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 are a number of important races that many taxpayers are keeping their eye on this primary season. Today we are going to highlight some of the most contested races that conservatives will be keeping a close eye on this coming Tuesday. Many of these races have multiple challengers but we will be highlighting what reported polling shows are the top 2 candidates in the race.
House District 60: Glenn Rogers (incumbent) VS Mike Olcott
Glenn Rogers is coming off of his first Legislative Session after campaigning as a conservative in 2020. State Rep. Glenn Rogers represents House District 60 which is a rural district west of Fort Worth encompassing 8 different counties. Rogers scored an abysmal 45 on the Fiscal Responsibility Index voting against taxpayers the vast majority of the time during the 2021 session.
Some of the votes he took that resulted in his failing grade were:
Rogers is being challenged by Mike Olcott who has repeatedly called out Rogers for his failure to stand for Republican legislative priorities and limited government principles. Recent polling is showing this one is close and TFR will be keeping our eyes on this one on election night.
House District 91: Stephanie Klick (incumbent) VS David Lowe
Stephanie Klick is on her fifth Legislative Session in the Texas House and represents House District 91 in the mid-cities of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. State Rep. Stephanie Klick is an example of an all-too-common trend in candidates that campaign as conservatives and stay in the legislature for an extended time. Her index scores have trended down over the course of her tenure. Though she was considered a Taxpayer Champion in her very first legislative session, she scored a 54 on the 2021 Fiscal Responsibility Index.
Here is what her career has looked like in the Fiscal Responsibility Index:
As previously stated, this is a common trajectory for most state lawmakers as the Austin swamp slowly grabs ahold of them. Klick scored her lowest Index score to date in 2021 with a 54. Here are some of the votes that led to this failing score:
Klick is being challenged by quite a few primary opponents. David Lowe is the closest challenger to Klick according to the reported polling. He has accused her of holding up gender modification legislation that would have stopped child abuse in Texas, as well as a whole host of other issues that violate conservative principles. Will Klick be defeated or forced into a runoff? TFR will be watching on March 1st to see.
House District 62: Reggie Smith (incumbent) VS Shelly Luther
State Rep. Reggie Smith is coming off of his second Legislative Session in the Texas House representing House District 62 which is located north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Smith entered the Texas House in 2019 where he replaced retiring State Rep. Larry Phillips. Smith has scored F ratings in both the 2019 and 2021 legislative sessions on the Fiscal Responsibility Index.
Some of the votes that contributed to the failing score in 2021 were:
House District 14: John Raney (incumbent) VS John Slocum
State Rep. John Raney is coming off of his fifth Legislative Session in the Texas House representing House District 14 which encompasses the city of College Station. Raney has had a poor career in the Legislature based on his index scores. He has scored an “F” in every single legislative session during his time in elected office. This last legislative session being no different, he earned a 37 on the Fiscal Responsibility Index.
Some of the votes that led to the failing grade were:
Raney is currently being challenged by John Slocum who accuses Raney of not representing the values of District 14 nor of the Republican Party of Texas. Polling indicates that Raney’s prospects for reelection might be in trouble and that the result is going to be very close in this race. TFR will be watching what the people of House District 14 decide during this primary election on March 1st.
House District 18: Ernest Bailes (incumbent) VS Janis Holt
State Rep. Ernest Bailes is coming off his third Legislative Session in the Texas House representing House District 18 which is located in the North East greater Houston area. Bailes has scored failing grades in all three of his legislative session on the Fiscal Responsibility Index. His most recent score was a 39 in the 2021 legislative session.
Ernest Bailes has received numerous challengers in the Republican Primary for House District 18. Janis Holt, a former SREC member, seems to be in the lead against Bailes according to reported polling. With a number of challengers running against him in the primary, will Bailes be able to fend off a runoff election for his House seat? TFR will be paying attention on March 1st to find out.
House District 11: Travis Clardy (incumbent) VS Rachel Hale
State Rep. Travis Clardy is coming off his fifth Legislative Session in the Texas House representing House District 11 which encompasses the city of Nacogdoches. Clardy has scored an “F” rating for every single Legislative Session he has served. He scored a 38 in the most recent session in 2021.
