Letter to the Texas House of Representatives

May 10, 2011

This letter expresses the Foundation’s concerns regarding one-time measures included in numerous “fiscal matters” bills and encourages the Texas House of Representatives to continue focusing on reductions rather than revenue enhancements.

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Southern Spirit Line: High Voltage Hype, Low Impact for Texas

The proposed Southern Spirit transmission line connecting Texas to Louisiana and Mississippi has generated a lot of headlines over the past week, with my favorite coming from the publication Electrek: “Hell froze over in Texas—the state will connect to the U.S. grid for the first time via a fed grant.” I laughed. The article fails...

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Taxes & Spending

Assessing Tax Trends in the City of Dallas

Does history suggest that property taxes are too high in the city of Dallas? And, if so, have local decision-makers actively helped or hurt the situation? To help answer these questions, let’s review the city’s 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and gather four types of data—i.e., tax levies, local population, total tax rates, and taxable values—over a 10-year time horizon. Using these audited estimates, we can gauge the growth of government (i.e., tax levy trends), assess its reasonability...

February 18, 2026

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What the Private Sector can Teach the Public Sector about Efficiency

Recently, former President Trump floated the idea of creating “a government efficiency commission a federal commission to audit the entire federal government.” And even better, he suggested putting Elon Musk in charge of the commission, saying he is a great “cost-cutter.” Unleashing a commission of this nature on the federal government, led by a titan...

October 17, 2024

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Southern Spirit Line: High Voltage Hype, Low Impact for Texas

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