A man convicted of libel in Britain helped spur investigations into Islamic private schools applying to Texas’ voucher program, legal filings say.
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed the former GOP lawmaker to the role last year, giving him the reins of Texas’ $1 billion school voucher rollout. Hancock was defeated in his bid for a full term in March.
The attorney general’s office reallocated taxpayer-funded rooms to donors and other private citizens, some of whom initially failed to cover the cost of the stay.
The Houston federal judge said Paxton’s office can pull out of the case as soon as acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock finds new lawyers. The unusual request comes amid a bubbling feud between the two Republicans.
In a Thursday letter, Paxton said Hancock jeopardized the state’s defense in the case by leaking a separate letter he sent to the AG’s office on Tuesday.
The application period, set to close Tuesday night, must now remain open until March 31, according to an attorney representing Islamic schools.
The former state senator from Dallas challenged Gov. Greg Abbott from the right four years ago. He’s now in line to oversee the $1 billion voucher program championed by the governor.
Huffines avoided a runoff in a big-money race against acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock and Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick to be the state’s chief financial officer.
A judge has sided against the state after acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock stripped women- and minority-owned businesses of their Historically Underutilized Business certifications in December.
Trump’s last-minute primary endorsements that directly oppose the Texas governor’s selections came hours after he spoke at an event in Corpus Christi on Friday.
Don Huffines, Christi Craddick and Kelly Hancock are talking more about fighting DEI, trans athletes and illegal immigration than the office’s traditional fiscal duties.
Huffines' campaign said the candidate’s family bought the ranch at a public auction four years after Jeffrey Epstein died.
The poll, released Wednesday, also showed Sid Miller and Don Huffines with comfortable leads in their Republican primary bids for agriculture commissioner and comptroller.
A CAIR official blasted the Texas AG’s opinion, saying the law does not permit the comptroller to scrutinize Muslim schools because of their religious identity.
Democrats could be more competitive financially in the U.S. Senate race, but their comparatively small fundraising hauls for state office leave them with fewer resources to reach voters.
One candidate received about $1 million within an eight-day span from the head of a Dallas tax firm — and 72 of his employees — that helps corporations secure tax breaks under comptroller-run programs.
Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock suggested schools that hosted events for the Council on American-Islamic Relations or are linked to China could be disqualified from the new program.
The Austin Democrat said she wants to tackle waste and fraud as a watchdog over the state budget. She will retain her Senate seat if she loses.
The decision to limit certification to companies owned by disabled veterans will shrink the Historically Underutilized Business program from more than 15,000 to 485 participants — all men.
The program will now only be eligible for service-disabled veterans. It will be called Veteran Heroes United in Business.
The rules serve as the foundation for Texas’ private school voucher program, which will officially launch at the start of the 2026-27 school year.
The state comptroller’s office said it would stop issuing or renewing certifications under the Historically Underutilized Business program. Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock said it was the latest step toward ending DEI in Texas.
Finance and technology company Odyssey will help design the application process, manage payments and review complaints for the state’s education savings accounts.
For the first time since Texas authorized the program, the state heard public testimony from people concerned about pre-K funding, special education provisions and data reporting.
As the Texas House prepares to vote on the budget, officials and other experts monitor national policy and state tax revenue.
Hegar’s impending departure from the comptroller’s seat creates a rare opening for one of Texas’ coveted statewide offices.
Texas needs hundreds of thousands more homes than it has, per one estimate. That shortage has driven up home prices and rents.
A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project compiled data on every U.S. plastics plant built, expanded or proposed since 2012, revealing massive growth in Texas.
For decades, the Texas comptroller’s office has double-checked property valuations across the state, which help determine how much school districts can levy in property taxes. But when state and county appraisers disagree, districts can end up with big holes in their budgets.
On the eve of a historic investment in connecting the Lone Star State, advocates worry maps that will help establish which communities get funding have bad information.
If Texas’ budget surplus were distributed directly to Texans, it could pay for 12 years of school lunches, seven months of rent or 11,000 miles of travel. Here’s how to put the big number into perspective.
It’s far more money than legislators have ever had at their disposal, with an increase in available funds that dwarfs any previous jumps between cycles. It’s also more money than lawmakers can constitutionally spend.
The program, known as Chapter 313, provides companies with billions of dollars in property tax breaks. The court said it is up to the Legislature to make the call on what to do as the program is set to expire and the state is swamped with applications.
During the campaign, Hegar touted his work on lowering taxes and expanding broadband in Texas, reforming the tax code, reducing regulations on agriculture and pushing for government transparency.
Hegar, who is running for his third term as Texas comptroller of public accounts, has made increasingly provocative moves in recent weeks, challenging financial companies he says are anti-oil and gas and threatening budget sanctions against Harris County over police funding.
Advocates have previously called for repealing the sales tax on products like tampons, sanitary pads and pantyliners. Menstrual products are already tax-free in 24 states.
Performance reviews of state government are an exercise in separating the operation of government — how things work — from the direction of government — what, in broader terms, government should do. The nuts and bolts on one hand, the vision thing on the other.
Witnesses say Kim Olson pushed the party’s top staffer during a bus tour in 2018. Olson denies the allegation.