In the third attempt this legislative cycle, Phelan and Patrick continue the battle over property tax relief and Abbott introduces a new(ish) topic to the debate. The clash between the east and west chambers of the Texas Capitol has officially…

Just three days after House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) formed a new Select Study Committee on Sustainable Property Tax Relief in the Texas House, Chairman Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) sent a letter to the committee’s chairman, Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas), proposing a…

Executive Summary The Texas Legislature is in the midst of a 20-year spending spree. Since 2003, the appropriation of state funds per legislative session has increased from $76.2 billion to $233 billion. Remarkably, 44% of that growth happened in 2023…

After Governor Abbott used the threat of his veto power to try and force the House and Senate to come to an agreement on property tax relief over the weekend (to no avail, despite having vetoed 76 bills), the battle…

Since 2007, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) has attempted to provide Texas taxpayers with a tool to easily discern how their lawmakers perform on issues related to the size and role of government. The Fiscal Responsibility Index uses votes taken…

The first-called special session has officially crossed the two-week mark, and with that, not much has changed regarding actual progress to bring down the skyrocketing tax bills of Texans. Among the various bills, property tax relief plans, political rhetoric, posturing,…

Introduction As the debate about the superior property tax relief package continues, many would imagine the most common question that TFR gets is whether we support tax compression or increasing the homestead exemption. Although that is a safe assumption, that…

On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation purporting to be a “new” economic development tool into law. Despite its similarities to the now-ended Chapter 313 tax abatement program, its supporters insist this new program is a more accountable and…

The 88th Texas Legislative Session has come and gone. State lawmakers were faced with a historic budget surplus (over-collected taxpayer dollars) and a historic opportunity to provide Texas taxpayers with much-needed tax relief and a promise for future prosperity. Instead,…

Lost in all of the noise and chaos surrounding the 88th Legislative Session is the fact that Republican lawmakers, who have enjoyed a comfortable majority in the Texas Legislature for the last two decades, ushered in the biggest spending increase…

Episode Description 💰 In our FINAL EPISODE of this season of 𝗧𝗔𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗦, we are joined by special guests Vance Ginn, Ph.D., and Bill Peacock to discuss the 88th Legislative Session, what happened, what did not happen, the good, the…

Episode Description 💰 In our fifteenth and final episode of 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞 𝗔𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗, we discuss the end of the 88th Legislative Session and lack of successes for things on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s “emergency agenda” and items important to Texas…

With only a few days left of the ongoing 88th Legislative Session, state lawmakers have presented a Conference Committee Report for House Bill 1 that represents perhaps the largest increase in spending in Texas history; it is certainly the biggest…

Episode Description 💰 In this episode of 𝗧𝗔𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗦, we discuss what still has the potential to get done before imminent key deadlines in the near-ended Texas 88th Legislative Session. Will Texas taxpayers get tangible property tax relief? Will we…

Texas Senate Subject: Repealing Onerous Regulation, House Bill 3419 (HB 3419) Subject: Corporate Welfare Revival, House Bill 5 (HB 5) Subject: Harmful History of Communism Curriculum, House Bill 2273 (HB 2273) Subject: Raising Pensions of Lawmakers, While Ignoring Taxpayers, House Bill 2779 (HB 2779) Subject: Anti-Free Enterprise, House Bill 3942 (HB 3942) Subject: Encouraging an Inequitable…