What Is the Texas Prosperity Plan?
The prevailing narrative in Texas is that as the ninth-largest economy in the world, Texas is open for business!
There is something amiss in Texas, though. No one wants to talk about it, but it is something that will only continue to negatively affect the prosperity of future generations of Texans to come unless-those who support limited government go on the offense.
Republicans have controlled both the state Legislature and every statewide office for nearly two decades, yet they seem more concerned with maintaining the status quo than actually cutting the size and scope of government.
It is time for offense… enter the Texas Prosperity Plan. 👇
Local governments, including jurisdictions like school districts, spend millions of your hard-earned taxpayer dollars to hire corporate lobbyists, who then lobby lawmakers on their behalf to give them even more of your tax dollars.
It is a massive conflict of interest, and that interest is never in favor of the taxpayer. To make matters worse, the problem only continues to get bigger!
This would be akin to hiring the fox to design the security for your hen house and take care of the chickens. In the same way that it is in the foxes’ nature to eat the chickens, it is in a lobbyist’s nature to support their client and take more of your tax dollars. We say, fire the fox and have the farmer design the security!
Our local elected officials, like you, already have the ability to speak with lawmakers, testify on legislation, and help influence it along the legislative process on your behalf. As a matter of fact, that is why we elect them in the first place!
Thomas Jefferson once said:
“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
In the 2020 Republican primary election, a ballot proposition in support of banning the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying overwhelmingly passed with nearly 95% support. The Republican Party of Texas has included the issue as a legislative priority for the last two legislative cycles, yet the state Legislature has yet to pass a ban on the practice despite holding a Republican majority.
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility believes it is beyond time that we end this practice in Texas.
Texas has levied a property tax since its founding. Currently, Texas “boasts” the sixth-highest property tax burden in the United States, and property taxes themselves have increased 181% in the last 20 years.
Not only are homeowners drowning while trying to keep up with increasing tax burdens, but the taxes will never stop, even after you completely own your home. That means you pay perpetual rent to the government for the right to live at your property.
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility believes that the concept of property taxes is immoral and unsustainable for a free society. There is a better way to fund local governments and our schools WITHOUT creating any new taxes.
Right before the ongoing 88th Legislative Session began, the Texas Comptroller gave his Biennial Revenue Estimate (BRE) which confirmed speculation that lawmakers face a historic budget surplus of $32.6 billion, surpassing the previous estimate (given in July of 2022) of nearly $27 billion.
As you can imagine, many lawmakers and lobbyists are already chomping at the bit on how to spend it.
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility believes that money should be given back to its rightful owners: you the taxpayers. Using just this and future surpluses, Texas can eliminate the need for school property taxes within the next 10 years, or even less time if lawmakers actually cut government spending simultaneously.
In the most recent Republican Primary Election, more than 75% of Republican voters agreed that the property tax should be ended. Will Republican lawmakers respond accordingly?
Do you think the government is too big?
Virtually every taxpayer consistently answers that question with a resounding YES!
If taxpayers feel as though the size and scope of their government is too large, then why do we continue to allow our state budget to grow at all? Texans for Fiscal Responsibility believes it is because we start from the wrong premise on state spending.
Did you know that since the beginning of the 21st century, Texas’ state budget has increased by almost 170% and is on track to triple in size in just a few years? In contrast, Texas’ population has only increased by 40% during that same period.
This all happened because fiscal responsibility is not prioritized by the state Legislature. Yes, in recent legislative sessions, they have “slowed the growth” and adopted a new constitutional spending limit based on the growth of both population and inflation, but the government still grows this way.
With a budget surplus of a record $32.6 billion this legislative session and with inflation hitting yet another 40-year high causing the cost of living to rise, coupled with reportedly high property tax appraisals across the state (despite promised relief by the state Legislature), the time is now for the state to get its fiscal house in order and prioritize fiscal responsibility.
To fix a bloated government, we must cut the size and scope of government down to a size that’s both manageable and reasonable, as the Founders originally intended.
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility believes the best way to do this is by capping our budget where it currently sits and encouraging lawmakers to cut wasteful agencies and programs.
Contact Your Lawmaker
Until taxpayers are willing to go on the offense and demand that their elected officials make efforts to ensure prosperity for both current and future generations of Texans, we will always be on the defense. Consider the Texas Prosperity Plan as that offensive proposal.
Contact your state lawmaker and let them know that you support the Texas Prosperity Plan–and while you are at it, encourage other Texas taxpayers to do the same.
Join us in the fight and help us secure a fiscally responsible future.