Beginning in earnest last session, state lawmakers began proposing and passing legislation aimed at reining in some of these local excesses, and next session is shaping up to be no different with many high-profile issues in the crosshairs. But Texas is far from alone in trying to rein in local policymaking run amok.
During the last legislative session, local government officials and their Austin-based associations were out in force, making the case that the Legislature ought not interfere with “local control.” But, as conservatives countered, the principle was never intended to justify tyrannical policies and, more importantly, “liberty always trumps local control.”
Despite Austin’s reputation as one of the most welcoming cities in the world, local officials continue to adopt policies that are hostile to outsiders. Take the city’s onerous new restrictions on short-term rentals (STRs), for instance.
Uber’s presence in an urban area decreased the rate of criminal & disorderly conduct arrests
In a recent press conference, the City of San Antonio (a city well-known for its propensity towards expansive annexation projects) announced that, after extensive study and analysis, officials would radically scale back its annexation plans.
On Tuesday, almost two-dozen Members of the Texas Legislature filed an amicus brief in support of the Laredo Merchants Association’s legal challenge to the City of Laredo’s plastic bag ban. A number of Texas cities either have or are considering similar restrictions.
On Friday, the Texas Public Policy Foundation took aim at the City of Austin’s tragically flawed short-term rental (STR) ordinance, filing suit in Travis County District Court. Suing the city is not a decision that was made in haste; it was determined to be absolutely necessary to protect Austinites’ property rights, economic liberties, and the basic freedoms of privacy and movement taken for granted by most Texans.
Are your property taxes too high? Are they not only high, but growing fast too? Shouldn’t there be some sort of protection against being taxed out of your home? Those are just some of the questions raised by the Texas Senate’s Select Committee on Property Tax Reform & Relief in a series of recent interim...
The key to solving Texas’ pension problems hinge on eliminating this outdated, unworkable system and transitioning to a defined contribution model, a type of retirement program that is both sustainable and reliable for all involved.
Are city governments suffocating ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft with too much red tape? That was one of the many questions asked at last week’s local government forum, Is Big Government Driving Out Ridesharing?, featuring Senator Don Huffines, Austin City Councilmember Ellen Troxclair, the R Street Institute’s Josiah Neeley, and the Travis County Democratic Party’s Joe Deshotel.
Moody’s pegged state and local governments’ unfunded liabilities at roughly the same amount, bringing the total U.S. pension shortfall to 40% of GDP.
The district’s decision to arbitrarily raise its minimum hourly wage from $10 to $12 — a 20 percent pay raise not based on merit — comes at a difficult time for SAISD, which is not only struggling with soaring debt but is also seeing its student population slowly disappear.