Texas
Texas Could Soon Be The First State To End Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying
View of Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas.
Although most of them weren’t conscious, Texas taxpayers spent a complete of $75 million on contract lobbyists over the last session of the state legislature. That is without doubt one of the findings of a brand new report from the Texas Public Coverage Basis (TPPF). A invoice launched within the Texas Senate, nevertheless, would put an finish to taxpayer-funded lobbying, which critics contend is an inherently corrupt observe.
Senate Invoice 175, launched by Senator Mayes Middleton (R), would prohibit native governments and different political subdivisions in Texas from utilizing taxpayer funds to rent lobbyists. Middleton’s invoice additionally prohibits cities, cities, counties, and different political subdivisions from paying dues to nonprofit organizations that characterize political subdivisions or rent contract lobbyists.
Senator Middleton and different proponents of SB 175 observe that contract lobbyists employed with taxpayer {dollars} typically work in opposition to the pursuits of taxpayers, opposing laws to offer property tax aid and combating reforms that would scale back the speed of development in authorities spending. Taxpayer {dollars} are additionally being spent to foyer in opposition to laws that may increase college selection.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be bankrolling efforts to advocate in opposition to their pursuits,” Senator Middleton mentioned concerning the want for SB 175. “Each step of the way in which, taxpayer-funded lobbyists have lobbied in opposition to key conservative priorities together with: property tax aid, election integrity, disclosures of what bonds really value taxpayers, the constitutional ban on a state earnings tax, they usually even opposed the invoice to fund and defend the instructor retirement pension system.”
TPPF beforehand discovered that native governments in Texas spent $41 billion on lobbying in 2017, that means that determine has almost doubled over the course of two legislative periods (the Texas Legislature is in session each different 12 months). Whereas Texas Ethics Fee information present that native governments spent $75 million on lobbying in 2021, TPPF notes that could be a conservative estimate.
“This determine excludes the salaries and actions of in-house lobbyists, often known as intergovernmental relations personnel, in addition to membership dues and different monies paid to pro-government associations, just like the Texas Municipal League, the Texas Affiliation of Counties, the Texas Affiliation of College Boards, and others,” explains James Quintero, coverage director for TPPF. “Thus, the $75 million spent by native governments to foyer is just a partial account—albeit an essential one.”
Whereas many native officers and the lobbyists they’ve on contract at taxpayer expense are fiercely against SB 175, polling suggests the overwhelming majority of Texans help Senator Middleton’s proposal to place an finish to taxpayer-funded lobbying. A ballot performed by the College of Texas and the Texas Tribune discovered 69% of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents help a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying. A TPPF ballot launched in 2019 discovered virtually 90% of these surveyed help such a ban. Extra lately, a poll proposition was positioned on the March 2020 major poll to gauge public help for Senator Middleton’s proposal, with almost 95% of Republicans voting in favor.
Governor Greg Abbott (R) has already voiced his help for Senator Middleton’s proposal. “Austin – don’t even attempt to defend taxpayer-funded lobbying,” Governor Abbott tweeted in 2020. “It’s indefensible that you just tax residents to get cash that you just use to rent lobbyists to help laws to mean you can tax much more.”
Along with Governor Abbott, Senator Middleton’s proposal can also be supported by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) and Texas Home Speaker Dade Phelan (R). Given the invoice has help from the Governor, is backed by management in each legislative chambers, and has already as soon as been handed by the Texas Senate, many are optimistic about SB 175’s prospects for enactment in 2023.
State companies are already barred from hiring contract lobbyists in Texas and different states. Enactment of SB 175, nevertheless, would make Texas the primary state the place native governments and political subdivisions should not allowed to rent contract lobbyists.
Lawmakers in Florida and Tennessee have additionally voiced an curiosity in passing a reform just like the one launched in Texas by Senator Middleton. Florida, Tennessee, and Texas are all no-income-tax states the place lawmakers have been capable of maintain the expansion of state spending in examine and preserve a comparatively low tax burden. But, in these and different states the place lawmakers have completed job of conserving their fiscal home so as, native authorities profligacy and onerous taxation are nonetheless an issue, one which has pushed up property burdens.
Prohibiting taxpayer-funded lobbying is seen by many as a primary step in reining in native spending that has grown at what’s broadly imagine to be an unsustainable charge, even in locations the place spending restraint is exercised on the state stage. Texas is poised to turn out to be the primary to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying. However, for a lot of causes, it’s unlikely to be the final.
ANAHEIM — Few Texas Rangers prospects in recent memory arrived with higher expectations than Wyatt Langford.
The Rangers 2023 No. 4 overall pick hasn’t disappointed, especially in the second half of the season. And most notably, he has steadily progressed into the type of hitter the organization envisioned during a torrid final month of the season.
In fact, few Rangers have put together a better month than the 22-year-old Langford.
He added to it again Saturday in the Rangers’ 9-8 comeback win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium. He hit his fourth homer in the past six games. Nine of his 16 homers have come in his past 30 games.
Langford is the first Rangers player with 22 or more runs, seven or more home runs, 19 or more RBI, and six or more stolen bases in a month.
Only four MLB rookies had previously posted similar totals in a single month, including Nomar Garciaparra (August 1997), Mike Trout (July and August 2012), Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. (August 2018), and Arizona’s Corbin Carroll (June 2023).
