In the petroleum-rich town of Midland, TX, the fluctuation of oil prices and population numbers weigh heavily on property tax-dependent entities, such as the school district and county. With last year’s dip in oil prices and the subsequent effect on mineral valuations...
On his first vote as a state senator, Dan Patrick voted alone. In the recently concluded legislative session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the state senate substantively delivered on every measure he campaigned on last year. A main stay of Patrick’s policy agenda, since...
In an interview with reporters yesterday about the death of his landmark ethics legislation, Gov. Greg Abbott laid the blame for the bill’s death squarely at the feet of State Rep. Byron Cook (R–Corsicana) and the leadership of the Texas House. “It’s important for...
A day after the conclusion of the 84th legislative session, State Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) has announced his retirement from the Senate. Fraser leaves office with a lifetime rating of C- on the Fiscal Responsibility Index, and a cumulative 80% on Young...
Texas’ business community got a rude awakening. After playing nice with the Texas House coalition leadership of Democrats and liberal Republicans, they expected some meaty policy reforms. Unfortunately for them, they wanted reforms that conflicted directly with...
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made Ethics reform a centerpiece of the legislative session. He wanted measures “requiring elected officials to disclose contracts they have with public entities, prohibiting lawmakers from voting on legislation from which they could...
Education reformers were again thwarted by the Texas House leadership. The only substantive “reform” to make it through was a bill designating schools and districts with a letter-grade rating. That replaces the current system of rating districts as...
Along with strict spending limits, one of our founding policy interests has been to see the state’s business “margins” tax reformed and reduced to the point of elimination. This 84th Session of the Texas Legislature finally saw definitive action on the measure. Both...
Michael Dougan learned the importance of being active in his community in the midst of extremely difficult personal adversity. It began when his family worked with federal legislators in Colorado to help his ill father obtain VA benefits. Three years after his father...
Liberal Republicans and the Democrats have once again teamed up in an effort to erode the First Amendment liberties of Texans. Led by State Rep. Byron Cook of Corsicana, the anti-citizen crowd is working to implement one of Hillary Clinton’s central campaign tenets....
Imagine a gridlocked Rodeo Drive, or 5th Avenue in NYC filled with frustrated commuters. Speckled in this congestion are nearly empty buses intended to ease the traffic but are, instead, exacerbating the problem. That is what many in Houston are envisioning when...
Within the next day or two, members of the Texas Senate and House will finalize a state budget. Remarkably, it is one that meets the minimum threshold of “not spending everything.” Last year, conservative groups joined together as the “Conservative Texas Budget...
Under legislation passed late last night by Texas House Democrats and a minority of the GOP caucus, it would be unlawful for citizens or journalists to record conversations with lawmakers at the Capitol without the consent of the politicians. Of course, Texans living...
As was widely expected, House Republicans took what was an ethics bill and flipped it on its head. Authored by State Sen. Van Taylor (R-Plano), SB 19 was passed unanimously in the Texas Senate and included notable measures such as transparency and disclosure...
Local activists in Arlington pushing to ban the controversial red-light cameras emerged victorious in May, spurring record turnout for the city in which there was also a contested mayoral election. Nearly 2,000 new voters and over 7,000 new municipal voters made their...
Half an hour before midnight, when pending legislation would have died to legislative deadlines, the Texas House passed a measure that would expand concealed carry on college campuses. Though the measure passed with a bipartisan majority of (101-47), the road to...
It’s an issue that united small business, big business, the Republican establishment, and the conservative grassroots. It drew the ire of the Democratic Party and labor unions. The legislative initiative was killed not by parliamentary tricks organized by Democrats,...
State Sen. Van Taylor (R-Plano) expressed astonishment on Wednesday night for the elimination of meaningful ethics reforms of elected officials in the House. Instead of finding additional opportunities for ethics reform focused on elected officials, the House elected...
Texas is currently considering sweeping changes to its system of campaign finance and government ethics laws. The drive behind these changes, we are told, is to eliminate corruption and bring transparency to the public. But some pause should be taken to examine...
Prior to 2007-2008, self-described ‘political junkie’ Jim Logan says he was the typical “I don’t have time American” when it came to politics. But that soon changed. Logan met his wife Carla, a native Peruvian, while working in Japan. He says Carla has been his...
