State news in Texas
State
Policy Experts Preview School Choice Ahead of Session
In 2022, Arizona was the first state to pass universal school choice.
Over 100 GOP County Chairs Back David Cook for Texas House Speaker
Statewide leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton, have all endorsed the Republican caucus nomination process that selected Cook.
Abbott: House Speaker Must Come From Republican Caucus
Gov. Abbott’s statement followed an earlier message denying support for Dustin Burrows.
Texas Ethics Commission Overreach Criticized at Sunset Advisory Commission Hearing
The True Texas Project, attorney Tony McDonald, and former Round Rock ISD Trustee Danielle Weston shared testimony critical of the state agency.
State Archive
Not Taking The Government’s Medicine
The government-first crowd constantly tells us poor children need the tender-loving mercies only big-government can provide. Well, apparently those parents don't agree. The Dallas Morning News is reporting that a coalition of mostly tax-funded organizations is out...
State Auditor Blasts Bureaucrats for Sitting on Hurricane Relief Money from Feds
A eye-opening new report from the State Auditor flogs the Department of Housing and Community Affairs and Office of Rural Community Affairs for receiving $97 million in federal money in the springs of 2006 for Hurricane Rita relief and recovery, but having...
A Clear Vision For Texas
One of the worst Republicans in the Texas Legislature is Fort Worth’s Charlie Geren. He scored an abysmal 45% on the TFR Index. He consistently votes against taxpayers, and in opposition to conservative principles, every chance he gets. Taxpayers in House District...
Scouting Principles
Last night I attended a dinner benefiting the Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. As an Eagle Scout, I’ll be forever in scouting’s debt for the values, principles and skills they tried to instill me – how successfully it took is perhaps a...
Flag This Play
No issue is too small, apparently, for legislative intervention. That's about the only conclusion you can draw from lawmakers wanting to insert themselves' in the dust-up between the NFL and the cable industry. One thing's is for sure, if the Legislature does get...
Maybe We Can Just Walk To Work?
A friend of Empower Texans and TFR today passed along the "newsletter" that accompanies his water bill in the City of Taylor. The newsletter brags about a $574,000 grant from the Texas Transportation Commission to the Taylor Independent School District for the...
TPPF Commentary – Schools Can’t Break Addiction to Higher Taxes
Remember the big school property tax cut you were supposed to get? Your local school district might be about to take it away. Last year, the Legislature passed a plan that used the state’s new business tax and part of the state’s $14 billion budget surplus to buy...
Constitutional Propositions
My friends at the Plano-based Free Market Foundation have produced a fantastic summary of the statewide constitutional ballot, with "pro" and "con" arguments for each. (You can view their work here.) Remember, your local ballot will probably have additional questions...
Republicans In Name
House Speaker Tom Craddick put voice this week to what conservative voters have been depressed about for several years: there are some Republican legislators who work against the conservative agenda. Here's what Speaker Craddick said in the Midland Reporter-Telegram:...