Energy & Environment

Biosolids in Agriculture: The Strife not with Mother Nature, but Man-Made Chemicals

In Johnson County, Texas, ranchers are facing sickened family members and dying cattle—not from nature, but from man-made chemicals. Tony Coleman and James Farmer, two local ranchers, noticed rancid odors from their neighbor’s property— stemming from the large, conspicuous piles of smoking fertilizer. Then when heavy rain poured down, the runoff flowed into Coleman’s and...

February 6, 2025

Taxes & Spending

Guard the Gains

On Sunday, Governor Greg Abbott delivered the State of the State address, covering a wide range of critical issues, like border security, school choice, and cybersecurity. However, for many tax-weary Texans, his remarks on the property tax were perhaps the most welcome. As he has done on prior occasions, Governor Abbott urged the Legislature to...

February 5, 2025

Health Care

Charity Care Could Help the Uninsured (If They Knew About It)

According to a new survey conducted by WPA Intelligence for TPPF, the vast majority of Texans have no idea what charity care is or that it could be an important solution to providing health care for low-income patients. Every non-profit hospital is required by Section 501 (r) of the federal tax code to set forth...

February 5, 2025

Border Security

Even Mexico should recognize cartels as terrorist organizations

The undeclared war against the Mexican criminal cartels went hot again last Monday, when cartel gunmen opened fire on U.S. Border Patrol agents in Fronton, Texas, during an illegal smuggling operation. Mexican cartels, terror organizations by any reasonable definition, now feel so emboldened they are shooting at American law enforcement on U.S. soil. This is precisely...

February 5, 2025

Homelessness

Funding Failure

The Austin city council is once again patting themselves on the back for a tremendous nonachievement. Without any change in strategy to serve the homeless population of the city, officials have decided to continue throwing money at the problem and hope that, this time, $350 million over ten years is the charm. The Council touts...

February 5, 2025

Taxes & Spending

Back With a Vengeance

In 2023, the Texas Legislature passed a historic tax relief package to lower school taxes, primarily through tax rate compression and an increase in the homestead exemption. Together, these measures were supposed “to cut the average homeowner’s tax bill by roughly $1,300 per year,” thereby providing much-needed relief to those laboring under the twin ills...

February 3, 2025

Taxes & Spending

New Property Tax Report Takeaways

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has published a new report offering interesting insights and details on local property tax trends, with a particular emphasis on “tax rate and value information for tax years 2022 and 2023.” This information has the potential to illuminate certain aspects of the hotly anticipated property tax relief and reform...

February 3, 2025

Other

Winners & Losers: Final Week of January

Every Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio in Austin where we discuss who made the list of Winners & Losers for the previous week. President Donald Trump’s makes it clear daily that he intends to change pretty much everything, which gets him on the top of...

January 31, 2025

K-12 Education

The “Choice” Question

“We have school choice in Texas. If you don’t like your public school, you can go to private school or homeschool.” That’s a familiar refrain from opponents of creating school choice programs, like vouchers or education savings accounts. They are, of course, technically correct because those are legal alternatives to sending kids to public school....

January 30, 2025

Property Rights

My DNA, My Say

Congressman Tom Cole once stated, “Private ownership of property is vital to both our freedom and our prosperity.” This could not be truer, whether that includes one’s home, car, and the myriads of other types of real and intangible property. Protection of private property rights is a cornerstone of both Texas and the U.S. While...

January 29, 2025

Taxes & Spending

5 Ways to Revamp the Property Tax System

The next Texas Legislature began on January 14, 2025, giving state-level policymakers their next best opportunity to revisit property tax relief and property tax reform. The former refers to lowering tax bills while the latter speaks to keeping them down. This column concerns itself with the latter, tax reform, and offers several suggestions to protect...

January 28, 2025

Border Security

Yes, Republican Leaders Have The Authority To Rein In Birthright Citizenship

The framers added the Fourteenth Amendment’s ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ clause for an important, specific reason. In his first hours in office, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order curtailing the practice of unlimited birthright citizenship. Many think the Fourteenth Amendment calls for citizenship for everyone born in America. Left-wing attorneys general in 18...

January 28, 2025