Not all heroes wear capes—some simply skip a meeting or two. That’s how two Harris County commissioners blocked an onrushing property tax hike that would have cost taxpayers there an additional $245.2 million. By breaking quorum, Commissioners Tom Ramsey and Jack Cagle denied the Harris County Commissioners Court the supermajority it needed for a tax...
How many people entered the U.S. illegally in fiscal year 2022? More than 2.76 million, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB). That’s roughly equivalent to the population of Chicago. That number does not include the legal immigrants that CBP inspected, nor does it include the millions of individuals that CBP interacts with...
In 2019, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 477 into law in an attempt to improve debt transparency (something sorely needed given our fiscal condition). One of the new law’s chief features is the creation of a Voter Information Document (VID), an educational tool that taxpayers can use to learn about newly-proposed debt measures. In...
Mexico’s military remains silent more than a month after the massive leak of documents from the Defence Secretariat, which was hacked by activist group Guacamaya. Defence Secretary Gen. Luis Cresencio Sandoval refused to appear at before the national defence committee in the lower house of Congress to explain the hack, then sat silently in the...
When President Joe Biden declared war on “rogue firearm dealers” in the summer of 2021 it wasn’t to target stores that were serving as pipelines to send guns to criminals and cartels. In reality—based on internal memoranda and ATF practices over the past year—Biden was declaring war on firearm dealers that commit inadvertent paperwork errors...
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...
For whatever reason, Texas public schools seem to be engaged in an awful lot of election-related shenanigans recently. For instance, a few years ago Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued “cease and desist letters to Brazosport, Holliday and Lewisville Independent School Districts regarding violations of the Texas Education Code for unlawful electioneering.” Later that same...
Here they come again. On Election Day, more than 150 local governmental entities will ask Texas voters for permission to go $21 billion deeper into debt. The borrowing binge comes just as voters approved $24 billion at the ballot box in May. Using the Texas Bond Review Board’s Bond Elections Database, one thing about all...
If physicians have the licensed expertise to prescribe a drug, shouldn’t they be able to sell it to the patient they personally care for? Most states agree, yet Texas is one that continues to say no. In allowing physicians to dispense medication—as do 45 states already—the patient is prioritized. Not only would this make drugs...
There’s a fine line separating prosecution and persecution, yet it’s one that holds the very legitimacy of the justice system within its bounds. When it blurs, the law changes from a tool of public safety into a means of depriving the public of its safety. Unfortunately, a new poll suggests that a majority of American...
DALLAS—Bonton was supposed to be a haven from the crime, the drugs and the poverty. That’s how Daris Lee’s father found himself in the small, secluded Dallas community. Daris’ father was sent from California to live with relatives in Bonton. But it proved to be no haven at all; Daris’ father soon became involved with...
Amarillo voters thought they had made themselves very clear: They weren’t interested in funding a new convention center. Two years ago, they shot down a $275 million bond proposal. No thanks, they said. To get around the voters, Amarillo city hall came up with a complex financing scheme that hinged on the issuance of $260...