State news in Texas
State
Grassroots Organization Condemns Texas Ethics Commission, Calls for Reform
True Texas Project’s letter comes several days after the Republican Party of Texas addressed issues with the Texas Ethics Commission in a resolution.
Gov. Abbott Condemns Misleading Text Campaign Linking Him to Burrows’ Speaker Bid
“To be clear, that text with my picture was issued without my authorization or even knowing about it,” Abbott wrote.
Democrat State Rep. Confirms Burrows Will Continue ‘Bipartisanship’ in House
Republican voters have demanded that House leadership end the practice of awarding powerful committee chair positions to the minority party.
Energy Expert Warns Texas Grid Is More Fragile Than During Winter Storm Uri
Energy Alliance Policy Director Bill Peacock said the reliability of the state’s grid is not keeping up with the demand for electricity, which follows Texas’ economic growth.
State Archive
Embracing Mediocrity
Public education in Texas is a mess. That's the nutshell version of a straightforward piece in the Dallas Morning News, in which the president of the Texas Association of Business presents sobering statistics to demonstrate that "state government has only compounded...
New Tax Slams Small Business, Lawmaker Says Sales Tax Increase on the Way
The Galveston Daily News reports the new business tax is squeezing small business, the engine of the economy and job creation. Dickinson's Mark Fehrle, who owns a 14-person elevator company, was "floored"" to find out he would have to pay between $15,000 and $18,000...
Your Money Headin’ Down The Road
Remember the Texas Department of Transportation plan to use $9 million of your money to convince you to quit worrying and love the TransTexas Corridor? Well, it's still going on, but now one of the Texas Taxpayer Heroes is stepping up to ask the Legislature to study...
Taxpayers Funding Anti-Taxpayer Lobbyists
Taxpayers had a good day in court this week, but it doesn't make up for the untold millions of dollars government entities have used in our money to lobby against the interests of the people paying for big government. Some time ago my friend Peggy Venable at Americans...
A Hero And A Gentleman
Not only is he one of the best members of the Texas Legislature on fiscal issues, but State Rep. Jim Jackson (R-Carrollton) is a gentleman in the finest sense of the word. I had the honor of presenting him the "Texas Taxpayer Hero" Award at an event in Dallas this...
Lawmakers Caught With Hands in Trauma Cookie Jar
Remember how the sporting goods tax has been diverted from state parks and the soon-to-be-abolished telephone infrastructure tax was funneled into general revenues after its purpose of connecting rural schools andl libraries had long been achieved. The San Antonio...
One Spendoholic Goes Honest
Not much of a surprise, everyone's been whispering about it for weeks, but it was announced last night that State Rep. Kirk England of Grand Prairie is swapping the "R" for a "D." Given that he only rated a 47% on fiscal issues, first-termer England had signaled his...
Checking The Receipt For State Government
You can watch the TFR Spendometer to see how fast state government is spending your money, but a great feature at Comptroller Susan Combs' official website lets you see where the money goes. Thanks to legislation championed by the friends of TFR, Comptroller Combs...
Politician Promises
What does a political promise go for? What real value should we place on the promises of elected officials? Remember the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund tax? It was implemented back in the 1990s to fund high-speed internet wiring of rural schools,...