State
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.
Huffines Blasts Texas Lawmakers for Supporting Corporate Welfare Programs
The former state senator is pushing back against the proposed revival of the chapter 313 corporate welfare program.
While Biden Ends COVID Emergency, Texas Holds Out
Texas remains one of just a handful of states still under emergency COVID orders.
State Archive
Planning for Waste and Inefficiency?
A report issued by the Texas Education Agency says the premier pre-Kindergarten program in Texas is a waste of money, has failed to accomplish its goals, and has too little oversight. So what is the TEA's response to the Dallas Morning News? The program has met the...
Jump in Sales Tax Collections Shows Need for Refund Mechanism
Texas sales tax receipts increase of 9.5 percent in November over last year highlights the need for a mechanism whereby sales, property or other taxes would automatically be cut as money floods in. Think of it - how many of the foreclosures engulfing Texas families...
Was Bush A Fiscal Conservative? Stop Laughing…
The media has had a field day with Gov. Rick Perry's recent assertion that George W. Bush was never a fiscal conservative. His comments were captured -- of course -- on YouTube. The real problem, of course, is that he was speaking absolute truth. George W. Bush may or...
Return to Sender
A few months ago we talked about the state spending a bucket-load of your money to buy a letter allegedly penned by Alamo defender David Crockett. Okay, allegedly is a stretch – most experts were sure it was a fake. After much deliberation, state officials have...
Don’t Buy Lies
Proposals to eliminate property taxes using the sales tax are gaining steam, but even among supporters there is a common misconception. Some believe the proposal would cause the sales tax to rise to confiscatory levels. Sure, liberals like to make that claim, and...
Bad Policy Ideas Never Die
Some things are just bad public policy, particularly when they deal with eliminating competition. Maybe even especialyl when competition is limited. This is especially true of efforts to make all states levy sales taxes the same way. While we've written about this...
Tax Issue Hot? You Betcha
The Austin American-Statesman is reporting the obvious today: Texas voters want substantive reform to our tax system. Political consultant Todd Smith sums it up pretty well: "I never heard anybody say, 'I just got the right amount of property tax relief,' " he said....
“Streamlining” The Taxpayers
Task Force Considers Elimination of the School Property Tax
The Legislature must begin to explore ways to phase out and ultimately eliminate the Maintenance & Operations (M&O) property tax. Toward that end, the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute launched a Property Tax Task Force three months ago to...