Texas Education 911 says parents were “left out” of the legislature’s school reform discussions.
State
Texas House Races Taking Shape
Part 3 of a three-part series: With just two weeks left before the candidate filing deadline, those vying for various state House elected positions find themselves in crowded electoral fields.
Texas Republicans Plan Election Integrity Strategy for 2022
“The only way we can deter issues is to have eyes, ears, and boots on the ground at every phase of the election process.”
Federal Court Blocks Texas Law Prohibiting Social Media Viewpoint Discrimination
The legislation, signed into law in September, was set to go into effect on Thursday.
Appeals Court Upholds Executive Order Banning Mask Mandates, While School Districts Ignore
Late yesterday, the appellate court overturned the “erroneous” ruling of a lower judge in Austin.
MOST RECENT
Abbott’s Latest Executive Order: No Mask Mandates in Public Schools
“Texans—not government—should decide their best health practices, which is why masks will not be mandated by public school districts or government entities.”
Bill to Protect Religious Displays at Home Passes Legislature
Supporters of the bill say it would further protect homeowners’ civil and religious liberties.
Legislative Priorities Tracker
An updated listing of where Republican and Democrat priorities are in the Texas Legislature.
Texas Senate Approves Another Bill to Outlaw Child Mutilation Procedures
As legislative time runs out, the fight to protect children now turns to the Texas House of Representatives.
Bill Directing Texas AG to Vet Voter Rolls Moves Closer to Abbott’s Desk
Texas GOP says Senate Bill 155 meets its election integrity policy goals of maintaining clean voter rolls and verifying voters’ citizenship.
Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Ban Gets ‘Massive Loophole’ in House Revision
The committee substitute that passed the House State Affairs Committee last week is curiously different from the version that passed the overall Senate.
Texans Waiting for Lawmakers to Deliver on Election Integrity
With just two weeks left for Texas lawmakers to pass legislation, here’s where the grassroots’ top-priority election integrity bills stand.
Texas House Republicans Refuse to Outlaw Child Mutilation Procedures
“I keep asking myself: Why do we have to work this hard to get our elected officials to protect children in this state?”
Pornography Amendment Stalls Rural Broadband Bill
The Senate removed a provision to prioritize internet providers that block internet pornography by default.
Democrat Lawmaker Censured by Democrats for Supporting Constitutional Carry
While most Texas Democrats have favored gun control, opponents argue criminals don’t follow the law or abide by the restrictions, which causes harm to law-abiding citizens.
ARCHIVE
Revenue Over Reform
There has been a great deal of Legislative attention focused on the hunt for new revenues, but almost none has been directed toward meaningful reform meant to avoid this type of shortfall in the future by limiting the state’s overspending.
Senate Can Get Budget Right
Budget hope is not lost in the Texas Senate. Indeed, resurgent conservatives in the upper chamber are pushing the right priorities. Now we’ll see if leadership will respond with the right numbers.
Swapping Taxes
It doesn’t violate the no-new-taxes pledge a majority of Republican House members took, but subscribers to satellite TV may not appreciate that distinction when their bill goes up if legislators adopt a tax-swap proposal on Tuesday. On the other hand, small-business owners will be pleased.
Retiring Advice from TDA?
Recently, The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) has begun telling folks where they should live and when they retire, but the question is why?
Back-Stopping the Budget?
With the Texas Senate poised to pass a budget that lives beyond the taxpayers’ means, the left is howling that the Republican-controlled body isn’t driving Texas fast-enough off a big-enough cliff. Unfortunately, the GOP budget response may not be much better.
Mapping the House
Usually, it’s voters who decide who’ll represent them, but once a decade legislators decided on the boundaries of their House districts. While necessary to align districts for population shifts, very often the drawing also serves to punish foes and reward allies. The map House members will start on this week is no different.
Exercise In Irresponsibility
The Senate Finance Committee took the easy way out in crafting a budget that exceeds the taxpayers’ means. Rather than prioritize spending within available revenues, the committee is choosing to tap the rainy day fund and use other one-time revenue sources to pay for ongoing expenses.
Line Item Limbo
Commonsense, bi-partisan measures have been presented that would clarify the budget writing and reporting process, providing much needed transparency to a Texas budgetary format marked by a quagmire of confusion.
No Spending Limits
Conservatives of all stripes agree on the need to limit the unchecked growth of government, and a year that has lawmakers tightening the state’s belt anyway seems like a good time to champion such commonsense, pro-taxpayer legislation. Yet, House leaders are not.
Senate’s Business-Killer
In what might one day be a textbook example of how to ruin a comparably prosperous state’s economy, the Texas Senate could be considering a business income tax in the very near future. Taking such a reckless action amounts to political and economic suicide.