Comptroller Glenn Hegar today is celebrating 19 local governments that have achieved the highest levels of transparency in the agency's Transparency Stars program, which is marking its 10th year. The program has recognized more than 225 local governmental entities by awarding nearly 500 Transparency Star awards in the six categories. Nineteen local governments have earned five or six Transparency Stars and achieved Trailblazer status.
Our immigration system is broken; you hear it being said all the time by politicians and media types, but what they never say is how or why. Their only response to anything related to immigration is “We need comprehensive reform,” which always includes “a pathway to citizenship,” which is code for voting. We see it. But the truth of the matter is that the system isn’t broken; the people running it are.
“Texas is America’s jobs engine, adding more new jobs in the last year than any other state,” said Gov. Greg Abbott earlier today, celebrating Texas leading the nation in job creation over the last month – and over the past year – following the release of the latest employment data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Lone Star State has now surpassed all previous records for Total Texas Jobs, the Number of Texans Working, and the size of the Texas Labor Force.
"Just last Thursday, Washington, D.C. enacted a law allowing taxpayer-funded 'reparations.' Democrats prioritize woke virtue signaling over fiscal responsibility, and expect the rest of America to foot the bill. Not on our watch! With our National Debt surpassing $34 trillion, taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund leftist social experiments," said Texas Cong. Brian Babin, introducing the "No Bailouts for Reparations Act" to prohibit the United States government from providing bailouts or financial assistance to State or Local Governments that enact such programs.
New data from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) indicate that upstream oil and natural gas employment grew by 2,500 in January 2025 compared to December 2024. This is growth on top of TWC’s just-released upward revisions for 2024. For example, December 2024 employment is now estimated at 200,900 – whereas the original estimate was 195,500. Since the COVID-low point of September of 2020, the industry has added 46,400 Texas jobs, averaging growth of 892 jobs per month.
“Last year Joe Biden’s EPA said the quiet part out loud – the industry is already mitigating emissions" by up to 87% from 2019-2023 in many areas. "That reveals that the true motive behind the tax all along was to squeeze the life out of the oil and gas industry," said Texas Railroad Comm. Wayne Christian, after President Trump signed legislation to repeal Biden’s controversial Natural Gas Tax, which increased costs to producers – as well as to American consumers at the pump and on their electricity bills.
Another day, another Unelected Activist Judge playing Constitutional Hopscotch with America’s safety. This time Judge James Boasberg – an Obama appointee (because, of course, he is) – has decided that foreign gang members – yes, actual criminals with suspected ties to violent Venezuelan Crime Syndicates – deserve a golden parachute back into the U.S. after President Trump's rightfully ordered them deported. The Constitution, Federal Law, and basic Common Sense are all on his side. Let’s get specific.
House Republicans remain committed to a secure border, a strong military, and a government that works for the American people — not against them. While Republicans are working to govern responsibly, Democrats are playing political games. In December, not a single House Democrat voted AGAINST the Continuing Resolution Funding Bill (CR,) but last week all but one voted against it. Why? They'd rather shut down the government than allow Republicans to deliver results for hardworking Americans.
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that Texas has begun the process to close the Operation Lone Star jail booking facility in Jim Hogg County thanks to President Donald Trump’s decisive and swift leadership on the border crisis that has led to historically low illegal immigration. The state has offered the use of the facility to the Trump Administration in support of their robust border security operations.
Last week President Trump signed my legislation to unleash America's energy potential and repeal Joe Biden's burdensome regulations – particularly on one of the cleanest fuels available, natural gas. And as Democrats almost caused a government shut down to spite President Trump & the American people, Congressional Republicans began to restore America by codifying his actions into law to ensure our victories cannot and will not be undone by future liberal administrations.
“We are moving rapidly to ensure all these bills – which reflect the will of the conservative majority of Texans – have ample time to pass the Texas House, and arrive at Gov. Abbott’s desk to be signed into law. This session has started out with a hopeful working relationship with Speaker Burrows, and working together with the Texas House, this could be the best session ever for all Texans – especially for conservatives," said the Lt. Governor while listing a total of 15 more "Priority Bills."
The mainstream media has become so biased in recent years that President Donald Trump popularized the phrase “fake news” and Elon Musk, posts rants about them almost daily on his X platform. Both have sued the media for libel or defamation. But little has changed; outside of some pushback at a few publications like The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times due to their publishers, the mainstream media is doubling down with the slant and partisan bias against Trump and conservatives, further decimating their shrinking numbers.
Senate Bill 25, by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, requires food labels to warn Texas consumers which ingredients are banned in other countries starting in 2027. SB 25 also requires daily physical education for students from kindergarten to eighth grade and prohibits the removal of recess, physical education, and sports practice for disciplinary reasons. SB 25 establishes a nutrition advisory council at the Department of State Health Services with a focus on metabolic health, functional medicine, and chronic disease.
Governor Abbott noted the momentum that school choice has picked up in the Texas House and thanked Speaker Dustin Burrows for his support to pass a universal school choice program. Additionally, Governor Abbott highlighted Texas' robust homeschooling program to ensure parents remain in charge of their child's education and debunked lies being spread by school choice opponents that school choice will interfere with homeschooling pathways.
Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) hosted Laurent Bili, the French Ambassador to the United States, in San Antonio. Ambassador Bili is the most senior French government official ever to visit San Antonio. Through various stops across the city, Congressman Gonzales and Ambassador Bili highlighted the importance of the U.S.-France relationship and emphasized the strength of this partnership as it relates to the San Antonio community.
This week Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced his agency will take 31 actions to roll back onerous Biden and Obama era regulations. Included in these actions will be a reconsideration of the 2009 ill-named 'endangerment finding', which made greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, pollutants subject to agency regulation. This finding provided the legal framework to regulate CO2 and enabled the Net Zero movement to gain traction both in the United States and worldwide.
Over the last three decades, elite American universities have engaged in economic, political, social, and cultural practices that were often unethical, illegal -- and suicidal. They did so with impunity. By the 1970s, non-profit universities had dropped pretenses that they were apolitical and non-partisan. Instead, they customarily violated the corpus of iconic civil rights legislation by weighing race, gender, and sexual orientation in biased admissions, hiring, and promotions.
“SpaceX is investing 100s of millions of dollars in our Bastrop facility, and incredible innovation and high-tech manufacturing is happening in Texas as a result of Gov. Abbott’s leadership,” said SpaceX President & COO Gwynne Shotwell after Abbott announced the 5th Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund grant of $17.3 million for a Semiconductor R&D and Advanced Packaging Facility just Southeast of Austin. The effort will create over 400 jobs, involves more than $280 million in Capital Investment, and will be the largest of its kind in North America.
