AUSTIN – The continuing decline in Texas’ unemployment rate provides further validation of the Texas Model, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.9 percent in April 2012, down from 7 percent in March 2012 and from 8 percent one year ago, according to the Texas Workforce Commission’s latest employment...
Press Release July 16, 2012AUSTIN – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency relied on four highly questionable assumptions in 2009 to drastically inflate the health benefits from far-reaching new rules, according to a new report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “For the last three years, the EPA has justified a series of strict and incredibly expensive new air...
Press Release July 16, 2012“Yesterday’s decision by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that property rights cannot be trampled by the public on their way to the beach. “Defending private property rights does not mean the public will be harmed. Texas beaches will generally remain open and accessible. In the rare cases where we might desire to...
Press Release July 16, 2012“Today’s decision not to list the dunes sagebrush lizard has spared Texas from strict federal land use controls on private lands, which would have stalled Texas’ historic boom in oil and gas production. It was the correct decision, legally and scientifically. “Decisions to list species under the Endangered Species Act should be based on rigorous...
Press Release July 16, 2012“The Lone Star State has emerged as a national leader in criminal justice reform, strengthening alternatives to incarceration by using conservative principles such as limited government and accountability. The dramatic crime drop in Texas far surpasses the national downward trend and validates the smart approach to cutting crime and costs that Texas continues to take...
Press Release July 11, 2012“CNBC’s declaration of Texas as America’s Top State for Business in 2012 – and for the third time in five years – validates the general policy direction of our state. More tellingly, Texas was ranked in the top 10 states in six of the 10 categories, including oft-maligned areas such as workforce quality and infrastructure....
Press Release July 10, 2012“I commend House Speaker Joe Straus for promoting the cause of budget transparency. State fees should be collected only for their stated purpose. Legislators should end the practice of hoarding these fees to balance the state budget and hiding the true cost of government from taxpayers. “Legislators should also disavow the misuse of dedicated funds...
Press Release July 9, 2012“We applaud Governor Perry’s leadership in rejecting the implementation of ObamaCare in Texas. Access to health care, affordability of health care, and health care outcomes are tremendous concerns for all Texans – and the ObamaCare expansion of Medicaid and so-called insurance exchanges are grave threats to all three. “Medicaid in particular is a failed system,...
Press Release July 9, 2012AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation reacted today to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the requirement that state governments expand Medicaid under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The Supreme Court rejected the previous findings of the lower courts regarding Medicaid expansion and largely concurred with the arguments set...
Press Release June 29, 2012AUSTIN – Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the individual mandate within the federal Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a tremendous blow against Americans’ health care and individual liberties, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “The fundamental question before the U.S. Supreme Court in this case was, if the federal government...
Press Release June 28, 2012AUSTIN – The 83rd Texas Legislature should enhance the ability of parents, citizens, and educators to form home-rule school districts and campus charters in Texas public schools, according to a report published today by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. "By freeing schools from costly, inefficient mandates and empowering parents to better guide their children's education,...
Press Release June 26, 2012“Against challenges from Texas, 15 other states, and almost 100 petitioners from industry, the D.C. Circuit has upheld the EPA’s legal foundation for regulation of greenhouse gases. “The D.C. Circuit’s ruling for EPA repeatedly relies on the deeply flawed, policy-laden, and now outdated 2007 U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Massachusetts v. EPA. In that ruling, a...
Press Release June 26, 2012