State
Venezuelan Gang Member Arrested in Chicago After Crossing in Eagle Pass
A Tren de Aragua gang member faces deportation following arrest for a drive-by shooting.
Restoring Housing Affordability to Texas
Potential solutions include ensuring regulatory consistency across the state and streamlining processes.
Sen. Ted Cruz Leads Democrat Challenger Among Texas Voters
Cruz currently leads Democrat challenger Colin Allred by six percentage points.
Senate Committee to Oversee Universities’ Implementation of DEI Ban
The letter to administrators lists five key points for university systems to consider when implementing the new law.
State Archive
Governor Perry declares emergency on tax relief
 AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Governor Rick Perry today issued an emergency declaration on the issue of tax relief.  The president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Michael Quinn Sullivan, said lawmakers should view tax relief as their highest priority this...
Conservative Leaders: Return the Surplus!
Leaders of seven conservative organizations today called on legislators to "return the certified surplus to Texas taxpayers." Earlier this week the state's new Comptroller, Susan Combs, certified for legislative use a $14.3 billion surplus. Signing the letters are the...
Return Surplus To The Taxpayer
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs today officially certified the state's surplus at $14.3 billion. The president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Michael Quinn Sullivan, offered the following statement: "The surplus is not found money, but rather the overpayment by...
Remember the Taxpayer!
In responding to the official revenue estimate issued by Comptroller Susan Combs, Gov. Perry said, “This surplus should reinforce our commitment to the principles and policies that helped create it. State leaders must continue to be fiscally disciplined, we must...
That big pile of money..
That big pile of money belongs to Texas' taxpayers. That legislators aren't falling all over themselves leading into the session to return it completely to the taxpayers is more than a little disappointing. By spending the surplus, they will be taxing us again, and...
It’s Wait and See at the LBB – At Least Fix the Cap Before Busting It, If You Must
The Legislative Budget Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 4 has been postponed to Thursday, January 11, apparently to give legislative leaders more time to chat with members about the setting of the spending limitation pursuant to the Constitution. TFR...
Tax cuts ain’t spending!
State Senator Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) got it right in today's Dallas Morning News when he said, "I don't think the spending cap was designed to prevent tax cuts." What spending cap? The so-loose-as-to-be-non-existent cap added to the state constitution back in 1978...
Texas Has 9th Highest Property Tax Burden
Carole’s Campaign Cadre
The Beaumont Enterprise is reporting that outgoing-Comptroller Carole Keeten-Strayhorn has in her waning days in office hired on campaign staff and added employees. Cost to taxpayers? $40,000, for two months of work. For work that apparently wasn't needed while she...