Here are some of the votes that earned him a failing grade.
Clardy has received numerous challenges for the Republican nomination, all claiming to offer a more conservative option. Of all of the challengers Clardy is faced with, Rachel Hale is at the top of the latest polling and seems to be within reach of a victory or at least causing a runoff election. Will Clardy be forced into a runoff and held accountable for his abysmal record over the last 10 years? TFR will be watching on Election Night March 1st.
House District 12: Kyle Kacal (incumbent) VS Ben Bius
State Rep. Kyle Kacal is coming off his fifth Legislative Session in the Texas House representing House District 12 which encompasses parts of the cities of Waco, Bryan, and College Station. Kyle has consistently been one of the worst scoring lawmakers in the Texas House, often scoring dead last among Republicans. This last legislative session was no exception, he came in dead last among his Republican colleagues with an embarrassing 28 for the 2021 session.
Here are some of the key votes resulting in his failing grade:
It is no wonder that conservatives and taxpayers in House District 12 are calling for Kacal’s replacement. Multiple challengers are vying to replace Kacal. The candidate reportedly polling closest is that of Ben Bius. Will Kacal be able to convince Republicans that he is a conservative even though he scored lowest among Republicans on the Fiscal Responsibility Index? TFR will have our eyes on his race on Election Day March 1st.
Election Day is Tuesday March 1st!
TFR wants to remind taxpayers that primary election day is Tuesday, March 1st. Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
Spotlight on the 87th: Subsidies for Wind and Solar
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 the failures of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) during the severe winter storm of 2021 which left millions of Texans without power. Although ERCOT is still in need of reform, the solution is never more government. The legislation ultimately endeavored to keep in place energy subsidies that included both wind and solar energy. TFR opposes subsidies regardless of what type of energy is produced, as it ultimately picks winners and losers and stifles free enterprise. There has been a concerted effort by the Texas legislature to dole out corporate welfare to “green energy” which has been proven to be unreliable time and time again and largely dependent on advantageous weather conditions.
Texas certainly should not be in the business of handing out corporate welfare to those that would seek to destroy our oil-based economy with gimmicks favored by leftists. Despite the Republican platform opposing subsidies, a majority of House Republican lawmakers chose to support providing additional corporate welfare for progressive companies and passed this legislation out of the chamber with only 23 Republicans standing in opposition.
Fortunately, the more conservative Texas Senate chose not to take up and consider the legislation, ending its legislative prospects. Will Texas taxpayers continue to elect Representatives that work against limited government and fiscally responsible policies? We will find out on March 1st!
Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
Stay tuned, additional spotlights are to come!
Spotlight on the 87th: Creating New Occupational Licenses
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 licenses serve little purpose other than to increase barriers to entry for those seeking employment, while also growing the size and scope of government by collecting fees off the backs of taxpayers. The fact that this legislation was introduced by a Republican lawmaker is surprising because the Republican platform expressly states in plank 25, “We call upon the Texas Legislature to review all business/professional licensing programs and associated licensing for boards for the purpose of abolishing as many as reasonably possible and repealing those laws, rules, and regulations.” The Republican Party has long opposed occupational licensing, directing lawmakers to abolish existing licenses and not create new ones.
“But many are unnecessary or overly burdensome. For example, why do we require a license to be an interior designer? Or a salvage vehicle dealer? Or a “shampoo apprentice”?
“We must work with the legislature to remove senseless barriers to growth, because over-regulation results in less competition, fewer choices, and higher costs. It discourages those who want to start a business, and limits growth in our job market.”
Why then would anyone that calls themselves a conservative seek to add new barriers to entry for Texans trying to put food on their table?
Fortunately, the much more conservative Texas Senate chose not to take up and consider this awful bill meaning it never made it through the entirety of the legislative process. It is worth pointing out that when the Texas House of Representatives voted on the bill less than 30 Republicans voted against it, of the entire 83-member Republican Caucus.
