Is There Really an Appetite for School Choice in Texas?
It is National School Choice Week, and if you have been paying attention at all over the last few years, you are probably aware that a massive wave of school choice legislation is being implemented across the country. Much of that success can be attributed to Corey...
Patrick Announces Senate Committee Assignments
On Monday, Texas' lieutenant governor announced the committee assignments for the ongoing 88th Legislative Session. Ultimately, there was very little change from the last legislative session with regard to those appointed to be chairman of each Senate committee....
Taxpayer Champion Seeks to Put Texas on a Path to Property Tax Elimination
Shortly after the 88th Legislative Session began, Republican State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) filed legislation seeking to put Texas on a path to eliminating the property tax. Cain has been a Taxpayer Champion in every session he has served, according to the...
Are We Really Getting $15 Billion in Property Tax Relief?
Recently, the House and Senate released their versions of the appropriation bill. House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 respectively lay out the biennial budget for the 2024-2025 biennium. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has already highlighted that $15 billion in property...
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...