Daniel Sánchez-Piñol, Ph.D., is an Economist at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF). Before joining TPPF, Daniel was a Research Assistant for the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University. He has taught economic courses at Texas Tech University, Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala, and Universidad Vicente Rocafuerte in Ecuador.
On Thursday, the Texas House and the Texas Senate released the conference committee report for House Bill 1, which represents the state’s nearly complete budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The measure now goes back to both chambers for approval. It will take some time to fully grasp the 1,000+ page document, but a...
Texas’ 2024-25 budget continues to swell to uncomfortably high levels. On Monday, the Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 1 (SCSHB1) passed unanimously on the Senate floor. This version added $6 billion in total spending as compared to the House counterpart (CSHB1), bringing the total to $308 billion. This additional spending means a biennial increase...
The House began debating the budget on Thursday. Unfortunately, the last version of the budget contains spending growth that exceeds fiscal conservative standards for a limited state government. Things started reasonably well at the beginning of the session. The first version of HB1 showed spending growth under the Conservative Texas Budget (CTB). However, the House...
After the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank failures, lawmakers in Texas should take these events as warning signs and proceed with caution when planning the 2024-25 budget. Unfortunately, instead of doing this, the House Committee Substitute for House Bill 1 (CSHB1) will boost spending even more and tap resources from the Rainy Day...
The House’s proposed budget for the 2024-25 biennium, House Bill 1, is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee of Appropriations on Thursday. As we move forward in the budget process, it is important to consider these two key questions: Are we spending too much or too little? To answer this question, we...
Texans are struggling with high property taxes, soaring prices, and stagnant income. As a result, most big-budget players favor some property tax relief. For instance, Gov. Greg Abbot declared his intention to use half of the actual surplus fund ($16.3 billion) for this initiative. Likewise, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick revealed that property tax relief is...
Washington’s progressive policies have substantially reduced economic freedom, which in 2020 hit the lowest score since 1975, and resulted in a U.S. recession and 40-year high inflation. And in Texas, high property taxes from excessive local government spending have contributed to an affordability crisis for many families. Unfortunately, things will get worse nationally, likely dampening...
Americans are facing a housing affordability crisis—and Texans are no exception. Texas families struggle to make ends meet with high inflation, stagnating wages, and rising mortgage rates. Add high property taxes to the equation, and it is not difficult to see why 1-in-2 Texans reported that they were behind on rent or mortgage payments and...
While a stagnating economy with high inflation is what economists usually call stagflation, the current situation is worse, as the real economy is declining. So there’s much less to go around for everyone—making us poorer in the process. This inflation-recession could be resolved by Washington reversing course, but President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress...
Americans are sacrificing their savings to keep up with soaring inflation. This burden has contributed to consumer sentiment reaching its lowest level in June since the University of Michigan started the survey in January 1978. And the progressive policies in D.C. could soon make this bad situation worse. The personal saving rate, which is the...