Klick, who finds herself in a very competitive primary election this cycle, is likely hoping that taxpayers will forget about the many bad decisions she made in the 87th legislative session. She has spent most of her campaign trying to defend against killing a gender modification bill in the House Public Health Committee, which she chairs. The question is… will voters hold her accountable for her votes? We will see on March 1st.
Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
Stay tuned, additional spotlights are to come!
Spotlight on the 87th: Promoting CRT
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 Phelan.
Ultimately, this bill would have created a new office in the HHSC called the “Office of Health Equity” seeking to further segregate our society through racist ideologies including that of CRT. The bill’s analysis reads, “The bill renames the center as the Office of Health Equity, updates and expands the purposes and duties transferred to the office, and requires the office to work with other state agencies to address social determinants of health.”
Anytime we have leftists advocating for “equity” involving race, gender, and sexual orientation, this means they are looking to weaponize yet another agency against conservatives and target white people in particular as racists. It is exceptionally dangerous to let this hateful ideology into our health system, especially after learning of what the heavily subsidized health care system is capable of over the past few years. For example, recently white patients were being turned away for monoclonal treatments in a blatantly racist display of medical tyranny.
What may be surprising to some, but not to those who follow TFR’s content, is just how many House Republican lawmakers voted in favor of this bill, allowing racist CRT to infiltrate the HHSC. Some of the Republicans that held hands with progressive Democrats are highlighted below:
We have edited this article to add the statements of the vote for Representatives that were absent or changed their votes below.
You read that right! Over a dozen Republicans, many of which are currently campaigning as “Conservative” during the primary election, not only to create an office and expand government but to also allow it to be guided by racist CRT ideology.
Ultimately, the legislation was never referred to a Senate committee, ending its legislative prospects. Notably, in June of 2021, the same agency defied the legislature and created the ‘Equity’ office anyway.
TFR encourages voters to vote against any lawmaker that votes against their interests by using tax dollars to push leftist, racist agendas that will likely be used to deny life-saving care to Texans. Will these traitors be held accountable for their actions by voters? We will find out on March 1st!
Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
Stay tuned, additional spotlights are to come!
Party Conventions – Part Three: Building Blocks of the Platform
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 each issue. Those statements are deliberated and eventually collated into a larger document called a platform with the intent that it, in turn, be used to influence elected officials up and down the ballot and give those who identify with the partisan brand a set of issues to organize around.
What Are Resolutions?
Though not required, those policy statements often take the form of what are known as resolutions. There is a preferred form of a resolution to aid in ensuring that those considering the policy statement correctly understand both its implications and the sentiment behind it.
Generally, resolutions follow the form of including “Whereas” clauses and “Resolved” clauses.
“Whereas” clauses are used to explain and justify the overall resolution. “Resolved” clauses are used to describe the action to be taken by those it is trying to influence.
Resolutions You Can Use
TFR urges taxpayers to not become disinterested after the primary election season but instead to become even more actively engaged by getting involved in their respective party convention processes, becoming a delegate, and advocating for fiscally responsible policy issues like eliminating the property tax, banning taxpayer-funded lobbying, and restraining government spending.
As such, here are resolutions you can propose to those ends:
Spotlight on the 87th: Overriding Executive Orders
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, the House Rules Resolution, that would have permitted the House to deal with a declared emergency through a parliamentary maneuver known as a ‘Committee of the Whole’.
At the beginning of the 87th legislative session, one of the most concerning things to taxpayers seemed to be addressing what they deemed as extreme executive overreach on the part of Governor Abbott in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the year prior (2020), Abbott had locked down the state issuing executive decrees destroying thousands of businesses while also allowing the enforcement of mask mandates on Texans without any scientific evidence that they were even the least bit effective.
Now, multiple studies have concluded that the lockdowns were extremely ineffective and only served to destroy economies and the well-being of everyday Texans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has come out and admitted that masks are useless and served no purpose other than to make people feel better.
