State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) brought before a packed house of Rotarians last week, a summary related to the Texas economy. His comments concerned the state's budget, the ever-pressing school finance system and the economy as a whole.

King told the group that Texas had the largest 10-year growth in private sector jobs in the country and that in pre-recession 2008, more jobs were created in Texas than all of the other 49 states combined.

For several months, the elected members of the Lone Star State's board of education have considered extensive revisions to the state's K-12 social studies curriculum. After months of efforts, the board's conservative majority tentatively approved a new curriculum in March, and on April 15 the board published its proposal, which it may adopt after allowing 30 days for public comment.

The comment has been vocal. Critics in Texas and across the nation have decried the changes as educational malpractice, with news reports characterizing them as "historically inaccurate" and reflecting "far right" bias. The board allegedly expunged Thomas Jefferson, minimized constitutional safeguards for religious freedom, and ignored the struggles of women and minorities for civil rights. A letter signed by several historians at the Universities of Texas at Austin and El Paso claimed the board "undermined the study of the social sciences in our public schools by misrepresenting and even distorting the historical record." Newsweek ridiculed the "Texas Curriculum Massacre."

Despite the allegations, however, no one has pointed to a particular significant error of fact. My own review of the proposed curriculum did not reveal anything plainly false, and the oft-repeated accusations of outrageous omission are demonstrably false. The board did not excise Thomas Jefferson, downplay constitutional religious freedom, or minimize the role of women and minorities. On the contrary, the curriculum is replete with specific references to Jefferson, religious freedom, the civil rights movement, and the achievements and struggles of women and minorities.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently concluded that man-made greenhouse gas emissions — including carbon dioxide — are harmful pollutants and must be regulated. The lawsuit I filed challenging that finding does not address the disputed science surrounding global warming. Instead, it focuses on the indisputable fact that the EPA relied on information that has been discredited, manipulated, lost or destroyed, and sometimes evaded peer review. The lawsuit does not attempt to show that the globe is not warming. It does, however, show that the process used by the EPA in deciding to regulate greenhouse gases is riddled with errors that render its conclusion untrustworthy.
Before regulating man-made greenhouse gas emissions, the EPA was required to conduct a scientific assessment. Rather than conduct its own assessment, the EPA relied on reports by third parties. The EPA's conclusions rest primarily on information gathered by a creation of the United Nations called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC — an organization that has become mired in scandal because the reliability, objectivity and scientific validity of its work has come under fire.

Weatherford State Representative Phil King Wednesday urged cities in eastern Parker County to use new waste collection companies in the future, in an effort to halt the construction of a waste transfer station in Aledo.

If you’re a homeowner in Texas, hopefully you’ve already paid your property taxes. After Monday’s deadline, what was already a hefty and growing tax bill will become even larger.

The Texas Legislature and our last two governors have acted in good faith to reduce property taxes, but the combination of rising property valuations and local government excesses have caused property taxes to continue their surge. So what can our state do to relieve this burden?

The author of the bill passed last year to provide up to $100 million in tax breaks for companies that can develop carbon-capturing coal plants in Texas is taking a skeptical stance on President Obama’s formation of a task force to find ways to advance clean coal technologies on a national level.

"No question, this is our year," said Rep. Phil King of Weatherford, the driving force behind GOPAC-TX, a new group attempting to train and finance Republican legislative candidates. "But we've got to do the job. We've got to show that it's not business as usual [and] that we're really going to change the trend of government and go back to limited government and free market principles that really built Texas."

The global warming debate continues. The Copenhagen Global Warming Summit is being held this week in Denmark and while world-renowned scientists still disagree on the effects, liberal extremists in Washington are working harder than ever to advance their own political agendas in its name.

Capitol Hill Democrats are now touting the federal “Cap and Tax” legislation as the newest solution to global warming. When you boil it down, “cap and tax” simply amounts to a federal energy tax. Since Texas produces and consumes more energy than any other state, our economy will be hit the hardest. As Texans, we need to remain vigilant to ensure that this legislation does not pass.

Against the backdrop of the recent White House Jobs Summit, State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) called for a smarter, limited government approach to job creation that he says is a proven alternative to federal stimulus spending and intervention in the private sector economy.

In a late-week release, King said although Texas remains better off economically than the rest of the nation, the most recent unemployment figures illustrate the imperative for a targeted and responsible state-level plan to grow the economy and create jobs.

I wanted to bring something important to your attention that may potentially save your family thousands of dollars for your children’s education.

Nine years ago my father bought each of his grandchildren a Texas Tomorrow Fund grant. Since it’s beginning in 1995 as the Texas Tomorrow Fund, the Texas Guaranteed Tuition Plan has been an important educational resource for many Texans, including my family. On August 24, 2009, I received a letter, as did the thousands of other families regarding the Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board’s decision to change the refund rule for unused tuition hours when a contract with the fund is canceled or a refund is requested.