Texas lawmakers notched several high-profile conservative victories during the 2025 legislative session.
Record spending and limited property tax relief, however, earned many of them poor marks in new legislative ratings released exclusively to Texas Scorecard by the Club for Growth Foundation.
The group’s 2025 Texas State Economic Scorecard reviewed more than 6,000 floor votes and scored 40 key votes—20 in the House and 20 in the Senate—assigning lawmakers an “Economic Growth Score” from zero to 100 based on support for pro-growth policies.
While the foundation credited lawmakers for passing a major school choice expansion, permanently repealing the death tax, and reforming the state’s unemployment insurance system, it sharply criticized the Legislature for approving what it called historic overspending.
“In 2025, Texas emerged as a national leader in educational reform,” said Club for Growth Foundation President David McIntosh. “However, despite these milestones, lawmakers passed a $24 billion budgetary surplus and authorized a $338 billion biennium budget—the largest in state history—allocating substantial funding increases for Medicaid programs and energy subsidies while ignoring property tax relief.”
“Legislators must rein in spending to unleash economic growth for every Texan,” he added.
The average Republican senator earned a 57 percent rating, compared to just 14 percent for Senate Democrats. In the House, Republicans averaged 54 percent, while Democrats averaged 15 percent.
State Sen. Bob Hall received the highest Republican score in the Senate at 69 percent, while State Sen. Borris Miles was the highest-scoring Democrat at 23 percent. State Sen. Robert Nichols ranked lowest among Republicans at 37 percent, and Democrat State Sen. Nathan Johnson received a 5 percent rating.
In the House, Republican State Rep. Brian Harrison earned a 100 percent score, while State Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos was the highest-rated Democrat at 48 percent. Former Speaker Dade Phelan ranked last among Republicans with a 25 percent score, and Democrat State Reps. Erin Gamez and Trey Martinez Fischer received zero percent ratings.
The ratings highlighted several bills as pro-growth victories, including legislation to permanently prohibit a state death tax, establish a $1 billion education savings account program for low-income families, and tighten eligibility and verification requirements for unemployment benefits.
At the same time, the foundation pointed to massive education appropriations, a $13.7 billion supplemental spending package, and the $338 billion state budget as examples of what it described as fiscally irresponsible lawmaking that failed to deliver meaningful property tax relief despite a historic surplus.
The full House and Senate scorecard can be viewed here.
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