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Year-in-Review: Texas Mired in Fiscal (Ir)Responsibility
Explore a pivotal year in Texas politics, featuring a historic budget surplus, the largest spending increase, complex property tax cuts, corporate welfare debates, and the unresolved school choice saga. This comprehensive review sheds light on the major legislative decisions and their implications for the future of Texas.
Impeachment Price Tag: Texas House Spends Millions of Tax Dollars on Impeachment
After months of delay following Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s call for a financial audit of the effort to impeach and remove Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton this year, new revelations about the actual cost to taxpayers surfaced last week. These…
The Surge in Texas Local Debt and Property Tax Implications
Texas’ Local Debt Crisis: Unpacking the $461.3 Billion Burden In a startling revelation, the Texas Public Policy Foundation reported a significant surge in Texas’ local debt, now towering at an unprecedented $461.3 billion as of the fiscal year 2023. This…
Fourth Special Session Concludes With an Unresolved School Choice Saga
The Texas Legislature wrapped up the fourth special legislative session on Tuesday and one of the most contentious issues remained unresolved: school choice. Despite Governor Greg Abbott’s push, the proposal to allow for Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) ultimately failed to…
The Ginn Economic Brief: Texas Economic Situation – November 2023
Texas lost jobs in October and faces major headwinds with a weak U.S. economy and a poor performance by this year’s 88th Legislature. There is a better way. Free-market capitalism is the best path to let people prosper, as it…
The Ginn Economic Brief: U.S. Economic Situation—November 2023
Highlights Figure 1: Real Average Weekly Earnings Declined Year-Over-Year for 26 Months Before Being Up in Four but Fell Again Last Month and Remain Down 5% Since January 2021 Overview Labor Market The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released its…
Texas Bond Propositions: The Rising Tide of Property Tax Burdens and Voter Paradox
One of the perhaps most underreported outcomes of last week’s election is the overwhelming success of local bond propositions, especially those that will further increase the already rapidly growing property tax burden on Texas taxpayers. Collectively, Texas voters considered nearly…
Texas Candidate Filing Begins
Filing to be on the primary ballot in March is open for a thirty-day window. As anticipation for the March primary elections rise, candidate filing to be on the ballot in either party officially began on Saturday, November 11th. Candidates…
Election Results: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Tuesday was election day, and Texans across the State went to the polls to cast their votes on fourteen constitutional amendments, various local propositions, and a scattering of elections for office. Let’s briefly look at the election day results and…
Federal Budget Deficit Has Nearly Doubled Under President Biden
The federal budget deficit has doubled from one year to the next a few times before. Usually, those occurrences happen in conjunction with economic bad news, something the current administration consistently says does not exist. The Numbers Game First off,…
House Takes Up Vaccine and Border Bills, But School Choice Still in Limbo
With more than half of the special session already over, on Wednesday, the Texas House finally took up and considered four bills on the Floor for debate. Two House bills and two Senate bills considered included: SB 7 by Senator…
Quick Reference Guide – 2023 Ballot Propositions
Early voting for the 2023 November election is officially underway, and voters across Texas are headed to the polls. This election held on November 7th is focused on fourteen constitutional amendment propositions, many of which will have a significant impact…
The Ginn Economic Brief: Texas Economic Situation – October 2023
Texas has been a leader in job creation. But Texas faces major headwinds as this year’s 88th Legislature has looked more like California than what Texans expect. There is a better way. Free-market capitalism is the best path to let…
Texas Senate Pushes Border Security, While Texas House Lags Behind
We are now ten days into the third Special Session of the Texas Legislature. While school choice has been a focal point of the session thus far, another major area of concern is the ongoing border crisis and illegal immigration. …
Understanding Texas’ Financial Health: Takeaways from a 2023 State Report
Recently, Truth in Accounting (TIA), a fiscal watchdog organization, published a report titled “Financial State of the States 2023” shedding light on the perceived fiscal health of all 50 states in the United States based on key factors. According to…