News
Recent Polling Suggests Property Taxpayer Confusion
Understanding Texas’ property taxes, or more specifically understanding the means by which property taxes are levied, collected, distributed, and ultimately who bears responsibility for the increasing property tax burden in the state is admittedly a confusing endeavor; potentially intentionally so….
Property Tax Propositions Pass, But Will They Make a Difference?
Saturday, Texas voters took to the polls to consider two statewide constitutional propositions, local elected offices, and various bond proposals. As the results came in, there appeared to be some very promising news for conservatives, especially in school board elections…
Senators Showed More Interest In Giving Themselves Raises Than Property Tax Relief in Hearing
Wednesday, the Texas Senate Committee on Finance convened for the first time since the last special legislative session to consider interim charges related to the state budget. Among the issues discussed were things like inflation, Russia, and state pension reforms….
Majority of Highest Paid State Employees Work for Teacher Retirement System
Last week, the Midland Reporter-Telegram reported on the 15 highest-paid Texas state employees. They used data collected by The Texas Tribune as a part of their ‘Salaries Explorer’ obtained through information requests from the Texas State Comptroller. Curiously, 11 of…
Biden Administration Floats Federal Student Loan Forgiveness
On Monday, President Biden met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, where among other issues he mentioned that his administration is looking into options to forgive a substantial but unspecified amount of federal student loan debt. Earlier this month,…
Inflation Hits a 40 Year High… Again
The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released Tuesday reveals that year-over-year inflation for the month of March hit 8.5%. This was a 1.2% increase from the previous month of February. Inflation has become a major problem for most Americans…
Texans Prepare to Protest Property Appraisals
If you are a Texas property ‘owner’ it is likely you have already received your property appraisal this week from your county’s appraisal district. Many Texans are reporting higher than expected appraisals, which almost assuredly translates to an increased property…
Texas Senate Interim Charges Released – Includes Some Priorities, Lacks Others
Monday, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (R), released his list of interim charges to all Senate committees. Every legislative cycle, the leaders of each respective legislative chamber issue interim charges for each committee to study in preparation for the next…
Creighton to Chair Consolidated Senate Education Committee
Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced his intention to make the current Senate Committee on Higher Education a sub-committee of the Senate Committee on Education in the upcoming 88th legislative session. In preparation for such a thing and in response…
Is A $25 Billion Surplus Coming Next Session?
Rumors have already begun to swell around Austin that there is the possibility of a historic budgetary surplus heading lawmakers’ way as appropriators begin to consider the state budget for the next biennium. The Austin swamp is already salivating about…
Texas House Interim Charges Released – Missing Major Priorities
Last week, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont), released his list of interim charges to all House committees. Every legislative cycle, the leaders of each respective legislative chamber issue interim charges for each committee to study in preparation for the…
Inflation Hits A New 40 Year High At 7.9%
Americans all across the country, including here in Texas, are suffering from the fiscally irresponsible policies administered by both the federal government and the Federal Reserve in response to the pandemic. The massive amounts of Quantitative Easing and stimulus dollars…
Republican Primary Voters Overwhelmingly Support Eliminating the Property Tax
Tuesday, among a litany of other issues included on the Republican Primary Election ballot, were ten propositions for Republican voters to consider related to specific policy positions. One of those, Proposition 2, was specific to the collection of the property…
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…
Potential Resurrection of Additional Corporate Welfare in the Works
On Wednesday, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) took to Twitter to talk about a speech he gave at the annual Ad Valorem Tax Conference hosted by the Texas Oil and Gas Association in San Antonio. Among the issues he…