Texas’ Economic Freedom: Threatened by Spending, Property Taxes, and Licensing
Texas shines as a top contender for economic freedom, ranking 5th in the United States in the latest 2024 Economic Freedom of North America (EFNA) report. Its lower-tax environment and flexible labor market have made the Lone Star State a top destination for...
Will Texas DOGE more spending?
State needs a similar effort to Musk’s federal crusade. This commentary was originally published at The Dallas Morning News here. It is being republished with permission from the author. One of the most amazing political phenomena Americans have seen in ages is Elon...
Texas Spending is Out of Control
Texans know that economic freedom is the foundation of prosperity. Yet, despite Republican control of the Governor’s Office and Legislature since 2003, state and local government spending has grown far too much, burdening taxpayers and stifling even greater economic...
Texas: A Leader in Tax Competitiveness, But Room to Improve
Texas ranks 7th in the 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index, benefiting from its lack of an individual income tax and a competitive unemployment insurance tax system. However, high property taxes, a complex corporate tax system, and excessive government spending, all...
Real Options for Eliminating Property Taxes in Texas
Property taxes are a financial burden that Texans can no longer afford to endure. Over the past 26 years, Figure 1 illustrates how property taxes have increased by an unsustainable 330%, far outpacing population and inflation growth of 136%. Figure 1. Growth in...
House Speaker Vote Results and Fallout
What it means for conservative-fiscal policy On Saturday, the Texas House Republican Caucus convened in the capitol building to cast their votes for a new Speaker, following Dade Phelan’s withdrawal from the contentious race the day before. As reported by Texans for...
Dade Phelan Drops Out, His Lieutenant Jumps In
This morning, the sitting Speaker of the Texas House, Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) released a statement announcing that he was withdrawing his candidacy to remain Speaker in the 89th Legislative Session. Phelan’s statement announcing his decision said, in part, “Out...
Texas Spending in the Current Biennium Likely to Top $400 Billion
The old truism is that there are two certainties in life, death and taxes. I’d like to modify that slightly to death and government spending. After all, government spending is why taxes exist. No spending, no taxes. But there is spending, and a lot of it. In...
The Case Against Dade Phelan (or a Dade 2.0) as House Speaker
As the 89th legislative session quickly approaches following tremendous GOP gains in the 2024 election, Republicans in the Texas State House are divided over leadership. An impending vote this weekend for House Speaker looms like a dark cloud over the capital,...