Today, the Texas Workforce Commission released labor market information in Texas for February 2017. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Economist Dr. Vance Ginn issued the following statement:
Press Release March 24, 2017Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Education Freedom today released a paper on values-based education by James V. Shuls, Ph.D., assistant professor and graduate program director of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Missouri—St. Louis. The paper, “Values-Based Education, How Education Savings Accounts Provide Options,” examines how education savings accounts will affect values-based education in a pluralistic society.
Press Release March 24, 2017The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Tenth Amendment Action Director Chip Roy issued the following statement on amendments to the American Health Care Act (AHCA) released last night. The amendments would repeal the essential health benefits mandate of Obamacare, and replace it with a requirement that states set their own standards for essential benefits.
Press Release March 24, 2017The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) Center for Tenth Amendment Action Director Chip Roy issued the following statement on potentially millions of veterans being made ineligible for tax credits under the American Healthcare Act. Technical corrections made to the bill late Monday changed eligibility criteria and now prevents any veterans from receiving the new tax credit. Previously, veterans were eligible as long as they were not already enrolled in a VA plan, Medicare, or other entity. Due to a technical correction using an IRS definition, millions of veterans will not be eligible for the new refundable tax credit.
Press Release March 22, 2017The Texas Public Policy Foundation today released a paper on college affordability in Texas by Dr. Thomas Lindsay, director of the Center for Higher Education. The paper, “Consolidating the Revolution: 2017 Update on the Texas Affordable Baccalaureate Program,” examines rising college costs and potential solutions.
Press Release March 22, 2017The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) today released a paper by Dr. Deane Waldman, director of the Center for Health Care Policy at TPPF, titled, “The Saga of 1115—A Block Grant Can Fix Texas Medicaid, but Only Temporarily.” The paper discusses how with a waiver of all federal Medicaid insurance mandates, Texas can both expand access to medical care for more than four million Texans in Medicaid, and manage the Texas state budget more effectively. Without a complete waiver from all federal mandates, Texas Medicaid is trouble both medically and financially.
Press Release March 21, 2017Texas Public Policy Foundation will host “Beyond the Sentence: Collateral Consequences of Substance-Abuse Related Crime” on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. CDT at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Joe B. Hogsett Theater. The panelists will discuss how to approach drug crime in a way that advances proportional punishment, saves valuable tax dollars, and keeps Texas communities safe.
Press Release March 21, 2017The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Economic Freedom released today The Lone Star State Model for Helping Injured Workers by Bill Peacock and Stanley Greer. The paper examines the effectiveness of both Texas’ workers’ compensation and private sector work-injury benefit systems. It finds that both systems work well in comparison to mandatory systems in other states. It also finds, in contrast to the concerns of the U.S. Department of Labor, that employees and employers are better off under the Texas private sector work-injury benefit system, with improved claims handling, cost control, and return to work rates of injured employees.
Press Release March 21, 2017The Texas Public Policy Foundation today released a paper on local debt in Texas by James Quintero, director of the Center for Local Governance. The paper, “Red Ink Rising in the Lone Star State: FY 2016,” examines the growing public debt accumulated by cities, counties, school districts, and special districts in Texas.
Press Release March 21, 2017Texas Public Policy Foundation President and CEO Brooke Rollins, Executive Vice President Kevin Roberts, Ph.D., and Economist Vance Ginn, Ph.D. will testify before the Texas Senate Education Committee today in support of education choice achieved through education savings accounts (ESAs) in SB 3.
Press Release March 21, 2017The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero issued the following statement on Governor Greg Abbott remarks today about the intersection of local control and economic regulation. Gov. Abbott stated, “As opposed to the state having to take multiple rifle-shot approaches at overriding local regulations, I think a broad-based law by the state of Texas that says across the board, the state is going to preempt local regulations is a superior approach.”
Press Release March 21, 2017The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy Director The Honorable Talmadge Heflin and Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero issued the following statements on the Texas Senate passage today of Senate Bill 2, the Property Tax Reform and Relief Act of 2017. The bill would reduce the rollback tax rate and require automatic elections if property taxes grow beyond the threshold.
Press Release March 21, 2017