News and Commentary

News

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…

News

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…

Commentary

School Choice Stifled by Texas Legislature Once Again

As the third special legislative session reaches its forced conclusion, it does so with not much in the way to show for it, especially regarding efforts on school choice. In continuance of what seems to be a long-standing trend, efforts…

NewsFederal

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,…

Commentary

$18.3 Billion Surplus Proves Texas Can Cut Property Taxes More

This commentary was originally published at The Center Square here. It is being republished with permission from the author. The Texas Legislature just found out it has a huge opportunity to correct its profligate spending failures made earlier this year. But instead,…

News

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…

Commentary

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…

News

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…

News

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. …

NewsState

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…

Commentary

A Brief Examination of a Texas House Hopeful’s Record

The race to fill the vacant seat for Texas House District 2 is underway, with the special election now less than a month out.  One candidate, Jill Dutton, has thrown her hat into the ring, hoping that Voters in HD-2…

Commentary

The Ginn Economic Brief: U.S. Economic Situation—October 2023

Highlights Figure 1: Year-Over-Year Real Average Weekly Earnings Declined for 26 Months Before Increasing in the Last Three but Fell Again and Remain Down Nearly 5% Since January 2021 Overview Labor Market The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released its…

Commentary

School Choice for All… Some… Not That Many

What does it say about a state that has to pay off government schools and those within the government school system in order to potentially adopt a school choice system that benefits only some students? That scenario is exactly what…

News

Comptroller Says Texas is Taking Too Much of Your Money

The State’s metaphorical piggy bank continues to fill up with surplus dollars from your wallet, says the Texas Comptroller.  Last Friday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released the Certification Revenue Estimate(CRE) for the fiscal 2024-25 biennium. The CRE revises estimates from…

News

ROUND 3: The Third Special Session Has Begun

The third special session of the year has officially started, with the Texas House and Texas Senate both convening this afternoon.  Tensions between the two chambers and members of leadership are high after a strained regular session, two special sessions,…