TPPF statement on HB 500

AUSTIN – Today, the Texas House of Representative and the Texas Senate passed House Bill 500, a bill that offers over $700 million in business tax relief and makes permanent the $1 million small business tax exemption. “HB 500 will go far to improve Texas’ business tax climate and job creation, and it is heartening to see it passed by the Legislature,” said Chuck DeVore, Vice President for Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, “With businesses and entrepreneurs shouldering almost two-thirds of our state and local tax burden, what HB 500 accomplishes is nothing less than a direct boost to Texas jobs and prosperity. In making permanent the $1 million small-business tax exemption, HB 500 frees up our smallest job creators to focus on growing their businesses instead of worrying about the Texas Tax Code.  “We commend the Legislature for providing this much-needed tax relief for those who drive the economy that sustains or communities and homes.”   The Honorable Chuck DeVore is the Vice President for Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He served six years in the California Assembly and is the author of “The Texas Model: Prosperity in the Lone Star State and Lessons for America.” The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.   Primary website: www.TexasPolicy.com Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/TexasPublicPolicyFoundation Twitter feed: www.Twitter.com/TPPF

Statement on SB 1

"While the Senate's proposed budget would spend $2.3 billion more in All Funds than the House's version, the budget put forth today demonstrates commendable fiscal restraint on the part of the Senate's budget writers. It is encouraging to see that the budget writers in both chambers have come to the conclusion that there are no...

TPPF on the impending vote on HB 500

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following statement on the passage of Senate Bill 1: “The passage of SB 1 marks an unwelcome departure from the guiding principles of fiscal responsibility,” said Executive Director Arlene Wohlgemuth, “The Lone Star State’s pressing needs in the coming biennium were – and remain – affordable...

TPPF statement on SB 1

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following statement on the Texas Legislature’s passage of Senate Joint Resolution 1: “SJR 1 puts in motion a plan to raid the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) for billions to pay for water infrastructure projects, an expense that should have been paid for within the existing General...

TPPF statement on SJR 1

AUSTIN – Today, House Bill 1025, the second supplemental spending bill of the 83rd Regular Session, was passed by the 83rd Texas Legislature. The bill now goes to the Governor’s desk for signature or veto. “HB 1025 raises spending beyond the already considerable level of $197 billion in the proposed 2014-2015 budget,” said Talmadge Heflin,...

TPPF statement on HB 1025

AUSTIN – James Golsan, scholar at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, issued this statement on the 83rd Texas Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 2: “In passing SB 2, the Texas Legislature took a real and much-needed step forward toward the student-centered education reforms that the Lone Star State so desperately needs....

TPPF statement on passage of SB 2

AUSTIN – James Golsan, scholar at the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Center for Education Policy, issued this statement on the forthcoming vote on Senate Bill 2: "Sometime in the coming 36 hours, the 83rd Texas Legislature is likely to take a final vote on Senate Bill 2. This crucial piece of legislation is one of the...

TPPF statement on passage of SB 7

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued this statement on today's passage of SB 7 by the 83rd Texas Legislature: "The final passage of SB 7 is a welcome step forward in the ongoing effort to reform Texas' Medicaid program so that it is sustainable in the long term," said Arlene Wohlgemuth, Executive Director and...

TPPF statement on veto of SB 346

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following statement on Governor Rick Perry's veto of Senate Bill 346: "The Governor did the right and courageous thing in vetoing Senate Bill 346 today," said Executive Director Arlene Wohlgemuth, "This bill would have had a chilling effect on our Constitutional freedom of association that we...

TPPF statement on impending SB 2 vote

AUSTIN – Later today, the Texas House and Senate are expected to pass House Bill 500, a bill that offers significant business tax relief and makes permanent the $1 million small business tax exemption. “The reforms contained in HB 500 will go far to improve Texas’ business tax climate and job creation, and we hope...

Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Dr….

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Dr. Thomas Lindsay, Director of the Center for Higher Education, has published an article in Society, a scientific journal that publishes discussions and research findings in the social sciences and public policy. The article, “The Likelihood of Higher-Education Reform” discusses Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind (1987) and Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa’s Academically Adrift (2011), and how they point to possible strategies to address the crisis in higher education. “It’s an honor and privilege to have my work accepted by Society, a widely known and respected journal in academia,” said Dr. Lindsay. “Society has provided me a vital forum to elaborate on the prospects for higher-education reform, which will not occur if our universities do not urgently embrace greater transparency, accountability, and affordability.” The article is available electronically on SpringerLink: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12115-013-9649-x   Thomas K. Lindsay, Ph.D., is director of the Center for Higher Education at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He is a former deputy chairman and chief operating officer of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and has more than two decades of experience in higher education management and instruction.  The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.   Primary website: www.TexasPolicy.com Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/TexasPublicPolicyFoundation Twitter feed: www.Twitter.com/TPPF    

TPPF Statement on Session Spending