Budget Surplus
Property Tax Bills Filed in Large Numbers, a Good Sign for Taxpayers
On Monday, lawmakers in both the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate began the process of prefiling legislation ahead of the upcoming 88th Legislative Session, and hundreds of bills have already been filed. 2023 will be a contentious year…
The Importance of Political Activism in Fiscal Policy
In the past year, conservatives have seen a lot of political activism in reaction to the Biden administration’s failures. We have also seen backlash from social norms moving away from traditional values. For instance, we have seen conservatives become politically…
Senate Committee on Local Government Meets on Important Taxpayer Items
This week, the Senate Committee on Local Government met to deal with a list of issues and charges, some of which involved property taxes, taxpayer-funded lobbying, and appraisal reform. In many ways, this was the Senate version of the charges…
Abbott Draws Line in the Sand on Budget Surplus Use for Property Tax Relief
On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott reportedly opined on the projected budget surplus and its partial use for the purposes of providing a property tax cut. βTexas is sitting on a record budget surplus of $27 billion… Because this…
Polling Suggests Most Texans Want True Property Tax Relief
This week, the Defend Texas Liberty PAC released polling that suggested a majority of Texans, from both major political parties, support using a majority of the projected budget surplus to lower their property tax burdens. Polling Results Among several…
Episode 1: Inflation, Surpluses, & Border Security (Premiere Episode)
Episode Description π° In our premiere episode of π§ππ«π£ππ¬ππ₯ π§ππππ¦, we discuss the recently projected $27 billion budget surplus that Texas state lawmakers will have the ability to allocate in the upcoming legislative session, the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act…
Abbott Forecasts ‘Biggest Property Tax Cut in Texas History’
Recently, Texas Governor Greg Abbott gave the keynote address at the 18th annual West Texas Legislative Summit in San Angelo, Texas. In the address, he talked about property taxes and other issues in his plan for the upcoming legislative session….
Do Not Let Texas Lawmakers Plunder Our Money
Last week, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced an updated revenue estimate, which increased our continually growing budget surplus by nearly $14 billion. Yes, you heard that right $14 billion more! This raised the previous estimate from roughly $13 billion to…
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Announces Historic Surplus in Updated Estimate
Thursday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released his updated revenue estimate for the state of Texas. Previously the surplus estimate coming off of the most recent legislative session was around $8 billion. This estimate was updated in November of 2021 to…
Texas Comptroller To Announce New Revenue Increase On Thursday
Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee held its first interim hearing to consider some of their assigned interim charges involving the state budget. Among the invited testimony was that of Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who came to give a general update…
Abbott Signals Property Tax Cuts, What About Elimination?
In an interview with The Texan, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar indicated that it is possible Texas will have an estimated $30 billion account balance when the Texas Legislature reconvenes in January of 2023. In March, we reported that it was…
No… We Don’t Have To Replace The Property Tax With Anything
In a year where most property owners find themselves getting overwhelmed with inflation driving up the costs of basic goods and services as well as major increases in property tax burdens, it has not been surprising to see millions of…
Senators Showed More Interest In Giving Themselves Raises Than Property Tax Relief in Hearing
Wednesday, the Texas Senate Committee on Finance convened for the first time since the last special legislative session to consider interim charges related to the state budget.Β Among the issues discussed were things like inflation, Russia, and state pension reforms….
They Shout Relief, But Where Is It?
Despite years of desperate cries from Texas taxpayers seeking significant property tax relief, Texans are once again being reminded that our lawmakers have no real desire to help lower our property tax bills. With stories of many Texas taxpayers experiencing…
May Property Tax Propositions: A Slap In Texans’ Faces
Taxpayers all over the state of Texas report being crushed under the weight of sky-high property taxes, rising appraisals, and nearly double-digit inflation. You would not know this however if you only listened to lawmakers in Austin who drone on…