Alexis Nungaray, mother of murdered 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, spoke in favor of a proposed constitutional amendment to deny bail to certain illegals.
State
Texas Schools Suffer Academic Decline
National assessment shows falling test scores at four of Texas’ largest school districts.
Child Trafficking: An Open-border Effect
“Texas has just as big a problem with child trafficking as any of the other states, maybe more now that the border is down and there’s this massive flood.”
Sara Gonzales Reveals the Agenda of the Twisted Left
“If you can get them young, you can control their minds.”
H-E-B’s Charles Butt Endorses Democrat for Land Commissioner
Far from being a moderate, Kleberg has echoed the liberal positions espoused by the Democrat Party.
MOST RECENT
Gohmert ‘Exploring’ a Run for Texas Attorney General
This makes the congressman the fourth challenger to incumbent Ken Paxton.
Texas A&M Reportedly Implementing Vaccine Requirements for Some Employees
The multi-campus university system employs roughly 15,000 staff and faculty, many of whom will be required to vaccinate.
Abbott Asks Agencies to Address Pornographic Material in Public School Libraries
He directed the SBOE, TEA, and TSLAC to come up with statewide standards to prevent the presence of pornography and obscene material in public schools.
U.S. Reopens Mexican Border to Vaccinated Travelers
Despite the unknown vaccination status of illegal aliens pouring across the border, travelers with legal visas will have to present their vaccination card for entry.
Federal Panel Halts OSHA Vaccine Rule Pending Lawsuit
The U.S. Court of Appeals in the 5th Circuit granted an emergency stay after several petitioners, including Texas, filed for review.
Grassroots Organizations Sue Texas Secretary of State Over Debt-Raising Proposition
The lawsuit alleges that the ballot language was substantially misleading due to an omission of the phrase “ad valorem tax increases.”
Ken Paxton Continues Taking Vaccine Fight to the Courts
Attorney General Ken Paxton leads a coalition of states and companies in filing suit against the Biden administration for “unconstitutional” vaccine mandates.
Allen West Holds Press Conference With Frontline Doctors on COVID-19 Vaccines
Allen West and America’s Frontline Doctors tout early-intervention COVID-19 treatments over mandated vaccines.
Wet Weather Doesn’t Stop Texans From Protesting Vaccine Mandates
More than 100 patriots rallied in the November rain to defend medical freedom outside Lockheed Martin.
John Frullo Flees Texas House as Retirements Stack Up
First elected in 2010, Frullo quickly cemented himself on the liberal wing of the Republican Party.
ARCHIVE
Rep. Paxton Files Amendment to Allow Governor to Reduce Wasteful Spending
Today, State Rep. Ken Paxton filed a proposed constitutional amendment (House Joint Resolution 46) that would give the Governor authority to cut wasteful spending in the budget. Currently, the Constitution allows the Governor to exercise a line item veto over individual budget items.
Taxpayers urged to contact lawmakers
AUSTIN, Texas – More than 29,000 households in eight senatorial districts are receiving mail about the importance returning Texas’ record budget surplus to taxpayers. The president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility said taxpayers deserve to see further tax relief at the top of the Legislature’s priorities.
“There are many in Austin arguing that programs, agencies and bureaucracies ‘deserve’ those funds first, with taxpayers lucky to get any leftovers,†said Michael Quinn Sullivan. “Too often the voices of hard-working Texans are drowned out by the shrill demands of special interests seeking more from the taxpayers’ wallet.â€
Rep. Hughes Files Bill to Shine the Light on State Agency Expenditures
Today, State Rep. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) filed House Bill 640 to require all state agencies to post a list of their expenditures online. The bill states:
Each state agency that maintains a generally accessible Internet site or for which a generally accessible Internet site is maintained shall post on the site all expenditures made by the agency. The posting must include the purpose for which each expenditure is made.
We applaud Rep. Hughes for filing this legislation, which was also part of Governor Rick Perry’s budget reform proposal. It is also important that each agency categorize and post expenditures in one, easy-to-understand format. Comptroller Susan Combs has expressed interest in working with the various state agencies to bring about a day when all agencies use the same codes to classify expenditures. This will foster efficiencies in administering and auditing programs that involve multiple state agencies.
It Stinks for Texans Sued by Their Appraisal District for Contesting Their Appraisals
The Houston C
hronicle has a disturbing piece about some Wharton County property taxpayers who find themselves as defendants in a lawsuit filed by their appraisal district after they successfully obtained reductions from the Appraisal Review Board (ARB). The chief of their appraisal district disagrees with the reductions made by the very people she appointed to the ARB so now she is hauling these taxpayers into district court, forcing them to incur legal fees in the process.
Governor Perry declares emergency on tax relief
 AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Governor Rick Perry today issued an emergency declaration on the issue of tax relief. Â
The president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Michael Quinn Sullivan, said lawmakers should view tax relief as their highest priority this session.Â
Conservative Leaders: Return the Surplus!
Leaders of seven conservative organizations today called on legislators to "return the certified surplus to Texas taxpayers."
Earlier this week the state's new Comptroller, Susan Combs, certified for legislative use a $14.3 billion surplus.
Signing the letters are the heads of: Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Texas Conservative Coaltion Research Institute, Texas Public Policy Foundation, National Federation of Independent Business, Free Market Foundation, Americans for Prosperity — Texas, and the Young Conservatives of Texas.
Return Surplus To The Taxpayer
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs today officially certified the state’s surplus at $14.3 billion. The president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Michael Quinn Sullivan, offered the following statement:
Remember the Taxpayer!
In responding to the official revenue estimate issued by Comptroller Susan Combs, Gov. Perry said, “This surplus should reinforce our commitment to the principles and policies that helped create it. State leaders must continue to be fiscally disciplined, we must continue to set clear but limited priorities, and we must remember that every expenditure affects not only those who receive a government service, but also the taxpayers who pay for it.â€
That big pile of money..
That big pile of money belongs to Texas’ taxpayers. That legislators aren’t falling all over themselves leading into the session to return it completely to the taxpayers is more than a little disappointing. By spending the surplus, they will be taxing us again, and again. Hear the song (mp3)…
It’s Wait and See at the LBB – At Least Fix the Cap Before Busting It, If You Must
The Legislative Budget Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 4 has been postponed to Thursday, January 11, apparently to give legislative leaders more time to chat with members about the setting of the spending limitation pursuant to the Constitution. TFR has aske
d the LBB to use growth in gross state product (GSP) instead of growth in personal incomes when setting this cap in a letter that was included in our previous post on this subject.Â