Texas Senate

Subject: Expanding Corporate Welfare, Senate Bill 874 (SB 874)

• Author: State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: SB 874 seeks to expand the list of qualified recipients under the major events reimbursement program to that of the T20 World Cup Cricket competition. Government should not be in the business of stealing from taxpayers to give corporate welfare in the form of reimbursement for major events. This practice is antithetical to free enterprise and TFR opposes all subsidies and corporate welfare.

Subject: Prohibition on Public Funds for Child Abuse, Senate Bill 1029 (SB 1029)

• Author: State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 1029 seeks to prevent state-sponsored health plans from supporting the mutilation of children. TFR believes that tax dollars should never be used to abuse children. SB 1029 creates civil liability for any agency that uses tax dollars to cover genital mutilation surgery. For this reason, TFR supports SB 1029.

Subject: Expanding Free Speech Protections in Higher Education, Senate Bill 1711 (SB 1711)

• Author: State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 1711 seeks to further protect freedom of speech and religious liberty for students and student organizations at public universities. When institutions are funded by tax dollars, there is no place for speech suppression. This bill protects students from universities trying to silence students based on religious or political ideology. For this reason, TFR supports SB 1960.

Texas House of Representatives

Subject: Pre-emption of Local Government Regulations, House Bill 2127 (HB 2127)

• Author: State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: HB 2127 seeks to preempt local government regulations that infringe upon free enterprise and stifle businesses. One thing we learned from the COVID-19 lockdowns is that local governments have way too much latitude and ability to regulate businesses. HB 2127 would make sure that all businesses are able to conduct themselves without having to jump through hoops at the local level. For this reason, TFR supports HB 2127

Subject: Property Tax Exemption at Expense of Other Taxpayers, House Joint Resolution 45 (HJR 45)

• Author: State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: Ultimately HJR 45 seeks to allow for a local property tax exemption for a physician that provides healthcare services while also not seeking payment for those services from the state and federal Medicaid programs. Exempting one group from a tax only increases the burden on those who do not qualify for such an exemption, unless the spending of the local government levying the tax is simultaneously lowered, thereby lessening the burden. Texas taxpayers absolutely deserve property tax relief but providing an exemption for one group at the expense of another is not the right approach. For these reasons, TFR opposes HJR 45.

Subject: Property Tax Exemption at Expense of Other Taxpayers, House Bill 596 (HB 596)

• Author: State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: HB 596 is the enabling legislation for HJR 45. Ultimately HB 596 seeks to allow for a local property tax exemption for a physician that provides healthcare services while also not seeking payment for those services from the state and federal Medicaid programs. Exempting one group from a tax only increases the burden on those who do not qualify for such an exemption, unless the spending of the local government levying the tax is simultaneously lowered, thereby lessening the burden. Texas taxpayers absolutely deserve property tax relief but providing an exemption for one group at the expense of another is not the right approach. For these reasons, TFR opposes HB 596.

Subject: Pro-Taxpayer, House Bill 1922 (HB 1922)

• Author: State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr. (D-Houston)
• TFR Position: Support/Amend
• Background: HB 1922 seeks to provide for the abolishment of a municipal building permit fee every ten years and requires citizen input before reauthorizing the fee. HB 1922 rightfully increases transparency for Texas taxpayers and makes progress in eliminating fees altogether. TFR supports HB 1922, as a step in the right direction, but would like to see amendments that decrease the amount of time for abolishment down to 2-5 years. Ideally, fees such as these would not exist at all.

Subject: Increasing Reliance on Government Welfare, House Bill 2802 (HB 2802)

• Author: State Rep. Toni Rose (D-Dallas)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: HB 2802 seeks to change the current “opt-in” system to that of an “opt-out” system with regard to Medicaid and the information available to recipients. HB 2802 is simply an underhanded attempt to increase reliance on the government for healthcare and ultimately will result in expanding Medicaid use. The proposed change nearly guarantees an increase in the number of people in an already overburdened safety net. Lawmakers should be considering legislation that works to get more Texans off of this program whilst decreasing regulation and freeing up the market to make healthcare more affordable. For this reason, TFR opposes HB 2802.

Subject: Academic Transcript Sales Tax Exemption, House Bill 105 (HB 105)

• Author: State Rep. Candy Noble (R-Lucas)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: HB 105 seeks to exempt a transaction for an academic transcript at a private university from the sales tax, something that public universities do not consider, given that they are exempt from the tax as a whole. For these reasons, TFR supports HB 105.

Reminder: Vote Notices are provided to both Texas state lawmakers and the general public in advance of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility’s position on issues to be rated as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Index prior to votes being taken in each legislative chamber.

Disclaimer: We reserve the right to consider amendments to legislation that may be introduced without notice as a part of issues to be rated as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Index. We will make every effort to provide notice on amendments that are pre-filed