The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education Analyst Trevor McGuire will testify before the Texas House Committee on Higher Education and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Article III. Mr. McGuire will testify on Interim Charge 1 to conduct a review of current funding formulas for community colleges.
Press Release March 23, 2016Yesterday, Moody’s Investor Services, one of the nation’s three largest credit-rating agencies, downgraded the city of Houston’s general obligation limited tax rating from Aa2 to Aa3, affecting $3 billion in previously issued bonds. The agency cited “weakening economic and financial performance driven by prolonged decreases in oil prices” as well as heightened spending and pension problems. Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Director of the Center for Local Governance James Quintero issued the following statement.
Press Release March 18, 2016The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) issued the following statement from the Honorable Robert Henneke, general counsel and director of TPPF’s Center for the American Future, on the federal District Court’s Order granting the State of Texas’ motion to intervene in Aderholt, et al. v. Bureau of Land Management, et. al. TPPF’s Center for the American Future is representing individual property owners, the counties of Wichita, Clay, and Wilbarger, and the Clay County Sheriff in the lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) unconstitutional and arbitrary seizure of thousands of acres of private property along the Red River in Texas.
Press Release March 15, 2016In a compelling short video the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) explores the negative effects of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan on the Navajo Nation, the state of Arizona, and the Southwest United States where EPA’s burdensome regulation threatens to shut down two large power plants and coalmines. These operations provide substantial revenue and jobs for the Navajo Nation.
Press Release March 14, 2016The Texas Public Policy Foundation today released a paper by John Davidson, director of the Center for Health Care Policy at TPPF, discussing how to improve access to dental care in Texas. The paper, Dental Workforce Reform in Texas, examines how creating a new class of midlevel dental providers, called dental therapists or dental hygiene practitioners, could help Texas solve its dentist shortage problems and improve access to routine dental care.
Press Release March 10, 2016The Texas Public Policy Foundation today released Right on Crime’s Journalists’ Guide to Federal Sentencing Reform by Joe Luppino-Esposito, policy analyst for Right on Crime and the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The guide gives a useful background of sentencing and an overview of proposed legislation in Congress.
Press Release March 10, 2016The Texas Public Policy Foundation today released a paper by Greg Glod and Joe Luppino-Esposito, policy analysts for Right on Crime and the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, rebutting misguided criticisms of federal criminal justice reform. The paper, Examining the Myths of Federal Sentencing Reform, addresses the critiques of reducing prison populations and examines policy recommendations for effective reform.
Press Release March 10, 2016The Texas Public Policy Foundation and The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation today announced a special reprint of Fossil Fuels: The Moral Case. The paper, authored by TPPF’s Distinguished Senior Fellow and Director of the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment Kathleen Hartnett White and originally released in June 2014, makes the case that fossil fuels have vastly improved living conditions across the world and released entire populations from abject poverty.
Press Release March 9, 2016Today, the Texas Workforce Commission released Texas labor market data for January 2016. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Economist Dr. Vance Ginn issued the following statement.
Press Release March 4, 2016The Texas Comptroller’s office yesterday launched “Transparency Stars,” a new and informative open government initiative that recognizes “local governments for going above and beyond in their transparency efforts.” The effort credits local governments for financial transparency efforts, including providing downloadable datasets, creating visual representations of data, and expanding the amount of information available online to the public beyond traditional finances.
Press Release March 4, 2016The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s initiative, Energy for a Rising Generation, will host a panel on affordable energy and government efforts to mandate CO2 cuts via regulatory edicts such as the Clean Power Plan. The panel will be held at the Athletic Club of Columbus in Ohio TODAY, Friday, March 4, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. EST.
Press Release March 4, 2016Texas Public Policy Foundation President and CEO Brooke Rollins and Director of the Center for Tenth Amendment Action Dr. Thomas Lindsay issued the following statements on the Indiana Senate and House passing legislation calling this week for a convention of states to propose amendments under Article V of the United States Constitution.
Press Release March 3, 2016