These are facts that conservatives have known for over two years. After being gaslighted by media and politicians since the beginning of the pandemic, the narrative is breaking and the truth, which sane voices have been screaming about for the past two years is finally coming to light. Yet back in the legislative session, our cowardly lawmakers refused to question the decrees of the despotic governor and actually voted in favor of not even allowing themselves to debate the merit of his edicts!
The most surprising thing was the relatively few self-professed conservative Republicans that voted to allow this debate to occur before the House in a transparent Committee of the Whole (Where the House floor becomes a committee in and of itself to deal with a specific issue). The amendment failed with only 17 House lawmakers voting in favor of allowing debate questioning the draconian COVID mandates.
Will those cowardly self-proclaimed conservatives that voted against the will of the people be held accountable for their actions? We will find out in the upcoming primaries.
Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
Stay tuned, additional spotlights are to come!
Spotlight on the 87th: Music Venue Subsidies
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 into law by Governor Greg Abbott and now is actively wasting taxpayer dollars by giving handouts to music venues instead of giving much-needed tax relief to everyday Texans.
SB 609 saw virtually no resistance in the Texas House of Representatives either. Only 40 lawmakers voted in opposition.
A lot can be said about this legislation, but the fact that it made it through the entirety of the legislative process without much fuss or effort and then went straight to Abbott’s desk where it was signed into law says enough. Our lawmakers are not serious when it comes to limiting the size and scope of government. This program never should have been created, and now that it is, it will likely not go away any time soon. This new program came about at the expense of real property tax relief for Texans and is just another example of where our lawmakers prioritize tax relief for corporations instead of the individual taxpayers that elect them. Will Texans continue to elect these same lawmakers? We will find out on March 1st.
Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
Stay tuned, additional spotlights are to come!
Abbott Sets Special Election for Property Tax Trinket Propositions
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 are the result of broken-down negotiations between both chambers of the state legislature. They ultimately amount to paltry trinkets bestowed upon Texas property taxpayers instead of the truly needed property tax relief to address the ever-increasing tax burden.
Proposition 1
The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the reduction of the amount of a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed for general elementary and secondary public school purposes on the residence homestead of a person who is elderly or disabled to reflect any statutory reduction from the preceding tax year in the maximum compressed rate of the maintenance and operations taxes imposed for those purposes of the homestead.
This proposition spawns from the passage of Senate Joint Resolution 2, passed during the second-called special legislative session of the 87th Legislature in August of last year.
Ultimately, if passed by Texas voters, this amendment would increase the property tax exemptions for those who are elderly or disabled. Currently, exemptions exist for these specific classes of Texans but due to an oversight in the passage and implementation of legislation passed in 2019 which provided compression to offset property tax value increases, the elderly and disabled did not actually see that relief.
Opponents of this legislation cite the need to address the growing burden of property taxes on Texans in a much larger way, instead of addressing the issue on the edges, making largely nominal alterations.
Proposition 2
The constitutional amendment increasing the amount of the residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation for public school purposes from $25,000 to $40,0000.
This proposition comes from the passage of Senate Joint Resolution 2 during the third-called special session of the 87th Legislature in October of last year. The context is important here as this legislation was the last-minute result of broken-down negotiations between both chambers of the Texas Legislature in the final days of the special legislative session. In a matter of mere minutes, this legislation was filed, considered, and passed by the Texas Senate. Similarly, the Texas House of Representatives ushered it through the process in hours and passed the legislation, all within the same day.
If passed, this amendment would increase the statewide homestead exemption to $40,000 from the current $25,000 threshold. In 2015, the exemption was raised to $25,000 from $15,000, but Texas property taxpayers saw virtually no actual property tax relief from that effort, leaving many to speculate similar results will be had from this attempt.
The Growing Burden
As we have reported several times, the burden of property tax on Texas taxpayers only continues to grow, despite lawmakers making promises to address it and reports of relief to the contrary.
Republicans have maintained control of the Texas Legislature and every statewide office for almost two decades, and yet the property tax burden has grown exponentially. The Tax Foundationreported in 2021 that Texas had the 6th most burdensome property tax in the United States. Wallethubreported just a year earlier that Texas ranked 7th in the nation.
