TFR Statement on State Budget
Following the Texas Senate's passage of the conference committee report on the state budget, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility president Cary Cheshire issued the following statement: Texas lawmakers have passed a budget that does not deliver substantial property tax...
TFR Voter Alerts
Howdy, On this page we will list the votes and bills eligible for inclusion on the 2021 Fiscal Responsibility Index comporting to our mission and founding principles. We use the Fiscal Responsibility Index to explain the broad parameters by which we will report on the...
TFR Vote Alerts (Texas Budget)
On April 22nd the Texas House is set to debate 240 amendments to the state budget. Below are TFR's vote recommendations for the Fiscal Responsibility Index. [table id=4 /]
Devil in the Details: Senate Bill 6 Jeopardizes Texans
Quickly moving through the Texas Senate is a bill sold as a measure to protect businesses and healthcare providers from liability during the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic, but if implemented would likely accomplish the inverse of what is intended. Authored by State...
TFR Statement on Senate Passage of SB 1
Following the unanimous passage of Senate Bill 1, the state budget, in the Texas Senate, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility president Cary Cheshire issued the following statement: "The Texas Senate’s budget provides only a modest increase in total state spending below...
Abolish the Hotel Occupancy Tax
A lesser-known handout from taxpayers to private entities are local Hotel Occupancy Taxes, which are collected and allocated for the promotion of “tourism and the convention and hotel industry.” Cities may levy up to a seven percent tax on hotel bills, but not...
Dr. Peter McCullough Blasts Texas COVID Response, Points to Herd Immunity
Dr. Peter McCullough gave a groundbreaking testimony before the Texas Senate last Wednesday which was so powerful it made mainstream news nationwide. In his testimony he had blistering rebuke of the government's response and directions regarding the Chinese...
Implement Zero-Based Budgeting
As conservatives know, government is an inherently greedy beast. It seizes every opportunity to grow and, in the words of Democrat Rahm Emanuel, it “never lets a good crisis go to waste.” However, in combating the natural trend of bureaucracy to expand, conservatives...
House State Affairs Questions Legality of HB 3
Perhaps the most hotly debated bill of the session thus far is House Bill 3, a proposal by State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) to expand the executive authority of the governor during a pandemic. In a hearing over the legislation in the House Committee on State...