Comptroller To Announce New Revenue Increase On Thursday

Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee held its first interim hearing to consider some of their assigned interim charges involving the state budget. Among the invited testimony was that of Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who came to give a general update…

NewsLocal

Texas GOP Platform Includes Texas Prosperity Plan

Wednesday, the Republican Party of Texas released its 2022 Platform as approved by delegates to its State Convention in mid-June.  Among the 274 ‘planks’ or policy positions were all three of the items set forth in Texans for Fiscal Responsibility’s…

Explainers

Explainer: What Is Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying?

Recently Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) released its Texas Prosperity Plan focusing on policy goals for the upcoming Texas legislative session set to begin in January of 2023. The plan focuses on three specific issues to reform: 1) Eliminating Property…

Explainers

Explainer: What is the “No New Revenue Rate”?

In a year that has resulted in crushing property tax burdens for the majority of Texans, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) has set its sights on giving as much transparency to the property tax process in Texas as possible. Most…

Commentary

One Texan’s Exemption is Another Texan’s Increased Burden

A reprieve from taxes, however significant, is always welcome news for Texas taxpayers, well… at least for the ones that directly benefit from that reprieve. At a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, State Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) inquired about the…

News

Texas GOP Announces Legislative Priorities for Next Two Years

Wednesday, the Republican Party of Texas announced the final list of 8 legislative priorities, approved by delegates to the state convention which took place last week. This announcement is notable for several reasons, chief among them being that the state…

News

Abbott Signals Property Tax Cuts, What About Elimination?

In an interview with The Texan, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar indicated that it is possible Texas will have an estimated $30 billion account balance when the Texas Legislature reconvenes in January of 2023. In March, we reported that it was…

News

Texas GOP State Convention Concluded. Here Is What Happened.

Thousands of Republicans from across the state of Texas, descended into Houston last week to participate in crafting the platform for the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) among other party organizational items for the next two years. Elected delegates to…

News

In Recent Senate Finance Hearing, Taxpayers Told To Wait For Relief

In a recent Texas Senate Finance Committee Hearing, the subject of high property tax appraisals came up during a discussion on what should be done about the interim charge they were to consider related to property tax relief. The committee…

News

Texas Home Appraisals Are At All Time Highs

2022 has been an unprecedented year on a number of fronts. Texas, like the rest of the nation, has experienced record inflation, record gas prices, and sky-high home appraisals. Why have home prices been so high? Is it just a…

Commentary

Introducing the Texas Prosperity Plan

At Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR), we hear from Texans every day, impacted by the rising costs of living, rising property tax burdens, and general dismay towards a government that seems to represent their own interests less and less. For too…