Viable plans exist to move Texas off of the immoral practice of collecting property taxes to fund government services. The question that remains however is whether the political will exists to actually follow through and move beyond paying lip service to the issue?
Spotlight on the 87th: Failure to Address Mask Mandates
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 Pandemic Response Act and addressed disaster declarations and emergency powers to include a pandemic disaster. Vasut brought an amendment to the bill that read:
The governor, the presiding officer of the governing body of a political subdivision, or any other state or local government official may not issue an order during a declared state of pandemic disaster or local state of pandemic disaster that mandates the wearing of a face covering.
Upon its initial consideration, the amendment was quickly adopted but a short time afterward, the author of HB3, State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) made a parliamentary motion to reconsider the amendment. After reconsideration, the amendment failed by a vote of 72 in favor of its reconsideration and 71 in opposition, after going through multiple verifications by which the Chief Clerk individually verified the vote of each present House lawmaker.
Many of these liberal Republicans are currently facing primary election opponents after having an abysmal session where all four also scored less than a 40 on the Fiscal Responsibility Index. Will voters rebuke their actions by replacing them with more conservative Representatives? We will find out on March 1st.
Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
Stay tuned, additional spotlights are to come!
Party Conventions – Part Two: It All Begins at the Precinct Level
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 guided by a mixture of statutes found in the Texas Election Code and the individual rules of each political party.
The Overall Process
Those who participate in a party’s primary election have the ability to attend their respective precinct conventions.
At the precinct convention, delegates and alternates are elected to the county or Senatorial District Convention and similarly, of those delegates, an election takes place for delegates to the state convention.
Along the way, those who attend the conventions can submit resolutions for consideration to the addition of the state party platform at the state convention among other official business of the party including the election of the state chairman, state vice-chairman, and national committeeman and committeewoman.
Precinct Conventions
At the precinct conventions, depending on the number of individuals in attendance from each respective precinct, you will select a secretary or someone to record the minutes of the convention, and then individuals who are present will debate the merits of each proposed resolution before passing them on to consideration by the county or senatorial district at their convention. Resolutions can range from simple policy statements to that of detailed explanations in support or opposition to a specific issue.
Those in attendance will also elect delegates and alternates to the county or senatorial district convention which takes place at a time and location separate from that of the precinct conventions.
TFR urges taxpayers to not become disinterested after the primary election season but instead to become even more actively engaged by getting involved in their respective party convention processes, becoming a delegate, and advocating for fiscally responsible policy issues like eliminating the property tax, banning taxpayer-funded lobbying, and restraining government spending.
If interested, you can likely find the dates and times of your respective convention schedule on your local party’s website.
The Series
Party Conventions – Part One: The Work Continues After Primary Elections
Spotlight On The 87th: Record Committee Votes
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 State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R- Arlington) in the 87th legislative session, was another “no brainer” in support of transparency and empowering lawmakers to fight against the (un)official practice of “tagging” bills (a “behind closed doors” practice where committees simply allow legislation they don’t like to die by virtue of the legislative clock, without a vote).
The language of the amendment was very simple and straightforward:
Sec.i____.ii COMMITTEE VOTE REQUIRED ON REQUEST OF AUTHOR OR SPONSOR.
At the request of the primary author or sponsor of a bill or resolution that has been heard at a public hearing of a committee, the chair of the committee shall hold a record vote on whether to favorably report the bill or resolution not later than the earlier of:
(1) the 14th day after the date of the request; or
(2) the last day on which the committee could refer the bill or resolution to the appropriate calendars committee in sufficient time to allow for the bill or resolution to be considered for placement on a calendar for second reading under the deadlines imposed by Rule 8, Section 13.
Lawmakers making decisions on what legislation passes out of committee (and in the case of the Committee on Calendars, deciding what legislation is able to come up for debate on the House floor) is technically part of their jobs. With typically, over 4,000 bills filed every legislative session in the House, there simply is not enough time to deliberate each one, however, a record vote is not something that is all that time-consuming, and routinely happens in the committee process.
