It is National School Choice Week, and if you have been paying attention at all over the last few years, you are probably aware that a massive wave of school choice legislation is being implemented across the country. Much of…

On Monday, Texas’ lieutenant governor announced the committee assignments for the ongoing 88th Legislative Session. Ultimately, there was very little change from the last legislative session with regard to those appointed to be chairman of each Senate committee. Senate Finance…

Shortly after the 88th Legislative Session began, Republican State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) filed legislation seeking to put Texas on a path to eliminating the property tax. Cain has been a Taxpayer Champion in every session he has served,…

Recently, the House and Senate released their versions of the appropriation bill. House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 respectively lay out the biennial budget for the 2024-2025 biennium. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has already highlighted that $15 billion in…

On Thursday, Texas Republican State Rep. Brian Harrison (Waxahachie) filed legislation seeking to limit the salary paid to officers and employees of this state, as well as political subdivisions in the state, to no more than that of the governor…

Episode Description 💰 In this episode of 𝗧𝗔𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗦, we discuss the inauguration of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick as well as the legislative priorities they mentioned as a part of their speeches. We also discuss…

For years, fiscal watchdog organizations, including ours, worked to secure an additional spending limit or guardrail on the state appropriations process to prevent lawmakers from continuing the trend of expanding government at a rate faster than the population growth it…

Today, both the Texas House and Senate have released their budgets. Both the House and Senate appropriation bills provide $15B for property tax relief, with $12B to compress Maintenance & Operations rates by 7.75% and $3B to increase the homestead…

It seems like every two years, just as the legislative session begins, so too do the conversations about expanded gambling in Texas. Most recently, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) made comments that seem to signal he is in favor…

Episode Description 💰 In this episode of 𝗧𝗔𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗦, we discuss what occurred in the first week of the 88th Legislative Session, as well as the details of the fiscal update we received from Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar with guest…

On Wednesday, Day 2 of the 88th Legislative Session, the Texas House of Representatives considered House Resolution 4, or the proposed rules that will guide their efforts over the remainder of the legislative session and interim period. Lawmakers made several…

Only two days into the 88th Legislative Session, both legislative chambers made a mad dash to give their offices as much money as they could squeeze out of Texas taxpayers. Growing Government As expected, they used the usual excuses: to…

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has issued the following vote notice for January 11, 2023 (Day 2 of the 88th Legislative Session): Texas House of Representatives Subject: Housekeeping Resolution, House Resolution 3 (HR3) Subject: Rules Resolution, House Resolution 4 (HR4) Texas…

Election of Speaker The 88th Legislative Session officially convened Tuesday, and in the Texas House of Representatives, the first order of business after being sworn in was to elect a House speaker. Two candidates were nominated. The incumbent speaker, Republican…

On Monday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released his long-awaited Biennial Revenue Estimate (BRE) ahead of the 88th Legislative Session, which begins today. The BRE is an estimate of the revenue that the State of Texas expects to receive through the…