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Houston City Council Member Calls for Amendment to Firefighter Labor Contract
A controversial rule in the agreement has come under scrutiny following suggestions that it benefits abusers rather than victims of misconduct.

Tarrant County Commissioners Request State Funds for Mental Health Facility
County officials have suggested using the funds to build a state mental health facility, expand an existing facility, or partner with a private facility.

State Rep. Troxclair Pens Letter in Support of Reform Speaker Candidate
Troxclair called the Republican caucus “fractured” and praised David Cook for making “great strides to rebuild trust among members of our caucus.”

Platform Administering China’s Lottery Has Ties to Texas Lottery
While Texas works to distance itself from the Chinese Communist Party, gambling apps tie the two together.
The Archive
Where There is a Hill, Is There a Way for Taxpayers?
The Texas House Local Government Ways and Means Committee chaired by State Rep. Fred Hill (R-Richardson) has released its interim report. News coverage of the report has centered on its opposition to appraisal caps, which was hardly surprising since Chairman Hill...
Advocates for Big Government: Paid for by… your taxes!
Roddy Stinson, a columnist at the San Antonio Express-News, has hit the nail on the head with a piece in today's paper. He correctly describes the response of local governments to the idea of slowing down the amount of money they can grab as "Weeping, wailing and...
Sen. Carona would rather do the wrong thing… on taxes?
State Senator John Carona (R-Dallas) is quoted by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as saying that he'd rather "something wrong than do nothing." The sad thing is that in this case, the "wrong thing" he'd rather do is raise local taxes to pay for more wasteful mass transit...
Killing the Business Tax…
 When Texas lawmakers instituted the “gross margins†business tax, it is a safe bet they didn’t expect trail-lawyer-extraordinaire Mark Lanier to sue them over it. But that’s exactly what he’s planning on doing, according to today’s Houston Chronicle. ...
Houston Chronicle notes TFR
The Houston Chronicle's Janet Elliott noted in her blog this week the creation of TFR.December 05, 2006Too much of a good thingReturning the state budget surplus to taxpayers will be job one for a newly formed advocacy group. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility,...
Return the Surplus
Howard About That! Legislator Files Bill to Fix Spending Limitation
As we reported earlier on this blog, we have urged the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) to adopt growth in gross state product instead of total personal incomes as the index for measuring growth in the state's economy for purposes of calculating the constitutional...
DallasBlog notes TFR’s launch
DallasBlog.com contributor (and editor of the Lone Star Report) Will Lutz noted the formation of TFR in a posting this morning. You can read his post here. TEXANS FOR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY FORMED Michael Quinn Sullivan, formerly vice president of the Texas Public...
Austin American-Statesman notes TFR formation
On the "Postcards from the Lege" section of the Statesman's website, reporter Mike Ward noted the formation of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. Check out his actual posting here. Fiscal policy watchdog formsBy Mike Ward | Tuesday, December 5, 2006,...