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The Latest Texas News
School District Police Chief: Sex Abuse Investigation ‘Far From Done’
Newman International Academy Police Chief Matthew Antkowiak said the charter school “will not place reputation over the safety of students.”
Lawmaker Proposes Security Council for Top-Tier Research Universities
With Texas now home to the most Tier 1 research institutions in the country, one lawmaker seeks to strengthen research security.
Attorney General Paxton Launches Investigation Into Chinese AI App
Paxton expressed concerns that artificial intelligence company DeepSeek could be violating the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act.
Harris County DA Drops Charges Against 8 Former Officers in Harding Street Raid Case
DA Sean Teare cited a lack of sufficient evidence to secure convictions.
The Archive
Crony Capitalist Companion Completed
There are a lot of scorecards grading lawmakers on how they performed in Austin. Some of them, such as TFR’s Fiscal Responsibility Index, provide an honest look at lawmakers’ voting records. We tell the public in advance our principles and priorities and which votes...
North Texas Cities: Top 20 Largest Bureaucracies
The Metroplex Bureau of Empower Texans has uncovered an enormous inconsistency among the sizes of municipal bureaucracies across North Texas, with the largest cities in this category having more than twice the total number of employees per resident, when compared to...
Byron’s Very Bad, No Good Session
Certain perks are supposed to come with being one of the most powerful members of the Texas House – most notably, passing your district’s legislative priorities. Yet on that count, State Rep. Byron Cook of Corsicana failed his constituents miserably. Only one measure...
Matt Stringer: A Diamond in the Rough for Liberty
Born in Odessa, raised in the beautiful Fort Davis area, and once again claiming Odessa as home, Matt Stringer is a proud West Texan and liberty advocate whose passion for politics began quite organically. By trade, he is a professional bench jeweler and helps his...
Conservative Legislation Scrapped into “Flaming Bags of Junk”
Though much of House Speaker Joe Straus’ Texas Tribune interview this week centered on a whopper of a lie concerning the death of union dues legislation, it also featured a Jason Villalba-esque admission of guilt concerning the defeat of other bills. As previously...
North Texas Cities: Top 20 Highest Spenders
Complexity is the enemy of transparency. Unfortunately for Texans seeking to hold their local governments accountable on fiscal issues, local budgets, and financial statements are hopelessly complex. For example, the City of Irving’s annual budget is over 490 pages,...
Houston Reforms
With the first three Houston mayoral debates completed, campaign rhetoric revolving around municipal reforms is heating up. Two ideas in particular warrant a deeper look—one directed at Houston’s crime lab known as the Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC), and...
Taking Credit for Gutting Tax Cuts
House Republicans are retrospectively arriving at a sweeping consensus—not enough was done to curb property tax increases. But if members supporting the coalition government of liberal House Republicans and Democrats had their way, Texans would pay even more. That’s...
Straus’ Revisionist History
In a recent interview, liberal House Speaker Joe Straus was asked to respond to allegations from many, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, that conservative bills went to House Calendars only to die without a vote. Citing the example of SB 1968 by State Sen. Joan Huffman...