Taking a look at the budget and Texas’ $80 billion budget surplus Executive Summary Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s Biennial Revenue Estimate (BRE) biennium projects a budget surplus of $23.76 billion in state funds for the current 2024-25 fiscal biennium.  But…

The machinery of government should not be used to facilitate the financial operations of private organizations—regardless of their mission or membership. While state and local governments exist to serve the people of Texas, they were never intended to act as…

This headline in last week’s Houston Chronicle captured all that is wrong with the Texas electricity market: Since 2013, when the Operating Reserve Demand Curve was approved, the Texas Legislature has sought to deal with the grid reliability problems caused…

This week, the Texas Senate took a significant step toward ending the egregious practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, passing Senate Bill 19 (SB 19) by a vote of 20-11. Filed by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), this legislation represents a critical…

For far too long, Texas taxpayers have been forced to foot the bill for lobbyists who often work against their own interests. Taxpayer-funded lobbying by local governments is an unethical practice that drains public funds and undermines the will of…

Texas Lottery Under Fire for Alleged Money Laundering and Corruption The Texas Lottery has once again found itself at the center of controversy, as recent Senate Finance Committee hearings exposed a series of alarming allegations, including money laundering, regulatory negligence,…

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has issued the following vote notice for February 18th, 2025  Texas House of Representatives None Texas Senate Subject: Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJR 1) –  No bail for illegal aliens charged with felonies. Subject: Senate Bill 40 (SB 40)…

On Thursday, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 4 (SB 4), the Senate’s initially proposed property tax relief legislation, which raises the homestead exemption for school property taxes. SB 4, along with it’s accompanying constitutional amendment SJR 2, will utilize…

The Texas Senate has recently passed SB 2, a landmark piece of legislation that introduces school choice for families across the state. This bill seeks to ensure that Texas students have access to the best educational opportunities available, whether that…

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has issued the following vote notice for February 11th, 2025  Texas House of Representatives None Texas Senate Subject: Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) –  Property Tax Relief, Raising the Homestead Exemption Reminder: Vote Notices are provided to…

Earlier this month, the Texas Senate unveiled its interim charges, which are topics of study assigned to Senate committees during the interim period between legislative sessions. These charges, issued by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, guide committees in their research…

We are now ten days into the third Special Session of the Texas Legislature. While school choice has been a focal point of the session thus far, another major area of concern is the ongoing border crisis and illegal immigration. …

Rumors had abounded for months that Governor Abbott was going to call a third special session to address so-called “school choice.” The third special session of the year has officially been called by Governor Abbott, with the State Legislature to…

The Texas State Legislature meets for its Constitutionally-required regular session once every odd-numbered year for 140 days from roughly mid-January to the end of May. The Governor can call additional special sessions of thirty days at any point outside of…