While our organization has not decided to endorse in “party” races – state chairmanship, national committee, executive committee – we recognize that these positions have tremendous potential to shape of public policy and encourage greater participation by...
Houston’s Inspector General will soon be investigating an ethics complaint against Houston Controller Chris Brown. The complaint, filed by a former intern in the controller’s office, alleges Brown fired him after he attempted to facilitate a public finance training...
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility is pleased to present local government endorsements for the upcoming election on Saturday, May 7th, 2016. Early voting for this year’s cycle will be held Monday, April 25th through Tuesday, May 3rd. Dates regarding elections in...
With 90,000 acres of land at stake, the Texas Attorney General and state’s General Land Office are joining landowners in trying to stop the federal government from taking Texans’ property. The Bureau of Land Management claims 116 miles of land along the Texas-Oklahoma...
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...
In advance of Houston ISD’s upcoming budget, officials are making a wide variety of cuts across the district to minimize the inevitable $107 million budget shortfall. One of the programs to hit the chopping block is former Superintendent Terry Grier’s signature...
Still bruised from narrowly surviving a vicious primary, State Rep. Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) is once again trying to push what has become his signature issue — regulating the political speech of Texans. And he’s hoping to accomplish it by working around both the...
The McKinney ISD school board has decided to foist a $220 million proposal on May’s ballot, a plan largely unrelated to improving educational quality. Its most controversial component is a $50 million football stadium that—if built—will be the most expensive of its...
Every March, Sunshine Week reminds us to examine transparency in Texas, where there is still much progress to be made. During the 2015 session, lawmakers created a huge haystack in which to hide government contracts. They are called “form 1295 filings,” and at the...
Last week was ‘Sunshine Week’ – an initiative to remind Americans of the importance of government transparency. To ensure greater control of government by the people, we need to ensure that measures to set back transparency are dead on arrival. Lately, there have been...
Twenty-eight miles north of Houston sits The Woodlands. Under most definitions, the thriving area would be considered its own city – except it’s not, it’s a Census-Designated Place (CDP) in a perpetual annexation fight on two fronts — against Houston and Conroe. A CDP...
Following the action of its Big 3 counterpart, Standard and Poor’s downgraded Houston’s general obligation debt from “AA+” to “AA” and reasserted the city’s outlook as “Negative.” While both downgrade reports point to similar issues, the S&P downgrade addresses...
James Ashby is well-known for taking selfies with politicians from across the state and nation. But North Texans in the grassroots community, along with many legislators, know him best as a cheerful volunteer who’s more than willing to roll up his sleeves behind the...
Recently the hashtag #NeverTrump has become a very popular rallying cry of sorts on Twitter for conservatives with strong objections to GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. Unfortunately this sentiment, while legitimate in its reasoning, has the potential for...
The alarming lack of transparency of Texas’ special purpose districts is not a new issue to those who have been paying attention. But the fact that the liberal-leaning, nationally syndicated John Oliver Show managed to pick up on the issue enough to devote an entire...
A task force of three major state agencies, charged by Gov. Greg Abbott with assessing economic activity and workforce challenges, has begun holding forums to gather input from Texans on the state’s diverse needs and strengths. The Tri-Agency Taskforce recently...
On Wednesday, Moody’s Investors Services downgraded Houston’s general obligation tax rating to Aa3 – and kept the city’s outlook listed as negative. The downgrade affects roughly $3 billion in previously issued bonds. Moody’s says the outlook reflects the...
During the 84th legislative session, State Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas) advanced a complete phase out of Texas’ disastrous business tax, otherwise known as the franchise tax. Now he’s calling for the repeal of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Tax, an outdated “vehicle...
To say that State Rep. David Simpson has had a tumultuous relationship with the issue of school choice and educational freedom would be an understatement. The Longview-based Republican has carefully straddled the fence on an issue popular with more than 80 percent of...
Opposition to a Houston affordable housing project has noticeably escalated in recent weeks. While affordable housing is often a hot button issue, the opposition to this project says they are only against it because of its lack of planning and transparency on the part...
