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.
Transparency Gets a Day in Court
Government transparency is one of those rare ideas that Texans and Americans can almost universally agree on. Whatever your ideological or partisan persuasion, polling consistently shows 90% of people believe taxpayers at least have a right to know what their government is doing with their money. The Texas Public Information Act reflects the shared principle...