The Latest
2 Texas House District Recounts Complete
Recounts initiated in House Districts 17 and 64 did not change the election night winners but showed the election system at work.
Texas Attorney General Hosts Press Conference on Ravaging Wildfires
“My office is going to be involved in this project however we can, for a long time.”
Seizing Opportunities… Or Squandering Them
You and I must decide what we will do to make Texas count, and ensure the Lone Star State continues as a force for good influencing the world.
Round Rock ISD Board Reinstates Scandal-ridden Superintendent
“I’ll just say that for me to vote for this would require the willing suspension of disbelief. I will be voting no.”
The Archive
Lower State Taxes & Spending Equal Less Poverty, Rising Tide Lifts All Boats
A recent study by the Goldwater Institute has demonstrated that low-tax and low-spending states are more successful at reducing poverty than their high-tax, high-spending counterparts. As President Reagan noted, a rising tide lifts all boats.The 10 states with the...
How much to keep Hollywood away?
The Austin American Statesman is calling on lawmakers to enact a slush fund that would attract more Hollywood liberals to Texas. What's not to love about that? They are particularly appalled by the idea that Friday Night Lights (a low-rated show about Texas high...
Busting the Cap for Tax Relief
February 19, 2007 Dear Members of the Texas House: For the sake of taxpayers, you and your colleagues should vote to bust the state’s spending cap. It is the opinion of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility that this is the only way Texans can be assured of receiving...
Senator Nichols Stands Up for Homeowners
The Athens Review (Texas not Greece) reported today that Senator Robert Nichols, a Republican freshman representing Northeast Texas, has filed two bills to benefit homeowners. First, SB575 would cap appraisal increases at 5 percent for homeowners, though it would...
Bust the spending cap
Sullivan tells lawmakers: It’s okay to bust the cap for tax relief
Texas Senators today voted to bust the current spending cap so as to provide more property tax relief with the surplus than they might have otherwise. Before their vote, Michael Quinn Sullivan sent the following letter. February 14, 2007 Dear Members of the Texas...
Shenandoah Texas May Set Record for Per Capita Cost of Taxpayer-Funded Lobbyists
The Houston Chronicle recently reported that the town of Shenandoah Texas has hired taxpayer-funded lobbyists for $30,000 this session. At first blush, this is not shocking since our friends at Americans for Prosperity-Texas have estimated that governmental entities...
Taxpayers Deserve to be Paid Back
Corpus Christi's KRIS television reported this week that the Nueces County Hospital District is asking the Legislature to pass a bill that will allow them to recover money on behalf of taxpayers when those who receive "indigent" care later receive an insurance...
Governor promotes taxpayer protection
AUSTIN, Texas – In his State of the State Address, Texas Governor Rick Perry today proposed a strong new constitutional protection for the state’s taxpayers. The measure would limit the growth in state spending to a rolling, three-year average of inflation and...