The reason that a committee chairman refuses to bring up certain legislation normally has very little to do with time, and more often than not everything to do with protecting committee members from accountability. The problem with the practice of shielding lawmakers from having to take hard votes is that it is an insult to grassroots activists who have advocated for legislative priorities in things like the Republican Party of Texas platform (Many of which are completely ignored by Republican leadership in both legislative chambers). This problem is only amplified by the many committees that are chaired by Democrats or liberal Republicans who are actively opposed to the will of the majority party.
The purpose of this amendment was to provide transparency within the legislative process so that taxpayers know which lawmakers acted to prevent things like conservative priorities from being debated or ultimately considered. The amendment failed and only had 21 House lawmakers in support of it. What does this mean? It means the 122 Nay votes, those who voted against transparency, do not want to be held accountable for their actions in office and actively contributed to the ‘swamp-like’ culture in the Capitol, perpetuating the protection of bad actors that hold office.
Tinderholt has championed this issue in recent legislative sessions and TFR expects that he will likely bring up the issue again in the 88th Legislative Session in 2023. Taxpayers that are planning on voting in the upcoming primary election should take note of lawmakers that actively seek to stifle legislation that would bring much-needed transparency to the Texas legislative process like Amendment 10.
Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
Stay tuned, additional spotlights are to come!
Spotlight On The 87th: Democrat Committee Chairs
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 taxpayer champion State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City). After a considerable uproar from grassroots activists following the election of House Speaker Dade Phelan (who leveraged Democrats in order to secure enough votes to attain the speakership), Slaton brought his amendment in order to safeguard conservative priorities that have historically had their legislative prospects cut short by Democrat committee chairmen.
The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) platform states, “Texas House standing committees should advance the conservative grassroots agenda, not that of special interests and lobbyists.” The plank goes on to name specific committees the party deemed important to be chaired by Republicans in order to advance conservative reforms. One of the committees named was Public Education, of which the plank states, “The Public and Higher Education Committees should spend more time advancing conservative reforms and less time pandering to superintendents, vendors, and university administrators.” Speaker Phelan appointed Democrat Harold Dutton to chair Public Education shortly after the failure of Slaton’s amendment, immediately killing all chances of conservative reforms.
Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
Stay tuned, additional spotlights are to come!
Explainer: What are the Alternatives to the Property Tax?
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 Foundationreported in 2021 that Texas had the 6th most burdensome property tax in the United States. Wallethubreported just a year earlier that Texas ranked 7th in the nation. This happened despite Republicans maintaining every statewide elected office and control of the legislature for the better part of two decades and promises to address the issue.
Their own party platform calls for the abolishment of such a tax:
178. Abolish Property Tax: We support replacing the property tax system with an alternative other than the income tax and requiring voter approval to increase the overall tax burden. We urge the Legislature to develop a transition plan that is a net tax cut (one of the solutions could be a consumption tax).
The collection of property taxes in Texas is based primarily on both the subjective valuations of appraisal review boards and tax rates established by local taxing entities with almost no feedback from those that are being taxed. It is a system of perpetual rent to the government, ultimately meaning that property owners never truly own their property. It is immoral.
Efforts have been made in the last few legislative sessions to address the growing burden. Those that have been successfully passed by the legislature have merely slowed the growth of such burdens for certain classes of Texans, something that lawmakers have dubbed “relief.”
Concerns are almost immediately raised by taxpayers and lawmakers alike when the elimination of property taxes is brought up in normal discourse relating to the continuation of government services primarily funded by the collection of such taxes. Alternatives to the collection of such a tax exist, here are a few:
Consumption Tax
Definition: a tax applied to the sale or purchase of a good or service; generally applied at the time of purchase.
An organization known as Eliminate the Property Taxsupports restructuring the Texas tax system by replacing over 60 separately levied taxes with what they deem as a lone transparent consumption tax.
There are different types of consumption taxes. Some include:
Value-Added Tax (VAT)
Definition: a tax applied to each step in the supply chain of a good or service; the difference between the value of an item at the time it starts production and the value of the item at the time it is sold.
