What did your state lawmakers, particularly those from Central Texas, do with all the hard-earned cash you were forced to pay them? Enter the 2019 Fiscal Responsibility Index.

The Index makes it easy for citizens to see how responsible state lawmakers were with taxpayers’ money; rating votes on fiscal and role-of-government issues ranging from property tax relief to preventing busybody bureaucrats from criminalizing children’s lemonade stands.

This year’s Index was the most extensive yet, rating 170 votes in the Texas House and 149 in the Senate. The Index publicly released pro-taxpayer positions on every issue, as well as the grading methodology, before lawmakers cast any votes.

How responsible were Central Texas lawmakers?

The vast majority of them supported taking more of citizens’ money and spending it wildly. Here were a few noteworthy lawmakers:

Democrat State Sens. Kirk Watson and Judith Zaffirini, whose districts encompass most of Austin and even down to Laredo, both earned a dreadful 36 percent—far below even an “F” grade.

Even worse, freshmen State Reps. John Bucy III and James Talarico, Democrats representing the Cedar Park and Round Rock areas, voted against citizens so much they both scored a pathetic 24 percent.

Still more, all six Austin-area Travis County House representatives, all Democrats, tried their best to not even make the chart, only earning a 23 percent or below.

Type in your address on the map below to locate your state lawmakers and see how they scored. It’s up to you to decide whether they deserve to be praised and re-elected, or rebuked and fired.

It’s your money they’re using, after all.

Jacob Asmussen

Jacob Asmussen is a Senior Journalist for Texas Scorecard. He attended the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and in 2017 earned a double major in public relations and piano performance.

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