Being a political novice, I didn’t know that assigning House committees would take this long, but then again, there are 37 freshmen in the Texas House. Things were already going well in Texas when Republicans achieved a supermajority in the House with 101 members out of 150, but things just got better with the announcement of committees.

While most everyone in Texas was freezing last week, Governor Rick Perry was in California to celebrate President Ronald Reagan’s centennial in addition to promoting Texas’ friendly business environment. Texas Democrats, however, were not amused. For some reason, liberals feel that governors need to always be here in the state holding our hands when something suddenly goes wrong.

At first blush, House Speaker Joe Straus’ new committee chairs indicate he heard the message voters sent in November — welcome news for taxpayers. Perhaps the biggest win is seeing liberal Rene Oliveira removed from the Ways & Means chairmanship, replaced by Taxpayer Pledge signer Harvey Hilderbran.

Does your home budget-making process begin with the question, “how much should I take out of savings this month?” – Didn’t think so… But apparently, it’s a common starting point for some in the Texas legislature faced with making tough budget decisions.

In his ‘State of the State’ address before the Legislature, Texas Gov. Rick Perry stuck to his very prudent guns by urging passage of a budget balanced by spending cuts, and free from tax increases. “Texas,” he said, “is still the envy of the nation.” A boast-free fact if ever there was one!

With the Texas Senate moving at a speedy clip, property rights are the primary focus this week. But will property rights actually be protected by Senate Bill 18? It needs work.

Legislators working to reduce spending have strong re-election support from voters in both parties, while tax-hikers are strongly opposed. The results underscore November’s election, in which voters demanded fiscal responsibility.

Texas voters say that raising taxes and increasing government spending will harm job growth, and they want lawmakers to tackle reforms in government spending. Strong support for spending reform, instead of taxes, extends even to Medicaid.

State Rep. Joe Driver today committed to stand for Texas’ taxpayers and resist any effort to raise taxes this legislative session.