TFR Staff

NewsState

Senate Committee on Local Government Meets on Important Taxpayer Items

This week, the Senate Committee on Local Government met to deal with a list of issues and charges, some of which involved property taxes, taxpayer-funded lobbying, and appraisal reform. In many ways, this was the Senate version of the charges…

Podcast - Taxpayer Talks

Episode 5: Senate Committee Discusses Issues Important to Texas Taxpayers

Episode Description πŸ’° In this episode of π—§π—”π—«π—£π—”π—¬π—˜π—₯ π—§π—”π—Ÿπ—žπ—¦, we discuss the Biden administration gaffe on inflation and the Texas Senate Local Government Committee hearings this week where they discussed property tax reform and taxpayer-funded lobbying.   Articles Referenced Senate…

NewsState

House Committees Met on Issues Important to Texas Taxpayers

On Thursday, both the Texas House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees held interim public hearings in preparation for the upcoming legislative session set to begin in January of 2023. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility was there in person to help…

Podcast - Taxpayer Talks

Episode 4: Special Episode from the Texas Capitol

Episode Description πŸ’° In this episode of π—§π—”π—«π—£π—”π—¬π—˜π—₯ π—§π—”π—Ÿπ—žπ—¦, we discuss observations from Texas House Appropriations and Ways & Means Committee hearings that took place Thursday where they discussed things like property tax, appraisal reform, corporate welfare, and state spending. We…

News

Eliminate Property Tax: By the Numbers

Recently, the 22,000-member Facebook group Eliminate the Property TaxΒ featured a write-up by group admin Russell Bennett that supports House Bill 3742 (from the 83rd legislative session) and explains why their group is still in support of the bill, which they…

Podcast - Taxpayer Talks

Episode 3: Student Loan Debt Debate & Texas Property Taxes

Episode Description πŸ’° In this episode of π—§π—”π—«π—£π—”π—¬π—˜π—₯ π—§π—”π—Ÿπ—žπ—¦, we discuss how in the debate over student loan debt ‘forgiveness’, higher education institutions are largely escaping blame as well as deception being used by local governments in Texas when it…

NewsLocal

Deceptive Duncanville: Status Quo for Local Politics

As we have begun to report on cities adopting new tax rates and many failing to adopt the no-new-revenue rate, a number of folks have reached out to us at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility about the deceptive practices reducing transparency…

Podcast - Taxpayer Talks

Episode 2: Student Loan Debt & Texas Property Taxes

Episode Description πŸ’° In this episode of π—§π—”π—«π—£π—”π—¬π—˜π—₯ π—§π—”π—Ÿπ—žπ—¦, we discuss the recently announced student debt ‘cancelation’ plan from the Biden Administration and the fact that none of the five largest cities in Texas are adopting the ‘No-New-Revenue’ tax rate…

News

Despite Promises From Appropriators, No Major Cities Are Adopting the No-New-Revenue Rate

It’s that time of year again: local governments across Texas are considering their budgets for the next fiscal year and setting their tax rates to support such spending. This year is special for Texas taxpayers because it is a year…

Podcast - Taxpayer Talks

Episode 1: Inflation, Surpluses, & Border Security (Premiere Episode)

Episode Description πŸ’° In our premiere episode of π—§π—”π—«π—£π—”π—¬π—˜π—₯ π—§π—”π—Ÿπ—žπ—¦, we discuss the recently projected $27 billion budget surplus that Texas state lawmakers will have the ability to allocate in the upcoming legislative session, the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act…

News

No Such Thing as Failing Schools in Texas, Sort Of

An announcement from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on Monday came with great news! According to them, there is no such thing as a failing school in Texas … kind of. The TEA just released its newest accountability ratings for…

News

Abbott Forecasts ‘Biggest Property Tax Cut in Texas History’

Recently, Texas Governor Greg Abbott gave the keynote address at the 18th annual West Texas Legislative Summit in San Angelo, Texas. In the address, he talked about property taxes and other issues in his plan for the upcoming legislative session….

Explainers

Explainer: What is ESG?

If you are an investor or someone who pays close attention to the economy, you have probably heard the term ‘ESG’. Despite hearing the acronym, many do not understand what it actually is and its implications for our economic system….

Explainers

Explainer: What Is The Overton Window?

If you have spent any amount of time in politics I am sure you have heard the phrase “The Overton Window” before. Today we are going to talk about what it is, and how to use this concept to our…

News

Do Not Let Texas Lawmakers Plunder Our Money

Last week, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced an updated revenue estimate, which increased our continually growing budget surplus by nearly $14 billion. Yes, you heard that right $14 billion more! This raised the previous estimate from roughly $13 billion to…