The Latest
Texas A&M Interim President Says Board of Regents Won’t Determine New Hires
Following backlash against A&M’s attempt to hire a DEI proponent, the new interim president says DEI has been ‘weaponized’ and regents won’t determine hiring decisions.
Taxpayer-funded Institutions Participate in Austin LGBT Parade
The parade featured Austin ISD and the Austin Police Department, as well as being sponsored by the University of Texas’ Division of Diversity and Community Engagement.
S&P Global Ends ESG Credit Ratings Following AG Investigation
Texas’ Office of the Attorney General joined a coalition of states in investigating S&P Global’s use of ESG factors in its credit rating analysis.
Amarillo College President Eyeing Job in Austin
Austin Community College has named him the sole finalist to become chancellor of the school.
The Archive
Villalba: GOP Will Warm to Obamacare
While U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott made unraveling Obamacare central to their 2012 activities, a freshman Republican state representative from Dallas described opposition as "posturing" and says his party—and Gov. Rick Perry—will be more...
House (Speaker) Rules
Conservatives looking for a decentralization of the House Speaker’s power are likely feeling empty-handed by today’s rules changes. The few positive changes were overshadowed by what some are describing as a defeat for conservatives seeking to decentralize power from...
Legislative Games?
Could someone author, co-author, sponsor or co-sponsor legislation only to try to kill it quietly? That’s the claim made on the House floor today by a senior Democratic lawmaker. During debate on the House Rules, State Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) introduced an...
Tax Branch of GOP
While Texas' governor and lieutenant governor have been talking about cutting taxes this session, one of the House Speaker's key lieutenants is throwing cold water on the idea. He says lawmakers should be focused more on spending the state's newfound revenues. This is...
Tax Rules
While the rules and procedures of a legislative body can be sleep-inducing, their impact on the legislative process cannot be overstated. In the coming days, the Texas House will be debating the rules under which they will operate during the 83rd session. Three...
Bad-Tax Bill
Texas' tax on business is inefficient, burdensome and complicated, and brings in very little in the way of revenues. While conservatives want the tax eliminated or vastly reformed, the Texas Association of Business wants to keep it like it is. Problem is the tax is...
Grinding Taxpayers’ Gears
The Circuit of the America’s racetrack, who recently hosted the largest sporting event in Austin history, is poised to get even more preferential treatment from the government—this time from the infamous Fiscal Cliff deal recently passed by Congress. Thanks to a...
Congressional GOP Weaselship
While I expected nothing less from lame-duck tax-and-spender Kay Bailey Hutchison, Sen. John Cornyn's decision to vote for a tax hike on 77 percent of American households is like a kick in the gut. (The Texas delegation votes are found in Update 2, below.) All those...
Cliff? Behold Obama’s Fiscal Tsunami
With all the "fiscal cliff" talk, it seems like everyone has forgotten about the tsunami scheduled to hit our economy tomorrow: the $1 trillion Obamacare Tax. Well, not everyone. The helpful folks at Americans for Tax Reform have a list of just some of the the new...