ACTION ALERT: YES on SB 14!!!

We've got one last chance to pass transparency legislation in the Texas House.

From Americans for Prosperity -- Texas:

The goal of SB 14 is to empower Texas voters with easily accessible knowledge of their current local government debt levels while also limiting debt issued without taxpayer approval. SB 14 would also require that special-purpose taxing entities demonstrate that they are serving the purpose for which they were created.

From Texas Watchdog:

Senate bills 14 and 13 and their identical House counterparts establish, at the request of state Comptroller Susan Combs, new requirements for the posting of public debt, unfunded liabilities, borrowing and project costs on websites maintained by state and local agencies.

“People need to know what their government is doing, and how it spends their money,” Combs said in a statement she issued after a press conference announcing the filing of the bills. “We need to implement common-sense changes that put vital information about government spending and debt in front of the public.”

....
The state’s Bond Finance Office would post on a website a list of all outstanding local securities and schedules for their repayment. In turn, the issuers of local securities would submit reports of their activities to the state.

Under SB 14, the public would get more detailed information about the issuing of bonds, the rationale for their issuance and a tally of outstanding debt incurred by the bonds.

Local political bodies would be expected to file annual reports detailing all of their funds and their outstanding debt obligations. These reports would be posted on websites maintained by all cities, school districts and special taxing districts.

Susan Combs

Once every three years each special taxing district in the state would be expected to prepare a report defending its existence and hold a public hearing to discuss the assessment.

The bill would also require school districts to create or to include on their websites detailed information about school facilities, enrollment, estimates of projected costs for new school projects and the current annual financial report.

Contact you legislator here.

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Empower Texans: Moderates Mobilize to Keep Taxpayers in the Dark

Empower Texans reports on a depressing series of events in the Texas House:

A pattern is emerging in the Texas House: moderate Republicans seem to be setting their sights on killing commonsense transparency measures during the committee process before they have a chance to see the light of day on the floor. They’re being joined by school districts and local taxing entities trying to keep taxpayers in the dark.

...

HB 14 would bring local government code into the 21^st century by requiring this information be put online in a searchable format. That’s great for taxpayers who live in a digital age where information is just a quick Google search away. That’s not so great for local cities, counties, school boards, and other districts that seek to put taxpayers on the hook for more debt in order to fund massive spending projects
.
Enter yesterday’s Appropriations subcommittee meeting:

Representatives Bennett Ratliff (R – Coppell) and Drew Darby (R – San Angelo) took turns attacking the premise that taxpayers should have easier access to information already made available to them upon request.

Their justification?!?

Taxpayers should attend city council and school board meetings when this information is discussed, so taxpayers don’t get confused by potentially misleading information.
In other words, taxpayers are too dumb to figure out if more debt and more spending is appropriate. They should have that information sanitized by local officials and bureaucrats before making a decision.

...

Are these conspicuous attacks by moderates in the House an attempt to kill these transparency measures before they have a chance to see the light of day? It sure seems like it.

This cannot stand.  Transparency is a big ticket item for the 83rd Texas Legislature.  Contact your legislators here.

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Comptroller Susan Combs: John Galt is Alive and Well and He's Living in Texas

Great CPAC panel featuring Texas Comptroller Susan Combs: Has Atlas Shrugged?!? Business in Obama's America:

Highlights:

• Technology has altered the pace of change.
• Overwhelms Centralized Bureaucracy

• Small Businesses innovate 11x faster than Big Businesses.

• Under Obama, fewer small businesses have been formed and more have failed than at any time in 40 years.

• Big business and big labor can navigate big government; small business cannot.

• We spend more money on education than any other country for worse results.

• Susan Combs:
• "John Galt is alive and well and he's living in Texas."
• Some parts of the Federal government (like the EPA) just don't like successful people.
• Texas has a diversified economy.
• We love to sue the federal government in Texas
• Big government is not your friend if you're a risk taker.

• Jeanette Prenger
• Her current Health Care bill is $21,000 per month; under Obamacare it will go up to $58,000.

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