Money from the federal government is often thought of as “free,” but, nothing could be further from the truth. The prevalence of federal funds has been shown to adversely affect a state’s economy, increase state government spending, and lead to a decline in state tax revenues.
This page includes videos of the keynote addresses by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ABC/ESPN college football analyst Craig James, the congressional update by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, and the global warming debate between Dr. Gerald North (Texas A&M University) and Dr. Roy Spencer (University of Alabama-Huntsville).
Texas, alone among the states, has moved forward into a truly restructured and competitive electricity era, which has brought lower prices, greater reliability, and increased consumer choice.
Higher education continues to pull on the purse strings of the state legislature while questions arise about skyrocketing tuition and declining graduation rates. Can better transparency improve the quality and lower the cost of higher education in Texas? Our panel will examine the current level of transparency at Texas universities, discuss the improvements that have been made, and make recommendations on the areas that need to be improved. Panelists include:
* The Honorable Dan Branch, Chairman, House Committee on Higher Education
* The Honorable Joaquin Castro, Vice Chairman, House Committee on Higher Education
* Rick O'Donnell, TPPF Senior Fellow and President of the Acton Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence
In the 81st session, lawmakers cut funding for state youth lockups by more than $100 million and redirected $48 million of the savings to juvenile probation departments. This program will examine how departments can use these new funds to successfully divert youths from incarceration and simultaneously reduce both recidivism and cost to taxpayers, as well as issues that should be considered in the upcoming sunset review of the state’s juvenile justice agencies. Panelists included:
* House Corrections Committee Vice Chairman Jerry Madden
* Vicki Spriggs—Executive Director, Texas Juvenile Probation Commission
* Harvey Hetzel—Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, Harris County
* Michele Deitch—Adjunct Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs
Featured sessions include: Eminent Domain Discussion featuring Susette Kelo, Dr. Arthur Laffer's Update on the State of the U.S. Economy, Immigration Policy Debate featuring Dr. Arthur Laffer and Mark Krikorian, and Keynote Remarks by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
Audio of the panel sessions can be found in the "Audio Gallery."
