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About the Foundation
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan research institute guided by the core principles of individual liberty, personal responsibility, private property rights, free markets and limited government.
The Foundation’s mission is to improve Texas
by generating academically sound research
and data on state issues, and by recommending the
findings to opinion leaders, policymakers, the media
and general public.
Learn more about the Foundation in our video, Ideas Into Action.
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Highlighted Research

| Is Academic Research a Good Investment for Texas? | |
| The key to preparing the next generation of Texans for more productive and meaningful lives is not to pour billions of additional dollars into higher education research, but to
return our colleges and universities to their original mission—teaching students. |
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| When You're Right, Well, You're Right: The Laffer Curve | | Thinking Economically: Lesson 9 |
| For good or ill, many people reduce the entire pro-growth worldview of supply-side economics down to the “Laffer Curve,” which graphically depicts the tradeoff between tax rates versus the total tax revenues actually collected by the government. |
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| Building a Principled Budget | | A Blueprint for the 2010-11 Biennium |
| Texas is a national leader in job creation, gross state product, low unemployment rate and foreign direct investment. Will the 81st Legislature preserve these successes by writing a responsible budget that promotes economic growth? |
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| Texas Transparency: Then and Now | |
| The 4th President of the United States, James Madison recognized the power of information when he said “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance.” Texas is a national leader in equipping her people with knowledge of government through transparency. We challenge the Legislature to build on that position when they meet in January of 2009. |
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Visit the Publications section for all of our reports.
| Latest Commentaries

New Day for Texas Juvenile Justice Competition can make any system better, and the juvenile justice system is no exception. Whatever the agency running state lockups is called, what is most important is that it competes with local and private providers. |
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Texas Toll Money: Give It Back Citizens expect that the transportation user fees they pay—whether tolls, vehicle registration fees, or gas taxes—will be used to alleviate traffic congestion; that is simply not the case.
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EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Blueprint for Disaster This unprecedented reach of EPA authority disproportionately hurts Texas because we are the nation’s leading energy producer, the most productive economy, and the second largest state population. |
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Ending Secret Ballots Will Cause Worker Misery If the U.S. Congress succeeds in its push next year to end secret ballots in union elections – paying back Big Labor for its truckloads of financial contributions and personnel during the last presidential campaign – countless workers’ lives will become nightmares, pitting friends against friends. I know the hard way. |
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Compassion? Not in My Book Bailout requests by numerous states have recently been a top news item, as everyone lines up behind the financial sector with their hands out. Rather than debate the wisdom of these bailouts, it is time to look at the states’ fiscal policies and see whom they hurt. |
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More commentaries are found in the Newsroom.
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Recent Press Releases
| Statement on Comptroller Susan Combs’ Transparency Initiatives | | Statement by The Honorable Talmadge Heflin, Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy |
“Texas already has open records and open meetings. The next step toward transparent and accountable government is open checkbooks, and the 81st Texas Legislature should make that the standard for local governments as it already is for the state. Taxpayers deserve to know how all levels of government are spending their money.” |
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TexasPolicy.com |
Texas Public Policy Foundation 900 Congress Ave., Ste. 400 Austin, TX 78701 Phone 512.472.2700 Fax 512.472.2728 |
| info@TexasPolicy.com |
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| Brooke Terry: Some veteran teachers oppose incentive pay because change is hard |
| - Houston Chronicle | |
| Legislators want school districts to use existing dollars more efficiently, says Brooke Terry |
| - Austin American-Statesman | |
| Cap-and-trade proposal would mean higher unemployment, higher energy costs, and lower incomes for Texans, says David Guenthner |
| - KHOU-TV CBS 11 (Houston) | |
| TPPF competitiveness study bolsters case against California tax increases |
| - Colusa County Sun-Herald (Colusa, CA) | |
| Legislature should allow local regions to keep toll funds, writes Justin Keener |
| - Fort Worth Star-Telegram | |
| TPPF study cited in editorial against proposed California tax increases |
| - Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA) | |
| Editorial cites TPPF study on costs to produce Texas wind energy |
| - Investor's Business Daily | |
| Friends and unions don't mix, writes Dr. Ronald Trowbridge |
| - Houston Chronicle | |
| "Budgets are about setting priorities," Talmadge Heflin reminds |
| - Tyler Morning Telegraph | |
| TPPF seminar highlights Arizona probation funding system |
| - Arizona Capitol Times | |
| Medical licensing laws limit choices and increase cost of health care, says Kalese Hammonds |
| - Health Care News | |
| Kalese Hammonds: "Expanding government programs does little to actually reduce the number of uninsured" |
| - Health Care News | |
| Kathleen Hartnett White: Hold off on that obituary for fossil fuels |
| - San Antonio Express-News | |
| California can learn from Texas economy, writes William Murchison |
| - San Angelo Standard-Times | |
| Texas should streamline and improve teacher pay-for-performance, says Brooke Terry |
| - WOAI AM 1200 (San Antonio) | |
| Texas can weather economic storm, writes Talmadge Heflin |
| - San Angelo Standard-Times | |
| Talmadge Heflin urges legislators to learn from overspending of 2001 session |
| - Amarillo Globe-News | |
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