Betting on Gov. Greg Abbott reneging on his pledge to Texans to hold lawmakers accountable for obstructing his agenda, the Texas House fast tracked and gave initial approval to a bill that he explicitly told them not to pass. House Bill 7 by State Rep. Dade Phelan...
A quick visit to the Texas Capitol yielded some interesting news today, with lawmakers saying that House Speaker Joe Straus’ key lieutenants are whipping Republicans against the special session agenda of the governor. Specifically, State Reps. Chris Paddie (R-Center)...
Imagine Bill. Bill has a home on the outskirts of Austin proper. He would like to cut down a tree that’s grown over the 40 years he’s lived in his house because it’s damaging the foundation, creating cracks in the walls, causing leaks, and sinking the value of his...
Late Tuesday night the Texas Senate passed a union dues reform bill which would remove government from the process of collecting and paying out public employee union dues. The 19-12 passage came after over two hours on the Senate floor and a four-hour committee...
Several democrat-controlled states are on the brink of financial disaster. With Illinois narrowly averting a budgetary crisis and junk-bond rating, several other states like New Jersey and Massachusetts are experiencing the predictable result of years of fiscal...
The Republican Party Platform was voted on by Texans, from all over the state, at the Republican Convention. Of all of the issues discussed, the top priority of Texans was the passage of “Constitutional Carry,” changing state law such that all law-abiding Texans could...
According to voting records, a Houston energy lawyer seeking to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz in next year’s Republican primary was a registered Democrat in New York. The 36-year-old Stefano de Stefano told the Houston Chronicle that he registered as a Democrat for...
Local property taxes and debt levels are reaching the breaking point in Texas, and both Gov. Greg Abbott and lawmakers are taking note. Today, approximately 41 states impose some form of tax and expenditure limit on their political subdivisions. However, while...
A Travis County District Court has issued a temporary injunction pending trial against State Rep. Byron Cook (R–Corsicana) preventing him from obstructing citizens wishing to film meetings of the House State Affairs Committee he chairs. Earlier this month Amy Hedtke...
Gov. Greg Abbott’s office is disputing allegations made by a Capitol gossip blog associated with House Speaker Joe Straus that he does not expect all twenty items on his agenda to pass during the special session. On Monday, Abbott met with Texas House Republican...
There’s a huge gap between the Texas media’s view of proposed privacy legislation and the views of the majority of Texans. A recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll showed that—after weeks of negative news reports filled with predictions of a statewide economic...
Taking activism to new heights, a Montgomery County group of activists calling themselves the Citizens Budget Committee teamed up to comb through county finances and create a fiscally conservative budget for proposal to county commissioners. The budget report was...
At a recent Senate hearing, taxpayers overwhelming supported an overhaul of Texas’ property tax system, including requirements that governments obtain voter approval to significantly raise taxes. While numerous city and county officials remain opposed to the bill, it...
On Sunday, the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs met to consider SB 6, a reform to current annexation policy and one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s twenty named agenda items for the special session. Currently, property owners have little recourse should they find...
After dying at the hands of House Speaker Joe Straus and State Rep. Byron Cook during the regular session, legislation to eliminate the government collection of union dues got a second chance when placed on Gov. Greg Abbott’s special session call. On Sunday afternoon...
One of Gov. Greg Abbott’s priority reforms for the special legislative session – cracking down on mail-in ballot fraud – sailed through a Texas Senate committee hearing on Sunday and is on its way to the full chamber for a vote. Senate Bill 5 authored by State Sen....
Less than a week into the special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Texas Senate are advancing privacy legislation similar to the proposal that House Speaker Joe Straus and his allies killed at the end of the regular session. On Friday,...
In a marathon hearing on Saturday, the Texas Senate Committee on Business & Commerce heard testimony and voted on several items of legislation intended to scale back the growing “patchwork quilt” of regulations being installed at the local level. Since he was...
Dallas’ financially struggling school bus bureaucracy got a temporary reprieve this week with a short-term loan to help cover operating expenses through the end of the year. But the tax-subsidized agency needs more than money to stay open. Dallas County Schools needs...
