AUSTIN — Today, thirty prominent Texas conservative leaders sent a letter to Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn urging them to support the FIRST STEP Act, which would provide reentry programming to help reduce recidivism, increase public safety, and give those incarcerated a second chance once they have paid their debt to society. The legislation passed...
Press Release June 7, 2018Rod’s record speaks for itself. He is one of the most effective, leading reformers of the regulatory state, which has become an enormous obstacle to liberty and prosperity in Texas. We are thrilled to have his insights and expertise guiding our work at TPPF and are eager to put an end to one-size-fits all title insurance policies.
Press Release June 7, 2018Our research shows that rural pretrial incarceration has grown more than 400 percent since 1970. Possible reasons include the epidemic of opioids and other drugs, the inability of many defendants to afford high bail amounts, the reluctance of judges to release defendants on their own recognizance, and the lack of accessible treatment alternatives. Fortunately, our paper provides many solutions that policymakers can act on to ensure constitutional rights while also promoting public safety and reducing the burden on taxpayers.
Press Release June 5, 2018Texans and out-of-state visitors must pay exorbitant taxes for overnight stays in hotels or short-term rentals. As visitors seek to experience the beauty of the Lone Star State, they are required to financially ‘enhance and promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry’ through the hotel occupancy tax, but it really hurts local businesses instead. Without the tax, visitors could stay longer and spend more instead.
Press Release May 24, 2018The Texas jobs market remains hot as the private sector’s annual job creation rate hit 3.2 percent—the highest in three years. When you focus on relatively light taxation and regulation, like in Texas, the results speak for themselves. The benefits of the federal tax cuts and regulatory reforms have also helped employers statewide in addition to the resulting pro-growth climate.
Press Release May 18, 2018This May, as college students across the U.S. graduate with large sums of student debt, we should be asking ourselves if there are better, more affordable ways for students to attain their degrees. We found that competency-based education offers a strategy for students to graduate faster, with less cost and improved results.
Press Release May 17, 2018Renegotiating NAFTA could serve as a valuable opportunity to promote prosperity, but only by reducing trade barriers and government privilege so individuals in different countries can mutually benefit. If the focus is on the principles of freedom and liberty, the outcome of an improved NAFTA will be to let people prosper, whether they are Texans, Americans, Mexicans or Canadians.
Press Release May 8, 2018Any time government interjects itself into the family and parent-child relationship should be treated with great caution by the courts. The constitutional problem with this part of the Texas Family Code is that it allows CPS to seek judicial micromanagement of the family without adequate evidence of abuse or neglect. In our lawsuit, TPPF seeks to restore the minimal constitutional protections for families facing investigation.
Press Release May 8, 2018Attracting the top talent in the policy world has long been a staple of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Hiring Kara Belew continues that tradition, as she is a leading authority on school finance reform, innovation in education, and making good policies for what is most important — our 6 million Texas schoolchildren. Kara will make a huge difference on policy, and therefore, on the lives of our children. We are privileged she has joined our team.
Press Release May 1, 2018Market decisions of millions of people generally provide better, more efficient outcomes than decisions by a select few in government. Calls for a carbon tax are based on flawed assumptions and climate models that have been highly inaccurate. Congress and state legislatures should not hinder our economic and environmental prosperity with a carbon tax.
Press Release April 30, 2018Austin’s largest local retirement system is in serious trouble. By its own standards, the City of Austin Employees’ Retirement System’s unfunded liabilities totaled $1.3 billion in 2016, an increase of $875 million over 10 years. Under a more realistic set of standards, the pension debt is likely closer to $2.4 billion, and growing fast. That fiscal imbalance not only calls into question the long-term sustainability of the plan but also suggests that both taxpayers and retirees are in harm’s way under the status quo.
Press Release April 26, 2018Texas once led the nation in government transparency, but today’s Texans are increasingly kept in the dark about how their government operates. This is especially true at the local level where economic development deals are negotiated behind closed doors, chambers of commerce are used to circumvent open government laws, and important public information is kept out of reach. It’s time for lawmakers to revise the Public Information Act and return Texas to the top.
Press Release April 26, 2018