(download a .pdf version of the article) The Texas Legislature has put $13.8 billion in spending on the November 7 constitutional amendments ballot. A vote by Texans to reject eight of these propositions (see below) would cut Texas’ spending of state funds by $13.8 billion, or more than 6% of projected spending over the next…
Category: Fiscal
A Review of the 88th Texas Legislature: the Texas Budget
The Texas Legislature adjourned May 29 ending its 88th regular legislative session. In its wake, a lot of bills were sent to Texas Governor Greg Abbott to become law with his signature. Many more bills were not passed or even considered. In this review of the Texas Legislature, we will review the bills that passed…
Reducing Texas Property Taxes is as Easy as One, Two, Three
Only in Austin could politicians defend not cutting property taxes by claiming doing so would mean more spending. Yet that is exactly what is happening in the Texas Capitol as politicians salivate over how to spend the state’s $27 billion — and growing — budget surplus. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been the most generous…
Conservatives and Christians Should Oppose the Texas Budget Because it is Built on Lies
If the Texas Legislature uses all funds available to it this session, it will appropriate at least $279 billion of taxpayer money during the upcoming biennium. That will be an increase of at least $31.5 billion, or 12.7%, from what it appropriated in 2019. Since the 2014-15 budget, the budget in place when much of…
The Dumbest Tax Increase
Biden’s capital-gains rate of 43.4% would reduce federal revenue By the WSJ Editorial Board If you need more evidence that ideology more than common sense is driving the Biden Presidency, look no further than its trial balloon to raise the top tax rate on capital gains to 43.4%. It’s the dumbest way to raise taxes…
Texas Leaders Spending Big $ in House and Senate Budgets
The budgets being considered by the Texas Senate and Texas House may look fiscally conservative on their face. However, once you look at the details, it is clear these budgets will continue the recent trend of the Texas Legislature significantly increasing state spending while manipulating the data in various ways in order to pretend otherwise….
It’s Time to Cut the Texas Budget
In 2019, the Texas Legislature appropriated a total of $258 billion, a 24 percent increase over what it appropriated in 2017. Looking at it a different way, the $248 billion the Legislature appropriated in 2019 for the current biennium was an increase of $32 billion, or 24 percent, over what it appropriated in 2017 for…
Republicans Will Not Stop Spending Our Money
Did you here the one about the latest report on government efficiency? It seems the thing that government is most efficient at is spending our money. For instance, every two years the Texas comptroller tells the Texas Legislature how much money is available for spending. And then, five months later, legislators pass a budget that…
Will Texans See Budget Gimmicks or Spending Restraint in 2021?
Every two years, thousands of lobbyists, industry reps, mayors, county commissioners, and other descend into the state Capitol building in Austin when the Texas Legislature convenes. And they all want one thing: your money. Unfortunately, for the most part, lawmakers are happy to provide it to them. The thing is, they don’t really want you…
Recent Local Tax Shortfalls Point Toward Declines In Revenue Across The State
This article originally ran in The Texan on April 30. With less than two months of data from the COVID-19 lockdown, the long term revenue picture for Texas state and local governments is still unclear. But the short term is beginning to come into focus. Cities, which rely heavily on various sales taxes, have been…