After falling behind 7-1 in the third, the Rangers added runs in the fourth and sixth before scoring twice in the eighth and four in the ninth to finish their largest comeback win of the season. The previous largest rally was five runs in their home finale on Sunday.
.@langford_wyatt leads all AL players in homers this month. 👀 pic.twitter.com/9JHZuNfqpZ
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) September 29, 2024
It was arguably Andrew Heaney’s worst start of the season, but he’ll be celebrating anyway. Heaney, the Rangers most durable starting pitcher with a team and career-high 31 starts in 2024, was charged with a season-high seven runs on a career-tying high 10 hits in four innings and dropped to 5-15 with the loss. Heaney, 33, however, earned a $1.5 million incentive bonus by reaching 160 innings pitched. He started the game with 156.
Adolis García, who hit his 25th home run in Friday’s win, left Saturday’s game after running out a groundout in the sixth inning. García came up limping on his left knee, which has been bothering him of late.
Garcia is the seventh player in Rangers history with four or more 25-homer seasons. He’s the fourth Rangers player with 25 or more homers in at least four consecutive seasons. He joins Juan Gonzalez (5, 1995-99), Rafael Palmeiro (5, 1999-2003), and Mark Teixeira (4, 2003-06). García is
one of five 5 American League players with 25 or more homers in the past four seasons, joining Houston’s Yordan Alvarez, Boston’s Rafael Devers, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and the New Yor Yankees’s Aaron Judge.
Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (11-8, 3.96) faces Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (2-5, 4.01) in the season finale at 2:07 p.m. Sunday.
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DALLAS – Saturday marks the opening weekend for the State Fair of Texas. 2.5 million people are expected to attend over the next few weeks.
From food to rides, the fair has all kinds of new things this year.
It’s a well-oiled machine for Pizza By the Giant Slice owner Tom Grace.
“We’ve been doing this for 35 years at the State Fair of Texas,” Grace said. “We have six locations we operate out here every year.”
Grace’s son and about 65 workers keep the dough flying and customers happy.
“The State Fair of Texas breeds crazy thoughts and crazy ideas of food. People love to come out here and take pictures with the food they’re getting every year,” Grace said.
The new crazy food idea for Grace this year is Oktoberfest pizza.
“We start off with this base sauce of Alfredo, which is spicy mustard infused. It’s a nice little bite and not too much for those folks who may fear that spicy mustard, and then we have some German sausage, sliced thin like a pepperoni. We’ll put some peppers and potatoes on it,” Grace said.
The Oktoberfest pizza is topped with sauerkraut. For $15, you’ll get a huge slice.
“What we have here at our Gulf Coast Grill on Cotton Bowl Plaza is caramel macchiato fritters,” owner Clint Probst said.
The fritters are one staple bringing in the dough for Probst.
“If we have a really, really good fair and have a fried food winner, this is a semi-finalist not a winner, but if we have a fried food winner you could almost make doctor or dentist money out of just working the fair,” Probst said.
Rides are another big attraction at the fair.
“Oh man! We just did a ton of rides! I think a few more rides are coming up, maybe a few games, and a visit to Big Tex,” fair attendee Tyler Deakins said.
This is the third year the Deakins family has gone to the fair, including five-year-old Emma, who knows what her favorite ride is.
“Yes, the crazy mouth one. Whoo!” Emma Deakins said.
The State Fair of Texas includes 73 rides on the Midway, according to Senior Vice President of Operations Rusty Fitzgerald.
“We have kiddie rides for kids, we have the family-type rides, and then we have one of the more extreme rides, so you can pick your poison on that one,” Fitzgerald said.
One of the new, extreme rides is the Hip Hop, which CBS News Texas reporter Dawn White went on with Fitzgerald.
“If you’ve got a little bit of skill, and you really want to have fun and be a little wild, this is the ride to do it,” Fitzgerald said.
You still have time to have fun on the rides or 70 games. The fair continues through Oct. 20. It also features more than 200 vendor locations.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is not expected to play in the Longhorns’ SEC debut game against Mississippi State on Saturday as he recovers from an abdominal injury, ESPN’s Pete Thamel revealed.
Arch Manning will make his second career start for No. 1 Texas against the Bulldogs today.
Ewers was listed as questionable on the Texas football availability report, indicating that he had a 50 percent chance to play in the game, according to the SEC’s terminology.
But the expectation is that Texas will allow Ewers this week and the team’s open weekend coming up before the Oklahoma game on Oct. 12 to fully recover from the ailment.
Ewers sustained the injury in the second quarter of the Longhorns’ victory against UTSA on Sept. 14, retiring to the sideline and then the locker room for evaluation before returning to the sideline wearing street clothes.
Ewers was able to practice with the team on Tuesday, but was limited by coaches on Wednesday and then again on Thursday, as the team placed more emphasis on giving him rest.
Manning played in relief of Ewers in the UTSA game, and made his first career start the following week with Ewers sidelined, leading Texas to a win over UL Monroe.
Ewers has dealt with some nagging injuries during his collegiate career, missing time briefly in the 2022 and 2023 seasons before the abdominal issue this year.
In three games this season, Ewers has completed 73.4 percent of his passes for 691 yards and eight touchdowns.
More … Texas vs. Mississippi State score prediction by expert football model
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