AUSTIN – The Texas Legislature should resist calls to expand the Medicaid program by extending the continuous eligibility period from six months to 12, the Texas Public Policy Foundation said today. “Medicaid was intended to provide health care to our poorest citizens,” said Andrea Whitman, health care policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation....
Press Release May 11, 2009"CHIP was created to provide health insurance to children of the working poor. But the Texas Senate's vote today to extend CHIP to families making up to $66,000 per year morphs the program into an expensive entitlement for the middle class. Why would we consider expanding CHIP when we still aren't enrolling more than 170,000...
Press Release May 6, 2009AUSTIN – Several research, business, and taxpayer groups joined today to urge House and Senate conferees on the 2010-11 state budget to keep fiscal restraint at the forefront of their discussions. “The House leadership and members are to be complimented on adopting a good sound budget for the next two years to carry into conference,”...
Press Release April 29, 2009AUSTIN – Texas families would see higher personal incomes and the Texas economy would gain hundreds of thousands of new jobs if the Texas Legislature abolished the property tax and replaced it dollar-for-dollar with a revised sales tax, according to a report issued today by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “The property tax is an...
Press Release April 28, 2009“We are deeply disappointed at the House’s vote to defund the state teacher incentive pay programs. The House vote puts successful incentive pay programs – such as Houston ISD’s ASPIRE program – in jeopardy by altering the method of funding and distributing it through the formulas to all school districts regardless of their interest in...
Press Release April 20, 2009Statement by Justin Keener, Vice President of Policy and Communications: “Two weeks ago, the Texas Senate approved a budget that continued the diversion of $1.3 billion of our gasoline taxes to non-transportation purposes. Rather than doing the hard work of setting better priorities so that these taxes could be spent on transportation, the Senate decided...
Press Release April 14, 2009AUSTIN – The Texas Senate opened the door to billions of dollars in new taxes and fees in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Waco, Fort Hood, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville regions through its preliminary passage today of Senate Bill 855. The bill faces a final vote next Tuesday. “As we initially feared...
Press Release April 8, 2009AUSTIN – The recently passed federal stimulus package increases overall government spending to a level that will hinder Texas’ private sector growth and cost the state at least 131,400 jobs, according to research findings released today by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “These findings show clearly that growth in government crowds out growth in the...
Press Release April 6, 2009“The Texas Senate has set a good benchmark for the 2010-11 state budget negotiations. Our senators deserve credit for keeping the state’s budget growth within a reasonable limit and not tapping the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund. “The federal stimulus package was bad policy. To the extent that our legislators decide to accept the federal stimulus...
Press Release April 1, 2009AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation joined several research and taxpayer organizations today to urge legislators not to tap the Economic Stabilization Fund during the 81st Texas Legislature. The Foundation, along with leaders from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Americans for Prosperity-Texas, the Free Market Foundation, and the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute, made the...
Press Release March 31, 2009AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation expressed disappointment over today’s committee approval of Senate Bill 855, which opens the door to significant new taxes and fees in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso regions. “Today, the members of the Senate Transportation & Homeland Security Committee approved Senate Bill 855 without ever...
Press Release March 25, 2009The Texas House of Representatives recognized the accomplishments of the Texas Public Policy Foundation on the occasion of its 20th anniversary with its passage of HR 943 this morning. The resolution by Rep. Brian McCall states, among other things, that, “the Foundation has played an integral role in the Texas legislative process by providing principled...
Press Release March 24, 2009