Bone is challenging State Board of Education Member Tom Maynard in the Republican primary.
State
President Biden’s FEMA Denies Texas Emergency Aid for Border Expenses
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell rejected Gov. Abbott’s appeal for emergency aid.
Dan Huberty, An Obstacle to Conservative Reform, Not Seeking Re-election to Texas House
Huberty’s announcement makes for one of at least 14 lawmakers not returning to the Texas House of Representatives next cycle.
Texas Lawmaker Says Vaccine Mandate Ban Has ‘No Support’ From Gov. Greg Abbott
“If the Governor was sincere we would have placed it on the call day one …”
Supreme Court Moving Quickly on Texas Heartbeat Act
The legal battle continues to heat up as SCOTUS agrees to hear arguments in early November.
MOST RECENT
Reform Protecting ‘Non-Offending Parents’ From CPS Moves Forward
State Rep. James Frank (R–Wichita Falls) says the average child CPS takes action on is stuck in the system for 21 months.
Public Education Committee Set to Legislate Feelings in Schools
Two bills to be heard this week will look at diversity, equity, digital citizenship, and defining hate speech.
Texas Senate Bans Citizens Wearing Pro-Life Attire
“The actions we’ve seen here are an egregious attack on free speech rights.”
Paxton: Schools Can’t Exclude Unvaccinated Students
Texans for Vaccine Choice praised the attorney general’s opinion on medical freedom.
Senate Abruptly Passes Electrical Pricing Bill in Just Hours
In a matter of hours, the Senate not only had a bill filed after the normal filing deadline but saw it shepherded through the legislative process in the Senate.
Texas Governor Endorses Election Integrity Reforms
“Election fraud is unacceptable, and that’s exactly why I made it an emergency item this session.”
Which Chairmen Will Be Responsible for GOP Legislative Priorities?
A breakdown of the committees and potential prospects for GOP priorities moving forward.
Abbott and Patrick Butt Heads Over Solution to High Electrical Pricing
“As a former Texas Supreme Court Justice and former Attorney General, I agree with the position of the PUC Chair about his inability to take the action you requested.” — Gov. Greg Abbott
Texas Lawmakers File Major Election Integrity Bills
Election integrity is a top legislative priority for the Texas GOP and the only one also designated an emergency item by Gov. Abbott.
Senators Rally to Stop Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying in Local Governments
Last session, legislation to end taxpayer-funded lobbying successfully passed the Senate before being voted down in the House.
ARCHIVE
Energy Taxes Today Hurt Us Tomorrow
Energy Taxes Today Hurt Us Tomorrow
What do you do when the price of an essential commodity has risen so high that it fuels inflation, devastates family budgets and threatens the economy? Obviously, you raise taxes on it, causing its price to go up even more!
At least, that’s what you do if the commodity is energy and you’re a politician.
Advertising Government
When government resorts to advertising its programs and services, that’s a sure sign government has gotten just a little too big.Â
Texas bureaucrats spend millions every year advertising the Children’s Health Insurance Program and other welfare assistance activities. They literally beg people to feed at the government trough.Â
Texas School Districts Plotting Property Tax Rate Increases
The San Antonio Express-News reports that numerous school districts in San 
Antonio and around the state are preparing to ask their voters to approve tax rate increases. One such district is San Antonio ISD which is on the verge of seeking a tax rate increase even though its superintendent admits it "has been running inefficiently, with one-third of its available facility space going unused."Â
State Rep. Tells Court: I Know Nothing
In what is either a rare act of political honesty or an unbelievable admission of dereliction of duty, or both, State Rep. Fred Hill (R-Richardson) swore under oath that he doesn’t know anything about the state’s existing spending limit.
Odd, considering he has served for years on the extremely powerful Legislative Budget Board – the 10 appointed members of which are specifically charged by the Legislature to “Adopt a constitutional spending limit.†In fact, that is the first responsibility listed on the LBB web site!
“I do not have any involvement in the development or calculation of the State spending limit,†swore Mr. Hill on August 7, 2007.  (Taxpayers and voters would be excused if they break into a little swearing of their own at this point.)
Lawmaker Math
You might recall a few weeks ago I noted that the Legislature’s new $3 billion-over-10-year cancer fund was probably not going to accomplish much more than spend a lot of your money. Not my opinion, but that of scientists actually in the field. "(T)he question is how to get the best bang for your buck. I don't think that's done by politicizing diseases and putting them on the ballot," said the chief of staff at Ben Taub Hospital.
School Tax Scam
Here’s a nice little scam floating around school districts: claiming credit for cutting taxes when they haven’t.
Bad Tax Ideas Never Go Away
Fighting tax-and-spendoholics is like playing Wack-A-Mole at the arcade. You knock them down, only to find they pop right back up. The lesson? We have to move faster and hit harder.
Last legislative session, taxpayers were successful in stopping tax-and-spendoholics from increasing the taxes to fund further boondoggle spending on more light-rail and other mass transit pork (the only thing “mass†is the cost – mass transit fails to actually relieve congestion, dollar for dollar). But, hey, those trains are fun at Disney World…
Road Taxes Should Fund Roads? What A Crazy Idea…
State Sen. John Carona says in today’s Dallas Morning News that Texas must “stop the diversion of gas tax funds for other uses.†That’s welcome news. While the state’s constitution currently requires transportation funds to be used for transportation expenses, “transportation†is a constantly-expending term.
According to the Morning News, almost a third of Texas’ gasoline tax revenues for transportation have been “diverted†away from true transportation projects.
Privatization Serves Taxpayers Even When Contractors Fail
Advocates of big government rarely let facts get in the way of their pursuit of growing budgets. Such is the case with Waco Tribune-Herald editor John Young, whose weekly column is very often devoted to the worship of government (of the activist variety) and the damnation of conservative, free market principles.