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.
Local Government
Lawful Graft on Manor Road
Austin’s NGO machine isn’t breaking any rules. That’s the problem. Since October 2023, the City of Austin has paid $1.58 million to a progressive nonprofit with deep ties to Democratic socialism: the Workers Defense Project (WDP). Curiously, three councilmembers who oversee that spending—Vanessa Fuentes, José Velásquez, and Mike Siegel—won their seats with support from a political committee run by WDP’s own affiliate. Curiouser still, the organization’s lobbyists have worked city hall continuously...
September 3, 2026