Why Republicans Should Vote Against the Texas Budget – Reason #4: The Texas Legislature is Using Sleight of Hand to Exceed the Tax Spending Limit by $7.6 Billion
Introduction The Texas Constitution contains two limits on state government spending. One of them is a balanced budget amendment, known as the Pay-As-You-Go Limit. Because of this, Texas cannot use deficit spending to support most state expenditures. While this is...
Vote Notice 5.9.2025
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has issued the following vote notice for May 9th, 2025 Texas House of Representatives Subject: House Joint Resolution 175 (HJR 175) – Money Freedom Author: State Rep. Stan Gerdes (R-Smithville) Caption: Proposing a constitutional...
Why Republicans Should Vote Against the Texas Budget – Reason #3: The Texas Budget Has More Than $50 Billion of New Spending
When the Texas House and Texas Senate vote on whether to approve the final versions of House Bill 500 and Senate Bill 1, Figure 1 shows that they will be voting on whether to approve more than $53 billion in new spending of state funds. Figure 1: New State Funds...
Vote Notice 5.8.2025
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has issued the following vote notice for May 8th, 2025 Texas House of Representatives Subject: Senate Bill 17 (SB 17) – Hostile Foreign Property Ownership Author: State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) Caption: Relating to the purchase...
Why Republicans Should Vote Against the Texas Budget – Reason #2: The Texas Budget Belongs in California, Not Texas
Once hailed as a national model for fiscal responsibility and economic freedom, Texas now appears to be drifting dangerously close to California’s big-government playbook. The recently proposed 2026–27 Texas state budget sends a clear signal: the Lone Star State is at...
Vote Notice 5.7.2025
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has issued the following vote notice for May 7th, 2025 Texas House of Representatives Subject: House Bill 30 (HB 30) – Disaster tax loophole Author: State Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Spicewood) Caption: Relating to the effect of a...
Why Republicans Should Vote Against the Texas Budget – Reason #1: Texas Property Taxes are Out of Control
Since 2019, including what is proposed this session, the Texas Legislature has increased spending on public schools by about $23 billion in the name of property tax relief. It has done little to help Texans; during that period, Figure 1 shows that property tax revenue...
Vote Notice 5.6.2025
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has issued the following vote notice for May 6th, 2025 Texas House of Representatives Subject: House Bill 123 (HB 123) – State education spending expansion Author: State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr (D-Houston) Caption: TFR Position:...
Texas Is Still Growing — But Austin Keeps Getting in the Way
Texas continues to lead in many ways. There were 192,100 new jobs added over the past year — the most of any state in raw numbers. In March alone, Texas added 26,500 nonfarm jobs, bringing the total number of jobs to a record 14.3 million. Texas also set a new record...