Lawmaker Seeks to Limit Compensation for Taxpayer-funded Bureaucrats
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 of Texas. The governor...
Episode 3: An Opportunity for Fiscal Conservatives
https://youtu.be/jn5QDBClh28 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...
It’s Simple: Bust the Spending Limit to Provide Taxpayers Relief
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...
TFR Statement on Appropriation Bills
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 exemption from...
Is Texas Ready to Legalize Casino Gambling?
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 of "destination-style...
Episode 2: Session Begins & Fiscal Update with Vance Ginn, Ph.D.
https://youtu.be/KB1FPXyY5RE 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...
Another Casualty in House Rules Debate: Transparency
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 attempts...
Legislature Votes to Raise Office Budgets at Taxpayers’ Expense
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 keep up with inflation and to...
Vote Notice – 1.11.2023
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) Author: State Rep. Will Metcalf (R-Montgomery)...