In the 87th regular legislative session in 2021, State Rep. James White (R-Hillister) authored legislation that would repeal local sales taxes and collection of property taxes and replace them with a system of value-added taxes. The legislation was never granted a public hearing in the House Ways & Means Committee.
In the 83rd regular legislative session in 2013, former State Rep. George Lavender (R-Texarkana) authored legislation that sought to repeal the state sales and use tax, motor vehicle sales tax, rental taxes, cigar and tobacco product tax, hotel occupancy tax, manufactured housing sales tax and several other levied taxes and instead impose a state value-added tax at 7 percent with an allowance of local taxing jurisdictions to impose their own local option value-added tax of up to 3 percent. The legislation, known as the Texas Tax Reform Act of 2013, was heard in the House Ways & Means Committee but ultimately never voted on.
Sales Tax
Definition: a tax on sales or on the receipts from sales.
According to the Texas Comptroller, Texas currently “imposes a 6.25 percent state sales and use tax on all retail sales, leases, and rentals of most goods, as well as taxable services. Local taxing jurisdictions (cities, counties, special purpose districts, and transit authorities) can also impose up to a 2 percent sales and use tax for a maximum combined rate of 8.25 percent.”
The current state Limited Sales, Excise, and Use Tax Act was passed into law in 1981. At its inception, however, in 1961 the sales tax percentage was that of 2 percent. It grew to 3 percent in 1968, 3.25 percent in 1969, 4 percent in 1971, 6 percent in 1987, and arrived at its current rate in 1990. Since then, the list of cities that charge an additional sales and use tax has grown as well for a range of purposes which include providing property tax relief and municipal development.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is promoting a plan that would purportedly eliminate property taxes by the year 2033 by lowering government spending, eliminating the largest portion of the property tax calculation; school maintenance and operations (M&O) taxes, and redesigning the state’s tax code so that local governments are instead primarily funded by sales taxes.
In the second-called special session of the 87th legislature, State Rep. Cecil Bell (R-Magnolia) authored legislation that sought to use 90 percent of surplus general revenue funds to eliminate all M&O taxes. Though it boasted 75 authors (half of the lawmakers in the House of Representatives), it was never granted a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee.
In the third-called special session of the 87th legislature, State Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) authored legislation he had also filed in previous sessions that sought to use surplus state revenue to ‘buy down’ the M&O taxes. Though it passed the House Appropriations Committee it was never considered by the House Calendars Committee and set on a calendar for the entire House of Representatives to consider.
Income Tax
Definition: a tax levied by a government directly on income, especially an annual tax on personal income.
The state of Texas has never collected a state income tax.
In 2019, the Texas Legislature passed a proposed constitutional amendment seeking to prohibit the imposition of an individual income tax by codifying that prohibition in the Texas Constitution. Later that year, Texas voters approved Proposition 4 by nearly 75% and now the Texas Constitution includes a provision prohibiting the imposition of such a tax.
The current constitutional amendment and protection would have to be repealed, requiring an additional constitutional amendment and for a two-thirds majority in each legislative chamber, and majority support of Texas voters to support it, in order for an income tax itself to be instituted. This would be an extremely unlikely avenue for property tax replacement in this state.
Brass Tacks
For decades, lawmakers and statewide elected officials have promised remedies to the ever-growing property tax burden on Texas property owners. In this cycle, several candidates for elected office have varying plans for how to ultimately eliminate the collection of a property tax. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility believes that the property tax is immoral and supports its ultimate elimination.
Viable plans exist to move Texas off of the immoral practice of collecting property taxes to fund government services. The question that remains however is whether the political will exists to actually follow through and move beyond paying lip service to the issue?
Party Conventions – Part One: The Work Continues After Primary Elections
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 is not just six months of dead time before that of the General Election. One of the most important events occurs during the Summertime of even-numbered years… state party conventions.
