“The federal stimulus spending plan takes America in the wrong direction, but if the funds are going to be used, they must not fund programs that create future financial obligations for Texas. “Spending stimulus funds on transportation is dicey because of the significant cost to maintain highways. TxDOT should consider future costs when selecting stimulus...
Press Release March 5, 2009“The federal stimulus package takes Texas and America down the wrong path. States like California and Michigan have shown us that getting hooked on federal funds is the path to economic destruction. Texas must learn from their examples and resist the federal government’s bait to use one-time money to expand social programs because there won’t...
Press Release March 3, 2009AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation is pleased to announce that David Guenthner, its Director of Media and Government Relations, has been selected as one of the inaugural recipients of the Texas Social Media Awards. “Communication technologies and techniques are changing rapidly,” said Justin Keener, the Foundation’s Vice President of Policy and Communications. “David...
Press Release February 18, 2009“Sen. Dan Patrick and Rep. Ken Paxton deserve praise for taking this bold step to protect Texas’ economic future. The tax and expenditure limit proposed in Senate Bill 928 and House Bill 994 is a great improvement over the current provision. “Population growth plus inflation is an appropriate government spending limit because it caps the...
Press Release February 18, 2009AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation joined several other research, business, and taxpayer groups at the Texas State Capitol today to deliver "Blueprint for an Effective Budget," an agreed-upon set of guidelines for the Legislature to draft an effective state budget. "Our legislators will have difficult budget decisions to make over the next few...
Press Release February 11, 2009“We are pleased that Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus are getting out in front of our state’s budget situation by asking agencies for targeted spending reductions. This is a time for state government to prioritize needs and cut some of the least important items, and the letter from Dewhurst and Straus seeks...
Press Release February 2, 2009“We applaud Gov. Rick Perry’s focus on fiscal responsibility in his remarks today. This is the time for state government to restrain spending, not to increase taxes or expand programs. Texas must continue to lead by example, rather than to follow other large states like California down the path to bankruptcy. “We join Gov. Perry...
Press Release January 27, 2009AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation called on the 81st Texas Legislature to enact legislation that would end the abuse by political subdivisions of their eminent domain authority. “Property rights and freedom in America were turned upside down with the Kelo decision,” said Bill Peacock, Director of the Foundation’s Center for Economic Freedom. “In...
Press Release January 22, 2009“The first draft of the 2010-11 Texas state budget reinforces the message from Comptroller Susan Combs’ revenue estimate last week. The Texas Legislature needs to get to work on pruning the next state budget back within the available revenue. “The legislature needs to be mindful of the hard lesson it learned in 2001, when it...
Press Release January 20, 2009“The comptroller’s revenue estimate makes clear what we have suspected for several months: while Texas has positioned itself better than just about any other state, we will not be immune to the effects from this national recession. “The Texas Legislature needs to demonstrate leadership this year by pruning state spending now. Already, there are calls...
Press Release January 12, 2009“Almost 53 percent of spending by Texas governments is done at the local level. Unfortunately, detailed information on that local spending is virtually inaccessible to taxpayers, who are the true local control. “As our new report Texas Transparency: Then and Now published earlier this week shows, Texas’ experience with spending transparency undercuts all the excuses...
Press Release December 3, 2008AUSTIN – Today’s issuance of the last school charters allowed under current law makes it essential that the Texas Legislature repeal its cap on charter schools. “Restrictions imposed by the Texas Legislature now deny tens of thousands of students the opportunity to enroll in their preferred public school,” said Brooke Dollens Terry, education policy analyst...
Press Release November 21, 2008