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Podcast - The Week Ahead

Episode 13: Abbott Plays Hardball on School Choice Effort

Episode Description πŸ’° In our thirteenth episode of π—§π—›π—˜ π—ͺπ—˜π—˜π—ž π—”π—›π—˜π—”π——, we discuss the now weaker version of school choice making its way through the Texas House committee process and recent sentiments from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on the subject….

Vote Notices

Vote Notice 5.15.23

Texas Senate Subject: Decrease Barrier to Entry, House Bill 1846 (HB 1846) Texas House of Representatives Subject: Anti-Taxpayer, Senate Bill 1648 (SB 1648) Subject: Anti-Taxpayer, Senate Joint Resolution 74 (SJR 74) Subject: Property Tax Exemption at Expense of Other Taxpayers, Senate Bill 1145 (SB 1145) Reminder: Vote Notices are provided to both Texas…

Vote Notices

Vote Notice 5.12.23

Texas Senate Subject: Wound Care Dressing and Menstrual Product Sales Tax Exemption, Senate Bill 379 (SB 379) Subject: Raising the Mandatory Retirement Age for State Justices and Judges, House Joint Resolution 107 (HJR 107) Subject: Growing Government, House Bill 3447 (HB 3447)…

Podcast - Taxpayer Talks

Episode 17: Texas House Fails to Deliver on Impactful Border Security Legislation

Episode Description πŸ’° In this episode of π—§π—”π—«π—£π—”π—¬π—˜π—₯ π—§π—”π—Ÿπ—žπ—¦, we discuss the recent failure by Texas House lawmakers to pass a meaningful border security legislative priority, the childish dialogue between elected leadership in both legislative chambers on potential property tax…

Commentary

The Petulant Children Squabbling Over Property Tax Relief

If you are a Texas taxpayer and hoping to get tangible property tax relief as an outcome of the ongoing 88th Legislative Session, you might be disappointed. Not only does it look as if nearly no real property tax relief…

Vote Notices

Vote Notice 5.11.23

Texas Senate Subject: Farming Freedom, House Bill 1750 (HB 1750) Subject: Anti-Taxpayer, House Bill 1755 (HB 1755) Subject: Removing Barriers to Work, House Bill 1859 (HB 1859) Subject: Declaring an Invasion of the State of Texas, Senate Concurrent Resolution 29…

Vote Notices

Vote Notice 5.10.23

Texas Senate Subject: Pro-Taxpayer, House Bill 1038 (HB 1038) Subject: Creation of a Grant Program, House Bill 2209 (HB 2209) Texas House of Representatives Subject: Growing Government, House Joint Resolution 102 (HJR 102) Subject: Growing Government, House Bill 1942 (HB 1942) Subject: Growing…

Commentary

A Budget Spending Spree Like No Other

Texas is often thought of as a conservative state. Teachers, for instance, complain about inadequate spending on public education and low salaries. Democrat State Rep. James Talarico (Austin) has argued that the low salaries are β€œpushing teachers out of the…

Vote Notices

Vote Notice 5.9.23

Texas Senate Subject: Expression of Opposition to CBDC Implementation by Federal Reserve, Senate Concurrent Resolution 25 (SCR 25) Subject: Anti-ESG, Senate Bill 833 (SB 833) Subject: Preventing the Weaponization of the Judicial System, Senate Bill 1195 (SB 1195) Subject: Gas…

Vote Notices

Vote Notice 5.8.23

Texas Senate Subject: Scope of Government, Senate Bill 1546 (SB 1546) Subject: Increased Transparency for Information Requests, Senate Bill 1579 (SB 1579) Subject: Requiring All Employers to Use E-Verify System, Senate Bill 1621 (SB 621) Subject: Expansion of Government-Sponsored Loan…

Vote Notices

Vote Notice 5.6.23

Texas Senate None Texas House of Representatives Subject: Removes Barriers to Entry for Dentists and Dental Hygienists, House Bill 3039 (HB 3039) Subject: Creation of a Grant Program, House Bill 2181 (HB 2181) Subject: Raising Salaries of Judges, While Ignoring…

News88th TXLege

Texas House Gives Initial Approval to Corporate Welfare Revival Priority

On Thursday, the Texas House of Representatives considered House Bill 5 (HB 5), or what was dubbed the “Texas Jobs and Security Act” by both the legislation’s author, Republican State Rep. Todd Hunter (Corpus Christi), and Texas House Speaker Dade…

Vote Notices

Vote Notice 5.5.23

Texas Senate None Texas House of Representatives Subject: Pro-Taxpayer, House Bill 1301 (HB 1301) Subject: Pro-Taxpayer, House Bill 1916 (HB 1916) Subject: Pro-Taxpayer, House Bill 1956 (HB 1956) Subject: Expanding Welfare, House Bill 2402 (HB 2402) Subject: Increased Transparency for…

Podcast - Taxpayer Talks

Episode 16: As Session Begins to Wind Down, What Have They Been Up To?

Episode Description πŸ’° In this episode of π—§π—”π—«π—£π—”π—¬π—˜π—₯ π—§π—”π—Ÿπ—žπ—¦, we discuss Texas House lawmakers and the confusing saga around whether they voted in favor of increasing their own pensions, at the further expense of Texas taxpayers. We also discuss the…

Vote Notices

Vote Notice 5.4.23

Texas Senate Subject: Closing the Disaster Loophole, Senate Bill 1251 (SB 1251) Subject: Pro-Taxpayer, Senate Bill 1803 (SB 1803) Subject: Preemption of Local Climate Charter Efforts, Senate Bill 1860 (SB 1860) Texas House of Representatives Subject: Corporate Welfare Revival, House…