State
Schools May Face New Rules Around Electronic Devices Issued to Students
Proposed legislation would require school districts to adhere to a new set of rules before transferring devices to students.
Following Setback, 200+ Citizens Attend School Choice Hearing
While legislation has passed the Senate, attention has turned to the Texas House on school choice.
Lawmakers May Implement Age Restrictions for Online Pornography
Proposed legislation would require an age restriction in order to access pornographic materials online.
Election Security Measures Move Through Texas Senate
No election integrity measures have yet reached the House floor.
State Archive
Giving Us More Gas (Taxes)
Ever heard of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission? Well, they want your money. This quasi-governmental body is suggesting that gasoline taxes be TRIPLED over the next five years. Big Government, not Big Oil, is already the biggest...
Jumping Off Bridges
Yep, Mom was right: Just because the other kids are jumping off a bridge doesn't make it right. Writ large, that commonsense is found in the national economy. If Texas were to follow the big-spending, high-taxing path of all the cool liberal kids, like California and...
Lawsuit Could Be Key To Limiting Gov’t Growth, New Tax
Higher Fraud
Despite cries of poverty from university administrators seeking constant tuitions hikes -- and more taxpayer subsidies -- a new review finds major institutions are not only awash in cash, but that they are hoarding the cash contributed by alumni. For what? Who knows....
Those Calves Won’t Rope Themselves
One of the most significant taxpayer lawsuits in Texas' history is about to go to jury-trial in Austin, but Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has thus far refused to be deposed -- despite being a defendant in the case. While the office of Lt. Governor is a taxing one, it seems...
Getting It (Almost) Right
In a rare display of good sense, the Dallas Morning News almost gets it right in an editorial on the Legislature's new business income tax. But in arguing against the creation of new loopholes and exmeptions, they write "this new tax needs time to work." In reality,...
New Business Tax Body Blow: 300 Percent Increase
The Houston Chronicle reports on the severe impact of the new business tax, which is a $6.2 billion hike  over the franchise tax. Wanda Rohm, who owns Presto Printing in Houston with 12 employees, said her taxes will go up an astonishing 300 percent. We have...
Sandbagging The Taxpayers
You always get more of what you subsidize, especially risky behavior. That's certainly the case along Texas' hurricane-prone coastline. Our friends over at the Texas Public Policy Foundation recently published a sobering report looking at the multi-billion-dollar...
Giving Environmentalists The Bird
Pop quiz: Do you save the planet from global warming by switching to renewable energy sources, or do you protect a species from tragic death knowing you'll make the planet uninhabitable in somewhere between 5 to 5 million years? After years of making the rest of us...