October
More than 2 million Texas households don’t have high-speed internet — and our state’s vast rural areas are especially underserved. This “digital divide” has serious implications for education, telemedicine, agriculture and small business.
October
For years now, the Texas Legislature has worked with the Texas Department of Public Safety, which administers the state’s driver’s license program, to address waiting times and other issues that continue to frustrate Texas residents.
October
“Aerospace in Texas.” That phrase might immediately make you think of NASA and Houston, but don’t overlook Firefly Aerospace in Cedar Park.
September
The 86th Texas Legislature met in 2019 to write the state’s next budget and tackle a perennial challenge for Texas lawmakers — meaningful reforms to public education and the state’s local property tax system.
September
In the last two decades, the rapid rise of online sales has upended the retail industry, providing shoppers with an unprecedented variety of options — and posing problems both for brick-and-mortar retailers and the governments that depend on them for sales tax revenue.
August
The 1115 Medicaid waiver is a federal provision that has channeled billions of dollars to innovative health and human services projects in our state. One part of the waiver is coming to an end; the state is seeking to renew the other part, to ensure that federal aid continues flowing to programs serving the most vulnerable Texans.
August
Texas’ state jails program was created in 1993 to provide a less-restrictive institutional setting for nonviolent felons. Today, state jails are more commonly used to temporarily hold felons on their way to conventional prison units, leading to calls for a reset of the program.
June/July
Since 1923 Texas has used motor fuels excise taxes to maintain roads and bridges. But while driving has changed drastically, the taxes we depend on to fund roads haven’t.
June/July
Recent changes in state and federal securities regulations allow businesses to access funding from small investors without many of the hurdles of traditional business investment.
May
The Texas Division of Emergency Management, a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety, coordinates state and local responses to natural disasters and other emergencies in Texas. It’s a complex but essential task.
May
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s destruction, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott assembled the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas to recommend improvements in communication, coordination and infrastructure to lessen the impact of future disasters.
April
One challenge springing from Texas’ rapid growth is the increasing pressure it puts on our natural resources — especially water. Texas has a huge number of municipal, agricultural and industrial users all relying on limited sources of surface and groundwater.
April
Water infrastructure — dams, pipelines, reservoirs, desalination plants and more — can be tremendously expensive, and usually requires financing through some form of long-term borrowing.
Contact us if you would like to receive paper copies of Fiscal Notes.
In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 855, which requires state agencies to publish a list of the three most commonly used Web browsers on their websites. The Texas Comptroller’s most commonly used Web browsers are Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Apple Safari.
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