During the Regular Session, the 89th Texas Legislature passed three key measures to meaningfully improve fiscal transparency and cultivate a more informed decision-making environment. These well-intentioned measures include:
• HB 103 (2025), relating to the creation and maintenance of a database of taxing unit bond, tax, and bond-related project information; providing a civil penalty;
• HB 3526 (2025), relating to fiscal transparency for bonds issued by local governmental entities; and
• SB 843 (2025), relating to a Texas Education Agency database of school district and open-enrollment charter school bonds, taxes, and bond-related projects.
Election Integrity
Toward a More Well-Informed Citizenry
The 86th Texas Legislature sought to enhance public debt transparency through the creation of Voter Information Documents (VID). However, this instrument is not accurately providing debt amounts and needs reform. Key points: Governments are manipulating the VID methodology to deny voters accurate tax impact estimates. Many VIDs are dissimilar, making comparative analysis challenging. There is...
July 31, 2026