AUSTIN— Today, the Texas House of Representatives will debate whether or not taxpayers should continue to fund government lobbying, as well as the need for stronger reporting requirements for lobbying activities. “We expect our elected officials to be judicious in the use and allocation of taxpayer dollars,” said Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Executive Director Kevin...
Press Release May 17, 2019AUSTIN— Today, the Texas Senate gave final approval to House Bill 477, a bill that brings uniformity and transparency to the debt issuance process. The bill calls for the creation of a voter information document, requires local governments to disclose more information related to the issuance of certificates of obligation, and increases the amount of information...
Press Release May 15, 2019AUSTIN – The U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee released draft language for the reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) that incorporates language recommended by a coalition of child welfare reform advocates, including the Texas Public Policy Foundation. This coalition, known as United Family Advocates, is a bipartisan group...
Press Release May 14, 2019AUSTIN— This evening, the Texas House preliminarily passed House Bill 769, which would place certain restrictions on severance payments made to school superintendents. One proposal, added via an amendment, would prohibit both open-enrollment charter schools and school districts from making a severance payment to the chief executive in excess of one year’s salary. “Six-figure severance payments are an...
Press Release May 9, 2019AUSTIN— Today, the Texas House passed HB 297 which would eliminate the school districts’ maintenance and operations property tax and replace it with a more efficient sales tax. “Texas’ economy is the strongest in the country — owing in large part to the commitment of policymakers to the Texas Model and strong conservative fiscal leadership,”...
Press Release May 9, 2019AUSTIN—Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published the policy perspective, Vindicating Texans’ Free Speech Rights Under Janus. “Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court found that elected officials infringe on public employees’ First Amendment rights when they force them as a job condition to allow a third party—a labor union—to speak for them on workplace matters and infringe...
Press Release May 9, 2019AUSTIN– Today, the full Texas Senate passed House Bill 347 which promises to end the practice of forced annexation in Texas. The bill now heads back to the Texas House where representatives can decide whether to concur with Senate amendments. “Last session, the Texas Legislature took a major step toward ending forced annexation by granting...
Press Release May 9, 2019AUSTIN—Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Effective Justice published the policy perspective Results-Oriented Solutions for Probation Funding. “While overcrowding in prisons and jails receive the lion’s share of scrutiny from the reform-minded, it is actually those in community supervision that form the largest population in most corrections systems,” said Michael Haugen, policy analyst with...
Press Release May 7, 2019AUSTIN— The Texas Public Policy Foundation filed a brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to uphold the U.S. District Court decision declaring Obamacare unconstitutional. “For millions of Americans like our clients Neill Hurley and John Nantz, the Affordable Care Act has led to skyrocketing costs, rationed care, and loss of health care freedom,”...
Press Release May 2, 2019AUSTIN— Today, the Texas Committee on Ways & Means passed House Joint Resolution 3, which would cut school districts’ maintenance and operations (M&O) property taxes with every dollar generated from raising the state sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 7.25 percent. This legislation would need to be passed by both chambers and then approved...
Press Release May 1, 2019AUSTIN— Today, the full Texas House preliminarily passed Senate Bill 2, the Property Tax Reform & Relief Act of 2019. The bill lowers the rollback tax rate, now called the “no-new-revenue tax rate,” from 8 percent to 3.5 percent for cities, counties, and some special districts. It also imposes a rollback rate of 2 percent for...
Press Release April 30, 2019AUSTIN— The Texas Public Policy Foundation commends the Texas House of Representatives for the passage of HB 2100, relating to free speech at Texas public universities. Thomas Lindsay, Ph.D., director of the Center for Innovation in Education at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said the following: “The Texas House of Representatives is to be applauded...
Press Release April 30, 2019