The tax bill currently making its way through Congress would make it more difficult for Texas and our local governments to provide the public services that we all need. Under current law, you do not have to pay federal taxes on
Last week we dug into Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s revenue update for the 2018-2019 state budget cycle. Compared to his January forecast, Comptroller Hegar now predicts more rapid economic growth. But the details of the revenue update show that
During the 2017 Texas Regular Legislative Session, lawmakers passed an important bill related to mental health parity (House Bill 10). The new law, signed by Governor Abbott, aims to address ongoing challenges with mental health and substance use disorder
After 29 extra days at the Texas Capitol, lawmakers head back to their districts without having accomplished much. That’s good news, because Governor Greg Abbott’s 20 priorities mostly would have harmed Texans. There were a few good things that
CPPP Senior Policy Analyst, Chandra Villanueva, co-wrote this post. This post was updated on August 16th, 2017. The final version of HB 21 is a step in the wrong direction, worsening funding disparities between charter and traditional public schools. HB 21 also
This Saturday the Texas House will take up Senate Bill 1, a dangerous bill that would limit the ability of local governments to raise the revenue needed to pay for public safety, health care, parks, libraries and other services their
By Kamia Rathore, Health and Wellness Policy Intern This blog was updated on August 3rd, 2017. Last summer, Texas’ Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Task Force issued a stark assessment of maternal health in Texas that pointed to a high rate of
This post was updated on July 31st, 2017. House Bill 253 has emerged as the latest voucher bill of the 85th legislative session, a near duplicate of Senate Bill 2. Both bills are riddled with problems in addition to the vouchers
This post was updated on July 31, 2017. The Senate last week passed Senate Bill 1 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a dangerous bill that would limit the ability of local governments to raise the revenue needed to pay police officers, firefighters and
Recently we dove into why spending caps are horrible ideas if you want to keep local services running (think fire departments, police departments, electric utilities, etc.) while also being able to adapt to
