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State Archive

Open Those Checkbooks

 Another great open-government bill is HB640 by State Rep. Byran Hughes (R-Mineola). This bill would require that all expenditures by each state agency, be easily available online. The posting would also have to include the purpose of the expenditure. This will let...

Texas Spending Commission

  State Sen. Dan Patrick has introduced legislation (SB1190/SJR41) that creates a government spending commission, similar to one authorized by Ronald Reagan in 1984.  Reagan's Grace Commission made nearly 2,500 recommendations that eliminated more than $420...

Let The Sunlight Shine

Three right-thinking members of the legislature are recommending that more House and Senate votes be recorded, and therefore subject to public review. State Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas), State Rep. Brian McCall (R-Plano), and State Rep. Tony Goolsby (R-Dallas), have...

Rare political courage on display

Just a few moments ago I witnessed a rare act of political courage. We learned last week about the Republican attempt to undo the important reforms conservatives made in the Children's Health Insurance Program four years ago. At that time, the stories of fraud and...

More recorded votes good for taxpayers

The House's State Affairs Committee is expected today to hear testimony regarding a series of bills that would significantly open the legislative process to taxpayer and voter scrutiny. In the past, many important votes have been held as "voice votes," allowing...

America’s Most Irresponsible

The Drudge Report is today noting that the U.S. Comptroller, David Walker, will tell 60 Minutes on Sunday that Medicare is on a course to bankrupt the United States. He says that the president's prescription drug plan, "is probably the most fiscally irresponsible...

Busting the Cap for Tax Relief

February 19, 2007 Dear Members of the Texas House: For the sake of taxpayers, you and your colleagues should vote to bust the state’s spending cap. It is the opinion of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility that this is the only way Texans can be assured of receiving...

Senator Nichols Stands Up for Homeowners

The Athens Review (Texas not Greece) reported today that Senator Robert Nichols, a Republican freshman representing Northeast Texas, has filed two bills to benefit homeowners.  First, SB575 would cap appraisal increases at 5 percent for homeowners, though it would...