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Is Abbott Abandoning Property Tax Relief?

Since his first gubernatorial campaign in 2014, Greg Abbott has made bold promises on property tax reform and relief. He, and almost every other Texas Republican over the past quarter century, has come up short on actually delivering on them. Without bold action, this...

Texas Elections Director Answers Lawmakers’ Voter List Questions

Texas’ head of elections answered questions from state lawmakers Monday, mostly about recent efforts to identify and remove noncitizens wrongly added to county voter rolls throughout the state. State Rep. Stephanie Klick (R–Fort Worth) invited Keith Ingram, Director...

Democrat Carlos Uresti Headed to Federal Prison

Almost a year after being found guilty, former Democrat State Sen. Carlos Uresti (San Antonio) is finally heading to federal prison. On Tuesday, a federal judge found Uresti guilty of bribery in addition to the money laundering and fraud charges he was found guilty of...

Red-Light Camera Ban Filed in House

In the months preceding the November 6, 2018 general election, Republicans and Democrats alike placed banning red-light cameras front and center on the campaign trail, a move that received much praise from voters. So much so, in fact, that Gov. Greg Abbott took the...

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Commentary: Texans Want Property Tax Reform

Here’s a not-very-shocking fact: Every person who testified against the property tax reform bill (Senate Bill 2) on Tuesday, Feb. 5 was either an elected official with a taxing entity (including mayors and county officials), a city or county employee (fire and police...

Senate Property Tax Committee Adds “Opt-In” to Senate Bill 2

In their second meeting as a committee, State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston) and the four other members of the Texas Senate Property Tax Committee  adopted an opt-in provision for small taxing units in Senate Bill 2: the Senate version of the “Big...

Texas Must Increase Online College Degree Programs

Texas is falling behind with regard to college education. Other states – Florida and Indiana among them – are introducing innovative steps in the area of online college education, while Texas sits idly by and does little, if anything at all. In the 2019 Legislative...

Property Tax Reform Bill Empowers People over Politicians

The property tax reform legislation will improve the tax system so it better serves taxpayers, not local politicians. Perhaps this is why so many local officials are opposing it. By requiring voter approval for city, county, and school district tax hikes, Texans will...