State
Poll: Majority of Texans Support School Choice
White Democrats are on an island in opposition to minority Democrats.
Exclusion of Public Testimony in Texas Land Ownership Hearing Sparks Criticism
A hearing last week was dominated by paid lobbyists and special interest groups.
Dan Patrick Says Dade Phelan Intends to Kill School Choice Legislation Again
Patrick says Phelan refused to join him and Gov. Greg Abbott in a budget letter prioritizing school choice.
Texas Sues Biden Admin Over Contraceptives for Minors Without Parental Consent
Attorney General Ken Paxton said the new federal rule is an attack on parental rights.
State Archive
Lower Than Expected Business Tax Revenues No Reason to Raise It
Comptroller Susan Combs this week estimated that the new state business tax on gross revenues would bring in $500 to $800 million less than expected. This estimate is based on voluntary submissions made by many affected businesses. However, many business, particularly...
Protecting Texas’ Free Market
For the last decade, Texas has been the national leader in making moves toward substantive, free-market reforms as means to solve problems and improve the quality of life.  T exas’ accomplishments have played an important role in helping other states, and even...
Rep. Hancock Seeks Death Penalty for Unused Life Insurance Tax
Representative Kelly Hancock , a Tarrant County Republican, has filed House Bill 1849 that will eliminate a tax imposed by the Texas Department of Insurance to Texas life insurers that now serves no purpose. In 2007, the state of Texas will collect $8.9 million in...
Messing With Your Business
We know now that the state’s Texas Youth Commission was obscenely managed. The Texas Lottery was a scandal ridden mess a while back. The abuses of the Children’s Health Insurance Program are a lesson in lunacy. Name a government agency, and it’s been scandal...
Where There’s Smoke, There’s A Tax
 Nothing is worse than having a fire, with no way to put it out. There is a clear public purpose to be served in using tax revenues to fight fires. That's why people can, with a local vote, implement an Emergency Services District. These districts levy property taxes...
Just Stop Taking Our Money!
In case you missed it, the Texas House this week approved the elimination of the Texas Infrastructure Fund tax. This egregious little tax has been levied on your phone bill for a decade. Everyone agrees the job the TIF tax was levied to do was finished (wire rural...
Democrat Strama Files Fiscally Conservative Legislation
Mark Strama, a Democrat representing North Austin and Pflugerville, is proving that he is not beholden to liberal orthodoxy when it comes to fiscal responsibility. He has filed the following bills: HB 2966 mandates that funds collected from specialty license plate...
Otto’s Motto: Property Tax Relief for Texans
State Rep. John Otto (R-Dayton) is an accountant and strong conservative leader who the Lone Star Report says "is rapidly becoming the House leadership's resident expert on all taxation issues." He has filed numerous bills to fix abuses in the property tax...
Support Grows for Paxton Amendment to Limit State and Local Government Spending
Legislative support is increasingly emerging for House Joint Resolution 53 by Rep. Ken Paxton which would greatly strengthen the state constitutional spending limitation and, for the first time, create a similar limitation for local governments. Authors and co-authors...