taxpayer

Texas Supreme Court Curbs Same-sex Marriage Benefits

The Supreme Court of Texas held that the U.S. Supreme Court opinion recognizing the right of same-sex couples to marry does not automatically entitle them to spousal employment benefits. The unanimous court held that the 2015 opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges did not address the right to tax, insurance, or other benefits–only the right to marry.

REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Texas Court Hears Case to Curb Gay Marriage Rights

The Supreme Court of Texas heard oral arguments today in a case where Houston taxpayers sued urging that subsidizing employment benefits for the spouse of a same-sex couple is illegal. Lawyers for the taxpayers describe the case as “the only one of its kind in the nation.”

marriages

Texas Supreme Court Asked to Reconsider Same-Sex Spousal Benefits

Two taxpayers filed a motion for rehearing with the Texas Supreme Court on Monday to reconsider their order denying review of a case against the openly gay former Houston Mayor and the City of Houston. They urge that Mayor Annise Parker violated the Texas Constitution and state statutes when she gave spousal benefits to gay employees in 2013 and 2014. Parker issued these benefits to employees prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling.

The Associated Press

Aetna Joins Industry by Bailing Out of Obamacare

The Aetna insurance company is terminating coverage for 73 percent of its Obamacare individual policies, facing huge financial losses and the need to hike health insurance premiums by 20 percent just one week before the November 8 elections.

Private health insurance (Stan Honda / AFP / Getty)

Changing Name of Texas Public School Will Cost Taxpayers $500K

HOUSTON, Texas — Changing the name of just one middle school in Texas will cost Houston taxpayers almost $500,000. Some Houston taxpayers are not happy about the cost of the name change, and some former students, parents of students, and current students at the middle school are not happy about the name change either.

Lanier Middle School - Houston ISD

Obama’s 3,554 Rules and Regulations Cost Households $15,000

While in the past year Obama signed 224 bills into law, he also published 3,554 final rules. “This means that for every law passed by Congress, the federal government created 16 new rules,” according to the report from Sen. James Lankford. “While certain regulations are important to keep us safe, the current Administration has churned out new regulations at a pace that exceeds 3,500 per year.”

citizenship

Prisoner’s Sex Change Surgery Delay May Still Leave Taxpayers Footing the Bill

$100,000. That’s the prison’s estimated cost of the sex change operation California inmate Michelle-Lael Norsworthy demanded and was scheduled to receive in July before a Thursday court order delayed the first ever prison-paid procedure of its kind in California. But even if he’s released on parole, the taxpayers could still have the privilege of picking up the tab under Medi-Cal, says one bay area legal director.

Steve Yeater/AP Photo