Texas’ franchise tax was expanded in 2008. With four years’ experience in collecting what is referred to as the “margin” tax, it is clear that abolishing the margin tax is the right “fix” for Texas.
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Chuck DeVore is the vice president of national initiatives at the Foundation. He writes about the economy and how energy, tax and regulatory policies influence general prosperity, and he frequently appears on Fox News. He also guides the Foundation’s growing national work in criminal justice reform. He authored the book The Texas Model: Prosperity in the Lone Star State and Lessons for America.
James Quintero is the policy director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Government for the People campaign. Since joining the Foundation in 2008, Quintero has focused extensively on: state & local government spending, taxes, debt, public pension reform, annexation, and local regulations.
Texas’ franchise tax was expanded in 2008. With four years’ experience in collecting what is referred to as the “margin” tax, it is clear that abolishing the margin tax is the right “fix” for Texas.
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Many city, county, and school district officials are in the early stages of deciding where to set their tax rates for the next fiscal year. In some cases, these local decisions will push property taxes higher, creating new challenges for family budgets and forcing tough personal choices. Given the very real prospect of tax hikes on the...
In October 2025, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath notified Fort Worth ISD (FWISD) trustees and administrators that “chronically low levels of support given to students and very low levels of academic performance” had prompted a state takeover of district operations. In support of the intervention, officials provided ample evidence of the obvious problems, like...
Every even-numbered year, the state’s Legislative Budget Board (LBB) publishes a helpful, user-friendly summation of the General Appropriations Act (GAA), otherwise known as the state’s two-year budget. On Wednesday, the LBB published the next iteration—its 2024-25 Fiscal Size-Up. From a 30,000 ft. level, this new report provides “a comprehensive review of how tax dollars were...