It has a been a longtime goal of fiscal conservatives to strengthen the state’s limits on spending. During the 87th Legislative Session this year, a big step was made toward that goal. Texas’ current constitutional spending limit—defined statutorily for years as...
The following is a (nonexhaustive) list of what made it through the 140-day legislative session. The 87th Legislative Session began on January 12 with the backdrop of a global pandemic, the notification of delayed census data for redistricting, delayed primary...
Late Tuesday evening, the Texas House of Representatives gave initial approval to a bill that would cap the growth of state spending to that of population plus inflation. It will be considered one final time on Wednesday. Assuming it passes and is not amended, it will...
Texas’ limitation on the growth of government spending would be strengthened under legislation passed by the Senate. The measure now awaits a hearing in the House. Senate Bill 1336 by State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R–North Richland Hills) passed the Senate by a vote of 19...
Episode 109: Brandon Waltens is back with more in the Texas House Speaker scandal. Jacob Asmussen details how Austinites are fighting back against their radical city council. Jeremy Newman from Texas Home School Coalition discusses the high-profile parental rights...
Despite passing out of the Texas Senate over a month ago, a piece of conservative priority legislation may be dying in the Texas House. Senate Bill 1891 by State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R–North Richland Hills) seeks to cap the growth of state spending at population plus...
On Tuesday, the celebration and promotion of Texas’ “Big Three” raising Texans’ tax burden to help fund their bloated budget and wild-eyed spending spree came to a close with an outright rejection of their proposed “fix.” Led by State Sen. Paul...
On the same day they unanimously approved a budget which spends $5 billion above population and inflation, the Texas Senate approved legislation to strengthen the state’s spending limits. Senate Bill 1891 by State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R–North Richland Hills) seeks to...
Legislation to impose a state spending limit is set to be heard next week in the Texas Senate, and the bill as currently filed has garnered a lot of support. Senate Bill 1891 by State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R–North Richland Hills) seeks to cap the growth of state...
“Man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts,” said President Ronald Reagan in his farewell address. Reagan’s words ring as true today...
Speaking to a crowd of supporters in San Antonio on Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his intention to run for re-election to Texas’ highest office. “To keep Texas the best very state in the United States, I am running for reelection as governor of the...
On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he had signed the state budget passed by the Texas Legislature at the end of May, making only minor line-item vetoes. Despite having to contend with a relatively tight budget year, state lawmakers passed a relatively...
The most effective ways to deliver lasting property tax relief are reforms that limit the taxing, spending, and borrowing power of local governments. But Texans should not expect such protections to be enacted willingly—they must speak louder than the government...
Texas’ local debt epidemic continues to worsen at an alarming rate. In response, conservatives such as State Sen. Konni Burton (R-Colleyville) have pledged to push for debt-related reforms next legislative session. Texas has the second-highest per-capita local debt in...
Texas nearly leads the nation when it comes to local debt — a $332 billion albatross driving ever-increasing property taxes. Those who claim the growing debt crisis is the result of population growth aren’t telling the whole truth. At nearly $12,000 per resident,...
With the legislative session in full swing, Texans will soon face a barrage of political propaganda disguised with “conservative-sounding” messaging designed to sell them on anti-taxpayer policies. One of the most prominent will be the effort by state and local...
Analysts at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) have compared Texas spending limit methods over recent biennia and found that application of the population-plus-inflation metric to each budget since 2006 results in a trend of relatively constant spending limits....
Building on their successful research of the Real Texas Budget and the Conservative Texas Budget, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released a paper today detailing the need for tax and expenditure limits to secure economic freedom for the future of Texas. In a...
Thanks to big-spending legislators’ creative accounting and over-eagerness to spend your money, the 83rd legislature increased appropriations 26% over the previous legislature. Even though this represents a major increase, it would shock many taxpayers to know that...
Members of the Texas Conservative Budget Coalition are calling on lawmakers to keep state government growth at or under 6.2% in the 2016-17 biennium. Grassroots conservative leaders and budget experts gathered this morning in Austin to unveil a fiscally conservative...
