Blog Archives

Minimum Wage, Forfeiture, Debt Transparency: Let People Prosper Ep 77

2/25/2019

In this Let People Prosper episode, James Quintero, Dr. Derek Cohen, and I discuss the following:

James highlights local debt transparency in SB 462;
Derek recaps hearing on over-criminilization and mentions reforming civil asset forfeiture in HB 404 and HB 1615; and
I provide an overview of my testimony against raising the minimum wage (written testimony & watch here at 2:53:00 mark) and note the upcoming House Ways & Means Committee hearing on HB 2 to lower the rollback rate to 2.5 percent and HB 705 to allow local governments to swap their property tax with a sales tax.

Don't miss the upcoming Current Events Friday episode. #LetPeopleProsper

Minimum Wage, Over-Criminilization, & Government Excess: LPP EP 76

2/22/2019

In this Current Events Friday episode of the Let People Prosper show, James Quintero, Dr. Derek Cohen, and I discuss:

House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence will hear HB 226 that Derek will testify in support of to create a commission to help reduce over-criminilization in Texas.
House Committee on International Relations and Economic Development will hear HB 194 and HB 290 that Vance will testify against that would unnecessarily raise the state's minimum wage.
James highlighted the excess at La Joya ISD's $20 million water park and other local government excessive spending of taxpayer dollars and discussed support for increasing transparency of contracts through public information law in SB 943 and HB 2189.
Finally, the bonus part of this episode was a brief discussion about the current event of Jussie Smollett being arrested for felony disorderly conduct, filing a false police report.

Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe. #letpeopleprosper

Supreme Court Decision, Texas Model, & Bond Transparency: Let People Prosper Ep 75

2/20/2019

In this Let People Prosper episode 75, Chance Weldon of TPPF's Center for the American Future joins James Quintero and me to discuss today's Supreme Court ruling that's a win for people and for TPPF. James discusses his recent testimony before the Texas House Public Education Committee in support of House Bill 134 that increases bond transparency. I discuss my recent testimony before the Texas House Ways & Means Committee at the 45-minute mark here (written testimony) on ways to strengthen the Texas Model.

#LetPeopleProsper

Amazon Favoritism Problem, TX Property Tax Update, & Committee Org Meetings: Let People Prosper Ep 74

2/15/2019

In this Let People Prosper episode, James Quintero, Derek Cohen, and I discuss key topics this week for Current Events Friday.

Amazon's decision to not build in New York after receiving offer of costly $1.525 billion in tax incentives (i.e. govt favoritism) but disliked their otherwise poor business environment (see Economic Freedom of North America report);
Texas Committees' organizational meetings overview (e.g. House Criminal Jurisprudence, House Corrections, & House Ways & Means);
Legislation filed on paid sick leave and other poor local government mandates (e.g., SB 15 & HB 1654); and
Update on property tax reform with a committee substitute for SB 2 passing out of the Senate Property Tax Committee with an opt-in provision.

More to come on Monday. #LetPeopleProsper

Rainy Day Fund, Criminal Justice, & Property Tax: Let People Prosper Episode 73

2/11/2019

In this Let People Prosper episode 73, we discuss efforts to change Texas' rainy day fund to lower the economic stabilization fund (ESF) cap and impose a new endowment fund (SB 69), overview of an organizational meeting by the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, and the latest on property tax relief that info on SB 2 in the Senate Committee on Property Tax today and the organizational meeting by House Ways & Means Committee on Wednesday.

#letpeopleprosper

Property Tax Hearing, State of the Union & State: Let People Prosper Episode 72

2/8/2019

It's Current Events Friday!

In this Let People Prosper episode 72, James Quintero, Dr. Derek Cohen, and I discuss this week's current events. The big stories this week are Governor Abbott's State of the State, President Trump's State of the Union, and property tax hearing held by the Texas Senate Committee on Property Taxes. We dive into each of these issues to consider which government actions preserve liberty and which ones don't.

Regarding property taxes, there's some hope in sight! Senate Bill 2 could provide historic property tax reform (read my written testimony and watch testimony at time 1:13:10) that would put in place a 2.5% property tax revenue rate that would trigger an automatic election in November for a local government that wanted to increase their revenue above that point. This reform is an essential element for any property tax relief of lowering property tax bills like TPPF’s plan to eliminate the school M&O property tax over time by slowing spending growth.

#letpeopleprosper

Bail Reform, Teacher Retirement, & State of the State: Let People Prosper Episode 71

2/4/2019

In this Let People Prosper episode 71, I chat with James Quintero and Dr. Derek Cohen of TPPF about the benefits of bail reform (SB 628 & SJR 37), the costs and benefits of the latest version of reforming the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (SB 393) (more on TRS problems here), and what to expect in Gov. Abbott's State of the State (like a possible emergency item of property tax reform).

#letpeopleprosper

Property Tax Reform in Texas Overview: Let People Prosper Episode 70

2/1/2019

In this Let People Prosper episode 70, I chat with James Quintero and Dr. Derek Cohen about the recently released bills that would both provide property tax reform with the same language (Senate Bill 2 & House Bill 2). Read TPPF's press release here.

The press conference attended by Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Chairman Paul Bettencourt, and Chairman Dustin Burrows shows the unity of this particular measure. These bills would provide property tax reforms to increase transparency, change up the appraisal system, and impose a revenue trigger of an automatic rollback election: (1) if revenue is set to grow by more than 8% for local tax jurisdictions with less than $15 million in total revenue from sales and property taxes, and (2) if revenue is set to grow by more than 2.5% for all other taxing entities.

This is a step in the right direction to slowing the growth of skyrocketing property taxes and we look forward to working with leadership and legislators to lower tax bills by limiting state spending as well.

We also discuss the benefits of SB 523, which would restructure occupational licenses for those with particular criminal records.

#letpeopleprosper