Empower Texans

No one wants to say its dead, but it looks like the Texas Legislature may be on a path to a “special session” to try to fix the state’s budget. No, it’s not a lack of money — it’s a lack of legislative leadership. The budget is dying because lawmakers have refused to govern responsibly….

According to media reports, the Texas Legislature’s House and Senate budget conferees have apparently reached a “deal” that adds $3.9 Billion in education spending while drawing at least $2 Billion from the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund. A very big caveat: The details of the budget deal are currently only available through media reports, which makes…

A strong Texas needs a strong savings account. In 1989, Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment creating the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF), commonly referred to as the “rainy day” fund, “…to be used to offset unforeseen shortfalls in revenue.” After the oil bust in the early 1980s, Texans voted for the ESF to save money…

By: Owen Stroud Not every local election is necessarily a loss to the unchecked expansion of government. Last weekend featured at least two positive indicators of a turn against frivolous spending. On May 11, voters across Central Texas went to the polls for the final day of local elections. Though many of the races experienced…

While those focusing on the budgeting process during the last few weeks of session will likely key in on hot topics like Water, Transportation and Education, many will likely miss the Legislature’s cowardly attempt to pad their own pensions under the auspices of a judicial pay raise. Legislators love to tell how noble they are…

With the national media finally catching on to the harassment of tea party organizations and conservative groups by the Obama Administration’s IRS, state reporters are busily looking the other way at an attempt by State Sen. Kel Seliger and State Rep. Charlie Geren to do the same thing under the auspices of the Texas Ethics…

Texas drivers can celebrate a small victory tonight because San Angelo State Rep. Drew Darby’s bill hiking fees for vehicle registrations hit a legislative roadblock in the House. After facing stiff opposition from legislators not wishing to break campaign pledges of no new taxes and fees, Mr. Darby killed his bill blaming “forces outside the…

When Barack Obama became president, the first bill he signed into law was one that validated the concerns of misguided leftist feminists (I know, that seems awfully repetitive).  The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act changed the way disputes over discriminatory pay can be litigated, though it was found to only apply federally, and not in…