Austin, TX – With today’s veto of HB2193, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Effective Justice director Marc Levin issued the following statement: “Texans recognize that the current probation system is broken with unacceptably high rates of revocations and recidivism. While HB 2193 contained positive reforms such as progressive sanctions and the expansion of...
Press Release June 17, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas House on Sunday followed the Senate’s lead in passing a $139.4 billion budget, which the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s vice president, Michael Quinn Sullivan, today described as “too big, even for Texas.” “We are not seeing the same fiscal discipline that marked last Session’s budget process. Two years ago, lawmakers...
Press Release May 29, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – The following statement was issued today on passage of legislation to reform Texas’ “zero tolerance” law. Marc Levin, director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said: “We applaud the Legislature for making much needed reforms to Texas’ zero tolerance law. “During this session, we learned of...
Press Release May 26, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – As budget negotiators for the House and Senate continue work on the spending and tax plans, the vice president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation urged them to exercise the same fiscal restraint found during the last legislative session. “Two years ago these lawmakers closed a $10 billion shortfall through sound fiscal...
Press Release May 20, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – Hundreds of thousands of students would be given the opportunity for a better education and a brighter future under a school choice plan voted out of the House Public Education Committee today (May 18, 2005) as part of the Texas Education Agency reauthorization bill. The following statement was issued by the Texas...
Press Release May 19, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – With the House and Senate conference committee meeting for the first time today to consider the two bodies differing approaches to the education reforms found in House Bill 2, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s director of research, Chris Patterson, offered the following statement: “If conference committee members stand firm on key provisions...
Press Release May 17, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – With passage of Senate Bill 18, the Texas Senate has ensured local taxpayers will have more information about property tax rates, according to the vice president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The legislation was authored by State Senator Tommy Williams of the Woodlands. “This important legislation brings more sunshine to the...
Press Release May 12, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – While the version of House Bill 3 passed by the Senate Finance Committee on Friday (May 6, 2005) is substantively better than that which was originally proposed earlier in the week, Texans could still face a $2.9 billion increase in their overall tax burden, according to an econometric model run by the...
Press Release May 6, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – With the State Senate poised to consider major revisions to the state’s tax system next week, the chief economist of the Texas Public Policy Foundation urged them to reject bad economic policy. “The Senate would do well to rely on sound economic principles and reduce reliance on hidden taxes levied against business,”...
Press Release April 28, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – With passage today (Tuesday, April 26, 2005) of House Bill 1006, the Texas House of Representatives brings greater transparency to the property tax system and empowers taxpayers, the vice president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation said afterwards. “This commonsense legislation brings more truth and openness to the property tax system by...
Press Release April 26, 2005AUSTIN, Texas – Parents in Texas would have greater power in providing for their children’s education under any of three pieces of legislation to be considered by the House Committee on Public Education, two of the state’s leading education experts will tell lawmakers on Tuesday. “Even parents who choose not to exercise their right to...
Press Release April 4, 2005AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House today voted by a three-to-one margin to repeal the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund tax, levied on all Texans since 1995. Its purpose was primarily to hard-wire public schools, universities, libraries, and public hospitals to the Internet. The tax was assessed on telecommunications companies doing business in Texas to fund the...
Press Release March 23, 2005