Of late, several Texas cities and counties have established guaranteed income programs (GIPs), which employ redistributive means to provide regular cash payments to select members of a community,
with no strings attached and no work requirement. These publicly-administered programs tend to be “organized around the principles of collectivism, social justice, and government control” (Quintero & Kirwin, 2024, p. 2). Despite certain constitutional and statutory limitations, numerous Texas cities and counties have attempted to establish these types of programs, including the cities of Austin and San Antonio, as well as El Paso and Harris counties.
Local Government
When Government Lobbies Itself: Why Texas Should Ban Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying
Texas local governments use taxpayer dollars to hire lobbyists to influence state legislation—creating conflicts of interest, distorting democratic accountability, and undermining the interests of Texas taxpayers. Key points: Taxpayer-funded lobbying expenditures more than doubled from the 85th to the 89th Legislature, now reaching as high as $111.5 million. Taxpayer-funded lobbyists consistently opposed legislation involving property...
April 6, 2026