State

State Archive

A Progressive Agenda?

Did you vote for a “progressive” agenda in 2014? Did Texans support the progressives, like the candidates of Progress Texas and Battleground Texas? Of course not. Texans soundly rejected the progressive agenda of the Texas left. Well, not all Texas Republican...

Stage Set for School Choice

With the start of the legislative session fast approaching, advocates for school choice reform are jockeying to set forward proposals they believe will benefit all Texans. And one proposal received encouragement from Lt. Gov.-elect Dan Patrick. At the Texas Public...

Eternal Life

A belief that our state government wastes money on pet projects is a truism of modern Texas politics. Despite a displeased frustration with well-funded political favoritism, taxpayers may not know the major reason why elected officials continually defend it: organized...

Sen. Charles Perry: Protect the Rainy Day Fund

Incoming State Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) has filed a constitutional amendment to protect the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF), sometimes referred to as the “rainy day fund”, by requiring a minimum balance. If passed, SJR 19 would require that the fund...

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An Ideology of Elitism

The United States of America is unique in human history for its founders’ experiment in self-government – the belief that educated people did not require rulers to order their lives but were capable of ruling themselves. The framers of the Texas Constitution announced...

Cutting Around the Edges

How effective would your budget be if you controlled only  17% of your discretionary spending? Under the current legislative appropriations process, Texas lawmakers do just that. It might seem puzzling to legislators or citizens who have the impression...

Structured Against Transparency

A lack of program-level transparency in the biennial state budget prevents legislators and citizens from knowing exactly what programs an agency supports in each appropriations cycle. Often, the only folks who know this information have an incentive to keep it from...

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Ken Paxton Sworn in as Attorney General

This afternoon, conservative champion Ken Paxton was sworn in as Texas' 51st Attorney General today before a crowded chamber of conservatives including U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, Governor Perry, Lieutenant Governor-Elect Dan Patrick, and Governor-Elect Greg Abbott....

Rolling Stone

Thanks to big-spending legislators’ creative accounting and over-eagerness to spend your money, the 83rd legislature increased appropriations 26% over the previous legislature. Even though this represents a major increase, it would shock many taxpayers to know that...