The Latest
Orlando Salinas Ran for School Board, Then the School Police Came for Him
The ongoing saga of controversy continues at Round Rock ISD.
‘Final Straw’: Elon Musk Moving SpaceX to Texas After California Passes Anti-parent Law
The tech billionaire has confirmed that social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, will also be moving to Texas.
Rep. Toth Presses Democrat Chair for Clarity on Prison Costs for Illegal Aliens
Abel Herrero is among the Democrat chairmen appointed by House Speaker Dade Phelan.
State Investigation Found Law Breaking by Round Rock ISD Police
Investigative report raises questions of who is holding the school’s police accountable.
The Archive
Taxpayers vs. Spending Addicts in Abilene
The Abilene Reporter-News has a revealing piece today discussing how Abilene taxpayers support revenue and appraisal caps while local officials are frightened by the prospect. The most eye-opening quote is:Taylor County Commissioner Chuck Statler likened the...
That big pile of money..
That big pile of money belongs to Texas' taxpayers. That legislators aren't falling all over themselves leading into the session to return it completely to the taxpayers is more than a little disappointing. By spending the surplus, they will be taxing us again, and...
It’s Wait and See at the LBB – At Least Fix the Cap Before Busting It, If You Must
The Legislative Budget Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 4 has been postponed to Thursday, January 11, apparently to give legislative leaders more time to chat with members about the setting of the spending limitation pursuant to the Constitution. TFR...
Tax cuts ain’t spending!
State Senator Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) got it right in today's Dallas Morning News when he said, "I don't think the spending cap was designed to prevent tax cuts." What spending cap? The so-loose-as-to-be-non-existent cap added to the state constitution back in 1978...
Texas Has 9th Highest Property Tax Burden
Texas Taxpayer Funded Lobbying & Blogging
The Galveston Daily News reported this month that the board of the Galveston Independent School District voted to pay the Austin consulting firm Moak, Casey & Associates up to $15,000 to lobby the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on their behalf. The specific...
Carole’s Campaign Cadre
The Beaumont Enterprise is reporting that outgoing-Comptroller Carole Keeten-Strayhorn has in her waning days in office hired on campaign staff and added employees. Cost to taxpayers? $40,000, for two months of work. For work that apparently wasn't needed while she...
National Report Finds Texas Has Some of the Nation’s Highest Property Taxes
The Tax Foundation has released a new report with some bad news for Texas taxpayers that many probably already knew all too well. The report, which focuses on property taxes across the nation, found that Texas has the ninth highest property taxes of the 50 states as...
Merry Christmas: Hand over your money
Economist Stuart Greenfield opined in the subscription-based Quorum Report this week that while Texans are incredibly more generous individuals than others in the country (that part is right), our public policies keep the "state" from being as generous as the people...