What is Festivus? Finding its origins in the hit ’90s sitcom Seinfeld from an episode entitled “The Strike”, the character George Costanza’s family celebrates a holiday called Festivus as an alternative to Christmas, and a tongue-in-cheek protest to the commercialism surrounding…

With the 88th Legislative Session set to begin in January, we are increasingly asked by taxpayers and lawmakers alike what winning looks like to Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. That is what we are going to discuss in this article. As…

Much to the chagrin of fiscal conservatives, perhaps the most significant thing to come out of the 2022 midterm elections was the overwhelming success of many bond propositions and tax rate increases on the ballot. In a country where we…

Texas elected officials like to point out the economic success the state has found in the last few decades. It is true the state has an economic climate that many businesses and individuals across the world and the United States…

As we find ourselves in the midst of election season, it is a great time to talk about how elections are conducted in Texas. In my time traveling the state and speaking to taxpayers about a myriad of issues related…

For all of Texas’ economic successes, the ever-increasing property tax burden on Texas taxpayers casts a long and dark shadow. In 2021, the Tax Foundation reported that Texas had the sixth most burdensome property tax in the United States. Just…

With only a month before the November general election, we surveyed subscribers of our weekly email, The Fiscal Note, about the issues they consider most likely to impact their decisions at the ballot box. The question posed to subscribers of…

Following a recent interim hearing of the Texas House Ways & Means Committee where they discussed several issues important to Texas taxpayers (including the potential revitalization of Chapter 313 tax abatements), we surveyed subscribers to The Fiscal Note about whether…

In the past year, conservatives have seen a lot of political activism in reaction to the Biden administration’s failures. We have also seen backlash from social norms moving away from traditional values. For instance, we have seen conservatives become politically…

Following a recent interim hearing of the Texas House Ways and Means Committee, where among the many issues they discussed was that of recent attempts by the Texas Legislature to reform property taxes and appraisals, we surveyed subscribers to The…

A reprieve from taxes, however significant, is always welcome news for Texas taxpayers, well… at least for the ones that directly benefit from that reprieve. At a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, State Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) inquired about the…

At Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR), we hear from Texans every day, impacted by the rising costs of living, rising property tax burdens, and general dismay towards a government that seems to represent their own interests less and less. For too…

In a year where most property owners find themselves getting overwhelmed with inflation driving up the costs of basic goods and services as well as major increases in property tax burdens, it has not been surprising to see millions of…

In what seems like a perpetual election cycle, Texans find themselves yet again about to go to the polls to vote in the Runoff Election for the Republican and Democrat primaries, which took place in early March. Given the political…

Saturday marked election day across the state for a whole host of ballot propositions, including over 200 bond proposals from various local governmental jurisdictions. A total of $18.5 billion of proposed spending was considered by Texas voters and after reviewing…