The Latest
Feminist Media Critic to Depart UT-Austin Over DEI Ban
UT Professor Jennifer McClearen also took aim at the state’s lack of COVID restrictions.
Allen High School Resource Officer Speaks Out on Fentanyl-Related Overdoses
Matthew Johnson administered the lifesaving drug Narcan three times this year to students who overdosed.
Huffman ISD Accuses AG’s Office of Election Interference in Response to Electioneering Lawsuit
The district is under fire for a leaked recording of Superintendent Benny Soileau encouraging staff to support anti-school choice Republicans.
Houston ISD Expected to Seek Multibillion Dollar Bond
While the district hasn’t said how much a proposed bond would cost, a local paper reported that a recent estimate was for between $3.5 and $5 billion.
The Archive
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...
Gov. Perry Readies a Christmas Present for College Students and an Accountability Lesson for Higher Ed
How do Texas college students know their tuition money and the share of taxes their parents paid that go towards higher education are actually used for expenditures that enhance the education they receive? Unfortunately, they don't because the state's higher...