Taxes & Spending
Eliminating Texas’ Rising Property Tax Burden
2017 08 02 Testimony Eliminating Rising Property Tax Burden HB285 CFP VanceGinn by texaspolicy on Scribd
August 3, 2017
Taxes & Spending
Priorities Matter: A ‘Plethora’ of Waste in Bexar County
Texas has a property tax problem. The Lone Star State currently imposes the sixth highest effective property tax rate in the nation, and in 2015 alone, more than 4,100 local taxing entities soaked taxpayers for $52.2 billion in property taxes. That’s enough to take $1,900 from every man, woman, and child in Texas or about $8,000 from...
August 2, 2017
Taxes & Spending
Answering the HB 4 Critics
Property tax reformers scored a big win on Friday when the House Ways and Means committee voted 8 – 1 to advance House Bill 4, a proposal to reduce the rollback tax rate and require an automatic election for large local governments wanting to increase their budgets by more. That pair of structural reforms is...
August 1, 2017
Taxes & Spending
Why jurisdictions are a bigger taxing problem than schools
Over the long-term, lawmakers should be thinking about how to achieve the ultimate prosperity-generating reform: the elimination of property taxes entirely.
August 1, 2017
Economy
Acting as a dues collector is not the proper role of government
The answer to all of these arguments is as simple as it is proper: it is not the role of the government to act as the middleman and dues collector for private organizations, including unions. Prohibiting the government from acting as a dues-collector for unions, or other organizations, puts both government and unions in their proper place.
July 31, 2017
Taxes & Spending
Annexation is taxation without representation
It’s time to end forced annexation by giving affected property owners a chance to vote. Only by giving them a voice in the process can we live up to our founding principles.
July 31, 2017
Criminal Justice
Veritas July 2017
FEATURES: 1. The 85th Texas Legislature Round-up A Conservative Texas Budget, major changes to our beleaguered foster care system, and significant criminal justice reform highlighted conservative successes in the recently concluded regular session of the 85th Texas Legislature. This feature highlights the victories—and some of the areas in which we still have work to be...
July 30, 2017
Local Government
Liberal disregard for judicial deference harms faith in the law
If courts decide that the rules don’t apply when precedent leads to a decision they ideologically differ with, the outcome impacts more than the specific case — it undermines the public’s faith and reliance in judicial objectivity.
July 29, 2017
Local Government
How California is like Texas: Both exercise federalism
States should govern themselves on matters of public welfare. They know their citizens better than the Washington monolith.
July 29, 2017
Taxes & Spending
HB 208: Texans Deserve a Conservative Spending Limit
2017 07 26 Testimony Conservative Spending Limit HB208 CFP VanceGinn by texaspolicy on Scribd
July 27, 2017
Taxes & Spending
HJR 1: Need for a Conservative Spending Limit
2017 07 26 Testimony Conservative Spending Limit HJR1 CFP VanceGinn by texaspolicy on Scribd
July 27, 2017
Taxes & Spending
A Matter of Priorities: San Marcos’ $55,000 Mermaid Statutes
Texas’ property tax burden is enormous. In 2015, more than 4,100 local taxing entities soaked taxpayers for $52.2 billion in property taxes. That’s enough to ding every man, woman, and child in Texas for $1,900 or cost a family of four about $8,000. Most agree that the burden is too high, but attempts at easing...
July 26, 2017