I sat down and asked business owners a simple list of questions. Most of them can't answer yes to all of it. Here is the list. The website checklist "Do you have your own website? Is it fully functional? Does it have multiple pages…
At 18 you can vote. At 18 you can sign a contract, sit on a jury, and swear an oath to this country. Under a new Senate bill, at 18 you could not be sold, or even given, the most common rifle in Texas. Plain English summary On November…
Your vote on a school bond. Your vote on a city charter. Your vote on the Texas Constitution. Who paid for the ads telling you how to vote? A new bill says it cannot be money from outside this country. Plain English summary On November…
All things Ryan
They told you the toll was to pay for the road. So what happens when the road is paid for? One new bill says the toll comes off. For good. Plain English summary On November 10, 2026, State Rep. Shaheen filed House Bill 1042. The caption…
Austin keeps ending up with more of your money than it planned on. Two new bills say send it back. Not as a check. As a smaller school tax bill, every year, until that tax hits zero. Plain English summary On November 10, 2026, two Texas…
Wall Street wants your neighbor's house. A new Texas bill says no. Insurance companies and big funds would have to stop buying homes to rent back to you. Plain English summary On November 10, 2026, State Rep. Mizani filed House Bill 1073…
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Today is Veterans Day. Yesterday a Texas senator filed a bill to make it a tax-free day. Not for everything. And not until 2028. Plain English summary On November 10, 2026, Sen. Judith Zaffirini filed Senate Bill 330. (FACT, bill history)…
"Give me a book of stamps. Give me 10 to 20 dollars." Commissary day at the medium "On commissary day, at the medium, they're gonna do everything they can in their power to make sure you get a full bag. Because you might get locked down…
"That's all the food that we were supposed to be eating. There goes our chicken right there." Chicken patty day "At the medium, Beaumont medium, when it was what you were supposed to get to eat, you're going to get to eat. So when it was…
"Imagine having no heater in the winter time and you just better hope that you stay warm." That is how I remember FCI Beaumont Low. No heat "When I was there, there were no heating coils in the roof. There was no heater." "This is the…
Two Texas Republicans filed the same resolution on the same day. It asks Congress to let states limit money in elections. They filed it last session too. It never got a vote. Plain English summary On November 10, 2026, Sen. Angela Paxton…
You click on a $60 ticket. By checkout it costs $91. A bill filed in Austin this week says show me the $91 first. Plain English summary Senate Bill 42 was filed on November 9, 2026, the first day of prefiling for the 2027 session. The…
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Your city council already handles your water bill. Your county already holds your tax dollars. House Bill 815 would let each of them put up to $10 million of public money into Bitcoin. Plain English summary FACT: On November 9, 2026,…
"What do you need? How can I help you?" I asked that on camera. It is the question I keep coming back to. I came to work "But first, I had to come work." "I'm all dressed up today because I am going to go around and start taking videos of…
Your house did not get bigger. Your appraisal did. House Bill 563 says the most it can climb in one year is 3 percent, not 10. Plain English summary Right now Texas law lets the appraisal district raise the taxable value of your homestead…
$1,500 to every household in Texas. Paid out of the rainy day fund. Before anybody cheers or sneers, read the bill. Plain English summary On November 9, 2026, Sen. Roland Gutierrez filed Senate Bill 297. The caption: "Relating to one-time…
Sometimes the hardest part of getting help is knowing who to call. So this one is simple. Save these numbers in your phone today, for yourself or for someone you love. You may never need them. Somebody you know might. If someone is in…
Texas families pay sales tax on almost everything they buy. The biggest data centers in the state have been buying tax free. Now 23 Texas senators have put their names on a bill to end it. Plain English summary On November 9, 2026, Sen.…
Texas pays for the roads. Texas pays for the water plants and the bridges. A new East Texas bill says the steel, concrete and lumber in them should be made in America. Then it hides the exceptions. Plain English summary On November 9,…
Texas has no term limits for the Legislature. None for the governor either. On the first day of bill filing, four resolutions showed up in the Texas House to change that. Plain English summary On November 9, 2026, House members filed four…
Texas tells you the lottery is money for schools. Now a bill filed in Austin would shut the whole thing down. Before anybody cheers or panics, show me the math. Plain English summary Senate Bill 188 was filed November 9, 2026, by Sen. Bob…
You walk into your polling place. You ask for a paper ballot. A bill filed today in Austin says they have to hand you one. Plain English Summary Senate Bill 196 was filed November 9, 2026 by State Sen. Bob Hall. It does two things. First,…
There is a jail inside the prison. Most people do not know that. What it is called "It's called the SHU, or the Special Housing Unit, S-H-U, or the hole." "In the Special Housing Unit, it's complete solitary confinement." Why it is worse…
"Nobody's taught them how to act." I said that in my truck on Monday, November 9, 2026. I was talking about men coming home from federal prison. I was one of them. What it cost inside This is what I saw at FCI Beaumont. This is my…
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A private company wants to build a train. To do it, the law lets that company take a farmer's land. Two bills filed today in Austin pull in opposite directions on that, and on who pays. Plain English summary On November 9, 2026, two…
Your city, your county, or your school board wants more of your money than the law allows without asking you. Right now, half the voters plus one can say yes. HB 687, filed today in Austin, says that is not enough. Make it 60 percent.…
"That version of Ryan had to die." I said that in my truck on Monday, November 9, 2026. I meant it. The old Ryan "I'm not gonna yell at you. That's the old Ryan." "In order for me to do the things that I want to do, I had to move on from…
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Every article, filing, timeline, and map here is built on AI tokens. The $463 a month in subscriptions is on me. The overage credits that keep the machine running the rest of the week are the ask: $1,700 a month, billed by the token at published rates. You buy the overage. I do the work.
I stopped by the Republican Party of Gregg County on Monday, November 9, 2026. They were closed. I did not get to go in. So I stood out front and asked you the question I was going to ask them. "How do you feel about the Republican Party…
A school bond is a 30 year loan. Right now in Texas, half the voters plus one can sign every homeowner up for it. HB 238 says that is not enough. Plain English State Rep. Andy Olcott filed House Bill 238 in Austin today, November 9, 2026.…
You drive to work. You drive to church. You drive to the feed store. Right now a camera on a pole can log every one of those trips. HB 847 says police need a warrant before they look. Plain English On November 9, 2026, the first day of…
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