by Bill Peacock | Jan 23, 2026 | Research
One saying that circulates around the Texas Capitol when the Legislature convenes every two years is that the legislators have only one job they are required to do: adopt a budget. Every legislative session the legislators manage to do this. In fact, the...
by Andrew McVeigh | Jan 14, 2026 | Research
Over 20 Years of State Spending Growth In 2003, Republicans achieved an historic milestone by gaining control of the Texas state government, the executive and both chambers of the Legislature, for the first time in decades. Since then, Republicans have...
by Bill Peacock | Jan 9, 2026 | Explainers
Texas is considered a conservative state. Yet, when it comes to the size and scope of government, Texans ought to take a closer look. This is the first is a series of papers in which we will examine the growth of Texas’ state and local governments over the last...
by Bill Peacock | Jan 9, 2026 | Explainers
“Sometimes I Think That Property Tax Relief Actually Hurts People” “Sometimes I think that the result of this tax policy actually hurts people. In the instance of San Antonio, we [would] have the potential to actually lose jobs and major economic development should...
by Bill Peacock | Jan 7, 2026 | Explainers
“Local Jurisdictions Come from Behind Our Backs and Raise Property Taxes” “Every time we use billions of dollars to buy down your property tax rates at the local level, local jurisdictions come from behind our backs and raise those property taxes.”– Gov. Greg Abbott1...