State news in Texas
Statewide Texas News
Meet the Freshmen: Joanne Shofner
Shofner has emphasized the importance of accountability and staying grounded in her faith.
Lawmaker Proposes Reviews to Assess Economic Value of University Degrees
The measure would halt programs with debt-to-earnings ratios of over 125 percent.
House Rules Debate Comes Late as GOP Seeks End to Democrat Chairs
The last time the rules were voted on this late was in 2009, the first session of former Speaker Joe Straus.
Meet the Freshmen: Keresa Richardson
A homeschooling advocate, Richardson emphasized the importance of giving parents more control over their children’s education.
State Archive
Where There is a Hill, Is There a Way for Taxpayers?
The Texas House Local Government Ways and Means Committee chaired by State Rep. Fred Hill (R-Richardson) has released its interim report. News coverage of the report has centered on its opposition to appraisal caps, which was hardly surprising since Chairman Hill...
Advocates for Big Government: Paid for by… your taxes!
Roddy Stinson, a columnist at the San Antonio Express-News, has hit the nail on the head with a piece in today's paper. He correctly describes the response of local governments to the idea of slowing down the amount of money they can grab as "Weeping, wailing and...
Killing the Business Tax…
 When Texas lawmakers instituted the “gross margins†business tax, it is a safe bet they didn’t expect trail-lawyer-extraordinaire Mark Lanier to sue them over it. But that’s exactly what he’s planning on doing, according to today’s Houston Chronicle. ...
Return the Surplus
State Auditor: Higher Ed High on the Hog
Today, the Texas State Auditor released a detailed report on the number of full-time equivalent employees in state government. The central conclusion of the report is that, while state agencies have reduced their number of FTE's by 8.4 percent since 1997, higher...
Suddenly Responsible?
The San Antonio Express-News has suddenly decided that lawmakers need to slow down when it comes to decisions on the budget. They need to proceed deliberately, waiting on revenue certifications and the like. Why this sudden concern for fiscal responsibility from the...