After hours of testimony, Senate Bills 3 & 4 – worth $15 billion in Property Tax Relief – were each passed out of the Senate Finance Committee chaired by Sen. Joan Huffman on a 17-0 bipartisan vote. SB 5 by Sen. Tan Parker, the $1.5 billion Business Tax Relief Bill, is scheduled for consideration Monday. “This is a little bit of history today,” said Texas Taxpayers & Research Association president Dale Craymer.

“Texas is the birthplace of the integrated circuit, and we've since risen as the #1 State in America for semiconductor manufacturing,” said Gov. Greg Abbott earlier today, announcing his support for the Texas CHIPS Act legislation proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman & House Appropriations Chair Dr. Greg Bonnen to leverage Texas’ investments and maintain a national semiconductor manufacturing leader position.

President Biden recently released his proposed Fiscal Year 2024 Budget, and sadly but not surprisingly he doubles down on out-of-control spending and increased taxes for hard-working Americans. At a time when families & small businesses are battling runaway inflation, increased interest rates and a growing labor shortage, thankfully these massive tax increases will never see the light of day in the Republican-led House.

“Mexican criminal cartel syndicates act without fear of repercussion or accountability – they've never been as powerful as they are today and the United States must act now to change this disturbing reality,” said South Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales following an uptick in Americans being killed or kidnapped by gangs & cartels. Joe Biden's open borders are placing Americans directly in harm’s way – and Gonzales is demanding change.

“People who wish to subvert our elections must know that committing Voter Fraud comes with a steep penalty; a misdemeanor is simply too weak. Senate Bill 2 deters these bad actors, and will give Texans peace of mind that election security is dramatically improved," said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick earlier today after the Texas Senate passed SB 2, which was introduced by Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Tyler.)

“We should do more than just talk about the safety of Texas school children. If school districts are going to have Police Departments, then the officers working there should be our best,” said Exec. Director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT,) Charley Wilkison, of the many Texas universities & School Districts that are considering starting police departments to protect children while attending school.

“The Senate Property Tax Plan has eye-popping, off the chart numbers for 5.72 million Texas Homesteads – saving them nearly $800 per year. And with SB 3's Homestead Exemption increase to $70,000, we just tripled the over-65 and disabled Homestead Exemption to $30,000, too!” said State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who was complimented by Lt. Gov. Patrick for putting Senate Bills 3, 4 & 5 together with Senators Tan Parker, Joan Huffman and others.

“This disgraceful behavior is antithetical to the principles of free speech and open discourse that're essential to the mission of any credible academic institution," said Sen. Ted Cruz, addressing the recent harassment of a Federal Circuit Judge by students and a faculty member while speaking at Stanford University. "Indeed, failing to identify and discipline those responsible will only encourage further such behavior in the future,” said Cruz.

“Educating the next generation of Texans is the most fundamental responsibility we have, and I authored Senate Bill 8 to place parents, not government, squarely in the center of the decisions for their children. Giving parents the power to determine the best school for their child will encourage competition and innovation, ensuring that each Texas student has the opportunity to succeed.”

Driving the news this week was the release of President Biden's FY2024 budget. The presidential budget demonstrates the priorities that the administration deems most important to the country. In fact, President Biden himself has often quipped: “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.”

The new rule drastically shortens the timeline for states to develop and submit their plans. This attempt to rush states could leave them exposed if the EPA decides to disapprove of the plans. The EPA’s disapproval would enable the federal government to seize further regulatory power and impose a burdensome and unnecessary federal plan on states.

“Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman filed SB 10 to help our Texas Senior Retired Educator, and create a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for retired educators as of December 2021. Since the end of last session, as I traveled the state and retired educators thanked the Legislature for those checks – but also asked for a COLA, I told them, whatever you think is best, we'll do this session," said Patrick.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Texas National Guard are continuing to work toward securing the border in the absense of any Biden White House effort, and the struggle to stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons and people into Texas – as well as prevent, detect, and interdict Transnational Criminal behavior between ports of entry.

“When you think of hot-button public policy issues, what usually comes to mind are things like Property Taxes, School Finance & Pension Reform. However, the issue of Daylight Saving Time's roused passions on both sides,” said Senator Paul Bettencourt as he filed his two bills to let Texans vote on keeping Daylight Saving Time. ​​​​If passed, the bill would require a vote on the November 7th, 2023 General Election..

"At a time when colleges and universities have unprecedented endowments, bloated admin costs, and ballooning tuition, it's time for lawmakers to reevaluate lifetime employment at taxpayer expense," said State Sen. Brandon Creighton, Chair of both the Senate Education Committee and the Higher Education Subcommittee, as he announced legislation to ensure Texas campuses are open to intellectual discourse.

“Today the Texas Senate announced a bold agenda to fix the Texas Power Grid once and for all," said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. "Since Winter Storm Uri, I've been abundantly clear – we need to bring new dispatchable generation (primarily new natural gas plants) online as soon as possible to make sure Texans have reliable power under any circumstance. That's why I named Sen. Schwertner's SB 6 & 7 as two of my Top 10 Priorities."

"Yesterday, another Federal Court announced what Texans & Americans have known all along: President Biden's open border policies are – in the words of Judge Wetherell – 'akin to posting a flashing Come In We’re Open sign on the Southern Border,'" said Gov. Greg Abbott, responding to a U.S. Federal Judge's ruling that the Biden White House has been violating Federal Law by releasing illegal immigrants en masse at our Southern Border.

The legislation mandated an end to a longstanding military service academy rule that forced pregnant female students to permanently withdraw from the academies, give up legal custody of their children, or abort the child, and forced male students that fathered a child to choose between giving up legal custody or withdrawing.

Texas added 48,600 positions in January 2023, reaching 13,782,300 total nonfarm jobs. This marks the 16th consecutive record employment high based on a revision to the December 2022 report. Since January 2022, 654,100 jobs have been added in Texas, marking an annual growth rate of 5.0 percent.

"With over 820 miles of the Southern Border located in my district, this is the epicenter of the Border Crisis,” said Texas Cong. Tony Gonzales. “Through meetings with Local Law Enforcement, Border Patrol Agents and landowners, we were able to see yet again the challenges & frustrations Americans face every day," said Gonzales while leading a group of his fellow Congressmen through Eagle Pass & Uvalde, Texas.