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Month: February 2022

7 Races To Watch On Election Day

Posted on February 25, 2022February 25, 2022 by Tim Hardin

After nearly two weeks of early voting, primary elections will be decided on Tuesday, March 1st in Texas. Those that receive over 50% of the vote will become their party’s nominee. Those that receive less than 50% will enter into runoff races with the 2nd place challengers. In an extremely volatile year for conservatives, there…

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Spotlight on the 87th: Subsidies for Wind and Solar

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Tim Hardin

In today’s Spotlight on the 87th Legislative Session, we look back on legislation that protected subsidies for unreliable wind and solar energy. House Bill 1607 was authored by State Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo) and was passed out of the House with a wide margin of support.     HB 1607 sought to deal with…

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Spotlight on the 87th: Creating New Occupational Licenses

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Tim Hardin

In today’s Spotlight on the 87th Legislative Session, we look back at legislation aimed at growing the size of government by creating additional burdensome regulations in the form of an occupational license. House Bill 2053 authored by State Rep. Stephanie Klick (R-Ft. Worth) sought to create an occupational license for genetic counselors.     Occupational…

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Spotlight on the 87th: Promoting CRT

Posted on February 22, 2022February 26, 2022 by Tim Hardin

In today’s Spotlight on the 87th Legislative Session, we look back at House Bill 4139, legislation that would have allowed Critical Race Theory (CRT) to infiltrate the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). The bill was authored by  State Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) and an announced legislative healthcare priority of Republican House Speaker Dade…

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Party Conventions – Part Three: Building Blocks of the Platform

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Jeramy Kitchen

Those who choose to participate in their respective party convention processes as delegates will have the ability to help craft their party’s platforms among other responsibilities. That process begins at the precinct level with suggestions on changes to the existing platform which normally take the form of general policy statements in support or opposition of…

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Spotlight on the 87th: Overriding Executive Orders

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Tim Hardin

In today’s Spotlight on the 87th Legislative Session, we look back at a vote taken by lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives that would have reined in the executive overreach of Texas Governor Greg Abbott during the COVID 19 pandemic. Taxpayer Champion State Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) brought an amendment to HR 4,…

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Spotlight on the 87th: Music Venue Subsidies

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Tim Hardin

In today’s Spotlight on the 87th Legislative Session, we look back at Senate Bill 609, authored by State Sen. Carol Alvarado (D-Houston). SB 609 created a new corporate welfare program for music venues by creating the Texas Music Incubator program which in turn hands out tax rebates to venues that qualify. The legislation was signed…

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Abbott Sets Special Election for Property Tax Trinket Propositions

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Jeramy Kitchen

On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation declaring Saturday, May 7, 2022 as a special election day for two proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution that resulted from the saga surrounding the issue of property tax relief in the recent special legislative sessions that took place last year. Notably, these proposed constitutional amendments…

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Spotlight on the 87th: Failure to Address Mask Mandates

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Tim Hardin

In today’s Spotlight on the 87th Legislative Session, we look back at an amendment by Taxpayer Champion State Rep. Cody Vasut (R-Brazoria) on House Bill 3 that would have prohibited mask mandates by the state.     HB 3, as it was being deliberated in the Texas House of Representatives, was known as the Texas…

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Party Conventions – Part Two: It All Begins at the Precinct Level

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Jeramy Kitchen

Primary Election Day is March 1st, but it also marks the first step in the state party convention process, attending your individual precinct conventions. The majority of these precinct conventions take place after the polls close, although some larger county party delegations have historically held precinct conventions on different dates.  The partisan convention processes are…

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Spotlight On The 87th: Record Committee Votes

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Tim Hardin

In today’s Spotlight on the 87th Legislative Session, we look back on a vote taken by lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives that would have required record votes on legislation referred to House Committees within 14 days, if requested by lawmakers. Amendment 10 to HR 4, the House Rules Resolution, brought by Taxpayer Champion…

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Spotlight On The 87th: Democrat Committee Chairs

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Tim Hardin

In today’s Spotlight on the 87th Legislative Session, we look back at the vote taken in the Texas House of Representatives to prevent Democrat lawmakers from chairing House Committees. The amendment was brought to the overall House Rules Resolution, HR 4, as it was being debated at the beginning of the 87th Legislative Session, by…

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Explainer: What are the Alternatives to the Property Tax?

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Jeramy Kitchen

Property taxes have been levied by governments in Texas since before its independence from Mexico. How the tax has been levied however has changed over time. In the last few decades, the burden of property taxes has exponentially increased as a portion of the overall taxes paid by Texans. The Tax Foundation reported in 2021…

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Party Conventions – Part One: The Work Continues After Primary Elections

Posted on February 9, 2022February 9, 2022 by Tim Hardin

Early voting begins next week (February 14 through February 25) for the primary elections where both Democrats and Republicans will choose their candidates for the General Election in November. Primary election season is certainly one of the busiest seasons in Texas politics, but what happens after the primaries have concluded? Contrary to popular belief, it…

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Spotlight On The 87th: HB 1698

Posted on February 9, 2022February 10, 2022 by Tim Hardin

Primary election season is upon us, and it is a great time to look back and review some of the more fiscally irresponsible votes lawmakers claiming to be “conservative” on the campaign trail took before we decide to trust them again with our support. Today we are focusing on legislation (HB 1698) authored by State…

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Potential Resurrection of Additional Corporate Welfare in the Works

Posted on February 3, 2022 by Jeramy Kitchen

On Wednesday, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) took to Twitter to talk about a speech he gave at the annual Ad Valorem Tax Conference hosted by the Texas Oil and Gas Association in San Antonio. Among the issues he indicated he discussed was his support for replacing the Chapter 313 tax abatement program, to…

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A Somber Milestone Also Marks Bleak Outlook for the Prosperity of Future Generations

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Jeramy Kitchen

$30 trillion. Written another way, $30,000,000,000,000. It is a number that is generally unfathomable and difficult to truly understand or conceptualize by everyday Americans. It also represents the money owed by the United States Government or more importantly the taxpayer to themselves (i.e. future generations), businesses, pension funds, liabilities that one portion of the government…

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Explainer: How does the Texas Budget Work?

Posted on February 2, 2022February 2, 2022 by Tim Hardin

The Texas budgeting process is one that very few people actually understand in Texas politics, let alone how lawmakers arrive at a finalized budget for the next two fiscal years. In this explainer, we aim to give a simple overview of the process in a way that is easy for taxpayers to understand. Texas Budget…

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Explainer: What is the Texas Rainy Day Fund?

Posted on February 1, 2022February 2, 2022 by Tim Hardin

Most Texas taxpayers have probably never heard of the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) or as it’s sometimes referred to, “the Rainy Day Fund.” Our assumption is that lawmakers are content to keep the ESF hidden because if most taxpayers knew the reality of how it is used, they would be very upset. In this explainer,…

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