Party conventions are events where elected delegates from all over the state craft their respective state party platforms consisting of legislative priorities and policy positions in an effort to instruct both lawmakers and partisan representatives at both the federal and state level as to what their own partisan priorities should be while in elected office. The parties conduct their conventions independently and their platforms differ significantly.
The current Texas Democrat Party platform is a little more simplistic than that of the current Texas Republican platform, but both have lists of legislative and political goals that activists and constituents expect their partisan representatives to pursue.
Here are some examples of policies from both parties from the 2020 conventions:
Democrat Policies:
Legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis
Weaponize the Texas Attorney Generals office to stifle free-market business operations
Fundamentally transform police funding and policy
Repeal voter ID laws
Raise min wage to 15 and tie it to inflation
Force small businesses to provide retirement and healthcare for all workers
Oppose “free trade” (yes that’s really what it says)
Mandate labor unions
Oppose school choice and charter schools
Mandate LGBTQIA+ agenda in public schools paid for with tax dollars
Tuition-free community college
Support the “New Green Deal”
Subsidize unreliable green energy
Republican Policies:
Oppose occupational licensing
Repeal minimum wage
Oppose regulation of the internet
Support free trade
Cut spending and taxation
Eliminate property taxes
Ban Taxpayer-funded lobbying
Ban mask mandates
Supporting state sovereignty
Opposing abusive 313 tax abatements for corporations
Oppose subsidies and corporate welfare
Welfare reform
We see a clear distinction between the philosophies of limited government and fiscal restraint between the two major parties. The Republican party has recently added what they deem “legislative priorities” (starting in 2015) to their platform, in an effort to instruct the state legislature on what they deem the most important issues facing voters for the legislature to pass. In the most recent legislative session, a long-time priority of the Republican party “constitutional carry” was finally passed, in large part due to citizen activists naming it as a top priority since 2015.
TFR urges taxpayers to not become disinterested after the primary election season but instead to become even more actively engaged by getting involved in their respective party convention processes, becoming a delegate, and advocating for fiscally responsible policy issues like eliminating the property tax, banning taxpayer-funded lobbying, and restraining government spending.
This is the first part of a series of planned educational content on partisan conventions and how exactly voters can involve themselves in those processes to be released soon. The most important upcoming date regarding any prospective involvement in the convention process is that of March 1st or primary election night. This is where delegates are elected to their precinct conventions and where many policy-driven resolutions are considered, ultimately beginning the process that leads to state and national conventions.
Be on the lookout for future educational content on party conventions and, as always, if you have any questions about the process, don’t hesitate to contact us with questions as we are always happy to answer.
Spotlight On The 87th: HB 1698
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 Rep. John Raney (R-Bryan). This legislation increased your vehicle registration fees in order to grow the size and scope of government instead of cutting frivolous programs.
The HB 1698 bill analysis explains the purpose of the bill as: “C.S.H.B. 1698 amends the Transportation Code to authorize any county that is part of a regional mobility authority to impose an additional county vehicle registration fee to be used for funding long-term transportation projects in the county.”
The bill raises the amount of registration fees many Texans will pay every year in perpetuity to fund a bloated and wasteful transportation system that favors toll roads owned by foreign countries and wasteful programs over fiscally responsible governance.
This bill was passed in complete opposition to a plank of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) Platform, which states, “Vehicle Registration: Vehicle registration should only be a one-time occurrence at the point of sale.” This bill not only affirmed perpetual taxation but asks that we pay more to our corrupt transportation system, while it simultaneously sets up backroom deals with toll companies to make billions of dollars on the backs of Texans. For this reason, TFR opposed this bill and despite TFR sounding the alarm, HB 1698 went into effect on September 1st, 2021.
State Representatives that voted against raising taxes on Texans consisted of the majority of Republican House lawmakers, including taxpayer champions:
Texas taxpayers should be aware of the tremendous resource made available to them in the Fiscal Responsibility Index. TFR spent hundreds of hours analyzing votes that your lawmakers take and we have condensed them into an easily understandable metric that is available for anyone to use. We recommend you look at how fiscally responsible your lawmaker is before casting your ballot in the upcoming primary election.
