Government Spending is out of control
Every two years, thousands of grassroot Republican voters from around Texas gather at a State Convention. This gathering determines what it means to be a Republican in Texas.
One of the most important ways this happens is the development of the official platform of the Texas Republican Party. This document lays out in pain staking detail what the Texas Republican Party believes - not everyone agrees with everything - but it is a pretty amazing document.
The Grimes County Republican Party would like to remind Republican voters what we are fighting to support by highlighting various planks of our Texas Republican Platform.
Plank 66 Government Spending & Taxation says:
"We believe in the principles of constitutionally limited government based on federalist principles. Government spending is out of control at the federal, state, and local levels, and action is needed to reduce spending. We support and call for immediate and aggressive action, including constitutional and statutory changes, to curtail excessive state spending, including freezing state spending, identifying and cutting all waste, fraud, abuse, inappropriate expenditures, and spending that falls outside the proper constitutional role of government.
We support enacting stricter spending limitations on all revenues and expenditures by the State, and dedicating 90% or more of any State budget surplus to property tax relief (beginning with buying down school maintenance and operations taxes) until such taxes are phased out and eliminated. Likewise, local spending is out of control, far outpacing population plus inflation growth and what is sustainable, and is the primary driver of increased property tax burdens on Texans. More restraint is needed in order to achieve real property tax relief and a sustainable future.
We strongly support and call for comprehensive legislation to curtail local government spending and debt, including spending limits on all local taxing entities to the lesser of population growth plus inflation or 3.5%, and requiring voter approval to exceed those limits, requiring two-thirds voter approval for any property tax increase or new bond debt obligations, empowering voters to petition for rollback elections to lower existing property taxes, cutting waste, fraud, abuse, and inappropriate expenditures at the local level, and prohibiting loopholes or carve-outs, such as mandatory fees, that allow continued unsustainable growth."
The Texas Republican Party understands that a government spending is a drain on citizens' ability to prosper and grow our economy - that spending must be controlled!
