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Connecting today’s news with the research & opinion you need.

The “P” (and the Taxpayer) is Silent

 

What to Know: The city of Pflugerville is planning to hit homeowners and businesses with a massive tax increase in the middle of a recession. Worse yet, they’re going forward with this huge hike without asking voters first—as required by state law.

 

The TPPF Take: Like other cities, Pflugerville may soon deprive voters of their statutory right to decide on a big tax increase. Denying voters the opportunity to approve or reject a 7.05% tax increase is both unconscionable and a violation of Senate Bill 2, a new law that requires cities and counties to ask for the public’s permission to raise taxes above 3.5%.

 

“Pflugerville’s proposed property tax hike is wrong for all sorts of reasons. It’s wrong to raise taxes sharply in a recession. It’s wrong to cut voters out of the process. It’s wrong to ignore state law,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “City leaders would do well to stop listening to bad advice from the Texas Municipal League and start obeying the black-and-white letter of the law. Voters are watching.”

Clarity and Choice

 

What to Know: As the start of the school year nears, parents are concerned and confused about when—or if—schools will reopen.

 

The TPPF Take: A new legal guidance from the Texas Attorney General says that local (unelected) health authorities can’t simply order schools to stay shut.

 

“The prevailing law, Attorney General Ken Paxton says, remains Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order, which specifically says local governments — including schools — are permitted to open,” says TPPF’s Robert Henneke. “The decision on whether schools will reopen in the fall, therefore, must be made by a local district’s board of trustees — not unelected health authorities. Ultimately, it must be the parents who make these decisions for their children.”

Energy Powers the Future


What to Know: President Trump used a recent trip to Texas to outline his energy plan.

 

The TPPF Take: The president’s energy policies are key to reviving our economy.

 

“The oil and natural gas industry supports more than 10 million jobs in the U.S. and is more important than ever at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has shut down many businesses and sent unemployment soaring,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “As bad as our economy is suffering now, things would be a lot worse if we had to rely on imported energy produced by foreign workers.”