Months ago when the Big Three first unveiled this session’s signature property tax “relief” bill, and remember it was introduced as the “Property Tax Reform and Relief Act of 2019,” they were flanked at a news conference by Senate Property Tax Committee Chairman Paul Bettencourt and Ways and Means Chair Dustin Burrows. Without those chairmen […]
Tag Archives: Texas Legislature
Doubling down on sales tax swap, Abbott puts Texas Republicans in a box
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Patrick meets Straus on the Speaker’s preferred battlefield
Throughout his ascendancy at the Texas Capitol, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has proven time and again the ability to adapt to the political environment. Unlike many in the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party from which he derives his support, Patrick comes to government to govern, not to protest. As Patrick rolled out his […]
Flashback: TPPF revised estimate in Texas budget growth down to 9% from nearly 30%
Note: This story originally appeared in The Quorum Report in 2014 after the Texas Public Policy Foundation dramatically revised its analysis of the budget passed by the Legislature in 2013. The information here is worth considering after TPPF this week released its “Conservative Texas Budget.” Bottom line: Once the GOP primaries were concluded in 2014, […]
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Heavily amended ethics reform bill passes the Texas Senate
After a lengthy and sometimes heated debate, the Texas Senate on Tuesday passed an “ethics reform” bill that had been watered down in committee and was then loaded up with amendments on the floor. As announced by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick from the dais, the vote on final passage of Senate Bill 19 by Sen. […]
Texas House and Senate in a Budget Showdown
Facing criticism from Texas House Republican leadership and despite the concerns of one key GOP senator about certain tax cuts, the Texas Senate this past week passed its version of the state’s two-year spending plan on a vote of 30 to 1. Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, cast the lone “no” vote. The $211 billion budget, […]
Harvey Kronberg: I’m Not Slowing Down
On Thursday, the owner and publisher of The Quorum Report, Harvey Kronberg, announced that I have been promoted to editor of the publication. I could not be more honored and humbled to know that he has the confidence to put me in a position of such responsibility. Something does need to be clarified, though: Harvey […]
Some in Business Join With Labor to Call for Mandatory Workers’ Comp in Texas
Note: This story originally appeared on The Quorum Report. Join us there daily for coverage of Texas politics and government. The Texas House Business and Industry Committee on Tuesday got down to work this week on an extensive review of whether workers’ comp insurance should continue to be voluntary. Texas, as you may know, is […]
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Texas House Committee Hearing This Week on Worker Misclassification
A Texas House Committee has scheduled a hearing on the issue of worker misclassification and what more the state may need to do to combat the problem that is particularly rampant in the construction industry. The House Business and Industry Committee will take testimony on the implementation of a limited crackdown that was signed into […]
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Thrown Away People
“If a piece of the building falls to the ground and breaks, they have insurance for that,” said a middle aged man in a wheelchair in Houston. Tweet Share
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About Scott
Scott Braddock is a journalist and political analyst based in Austin.
