AUSTIN – Texas cities, counties, school districts, and special districts owed nearly $561 billion in combined principal and interest in fiscal year 2025, according to a new research paper from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. For reference, Texas’ local government debt was less than $332 billion in 2016. The current total comes out to $17,706...
Press Release November 9, 2026AUSTIN, Texas — In response to Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s executive order limiting when the Houston Police Department contacts ICE, and as Austin and other Texas cities signal similar changes, the Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following statement from Ammon Blair, Senior Fellow, Secure & Sovereign Nation. “This order cuts against Senate Bill 8,...
Press Release November 9, 2026AUSTIN — Texas Public Policy Foundation CEO Greg Sindelar issued the following statement in the wake of Tuesday’s elections: “Yesterday’s elections ushered in new leadership for the Lone Star State. Yet the challenges facing our state and nation have not changed, and neither have our principles. Make no mistake: Texans still want the next generation...
Press Release November 4, 2026New TPPF Research: Texas Is “Governing Blind” on Immigration’s Costs to Schools, Hospitals, and First Responders AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is legally required to educate, treat, and respond to everyone who enters its classrooms, emergency rooms, and 911 systems, but it has no consistent way to measure what those obligations cost. That’s the central finding...
Press Release October 29, 2026AUSTIN- Today, TPPF’s Taxpayer Protection Project released brand new research analyzing housing affordability in Texas. The research outlines the effects of housing reforms that have already been put into place and the future of housing affordability in Texas. Texas’s housing market is challenged by supply-side constraints, rooted in restrictive zoning, large-lot mandates, escalating regulatory fees,...
Press Release October 28, 2026SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) will appear in federal court on Thursday, October 29, to challenge the City of Oakland, California’s enforcement of its Protected Tree Ordinance, which resulted in a staggering $915,000 fine against two property owners for removing trees from their own land. Plaintiffs Matthew Bernard and Lynn...
Press Release October 28, 2026AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has made meaningful progress on rules for decommissioning and disposing of wind, solar, and energy storage facilities, but gaps remain that could leave Texans facing billions of dollars in future unfunded liabilities. That is a central finding of Addressing the Environmental Challenges of Wind, Solar, and Energy Storage in Texas, a...
Press Release October 27, 2026AUSTIN — Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released new research examining Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in Texas. This report finds that while TANF was created to support needy families, reduce welfare dependence, and promote the well-being of children, the program in Texas has drifted from that original mission and is no longer...
Press Release October 21, 2026New TPPF Research: Texas Must Protect Its Critical Infrastructure AUSTIN — Texas’s power grid, water systems, fuel supply, and communications networks are vulnerable to natural disasters, attacks by hostile nations, and terrorism. If key parts fail, recovery could take years. That is the warning in a new Texas Public Policy Foundation paper by the Honorable...
Press Release October 15, 2026AUSTIN, Texas — Today the Texas Public Policy Foundation released MORENA in the United States and Abroad, co-published with the America First Policy Institute. In it, authors Alejandrina Elms and Melissa Ford show that MORENA, Mexico’s governing party, is building a permanent partisan organization in the United States while actively using Mexico’s 53 U.S. consulates...
Press Release October 14, 2026AUSTIN — The Texas Public Policy Foundation filed an amicus brief asking the Texas Supreme Court to review a case involving restrictions on short-term rentals and reaffirm constitutional protections for Texas property owners. The case raises questions about whether land-use restrictions are subject to meaningful judicial review under Article I, Section 19 of the Texas...
Press Release October 9, 2026DALLAS – The Supreme Court of Texas is set to hear oral arguments on giving Texans increased access to government information under the Texas Public Information Act. Currently, government bodies in Texas may withhold almost any information from the public just by involving an attorney and then claiming attorney-client privilege. TPPF is asking the Court...
Press Release October 7, 2026