AUSTIN— Today, the Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 347 on second reading by a vote of 98 – 43. If the bill becomes law, then the Texas Legislature will have effectively ended the practice of forced annexation. “Every property owner deserves to have their property rights protected, irrespective of which county they live in,” said Think Local...
Press Release April 8, 2019AUSTIN—The Texas Public Policy Foundation praises the Senate Committee on State Affairs’ passage of Senate Bills 2485, 2486, 2487, and 2488. These pieces of legislation will ensure consistency and uniformity in employment regulations and allow private employers and employees to operate in an economy where they can freely negotiate the terms of employment. “Texas has long had a reputation...
Press Release April 5, 2019WASHINGTON – Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published congressional testimony by John Davidson reporting on the humanitarian crisis at the southern border with Mexico. Davidson, a senior correspondent at the Federalist and a senior fellow for the Foundation’s Right on Immigration initiative, recounts the experience of border towns in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley and...
Press Release April 4, 2019AUSTIN—Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published the paper ERCOT’s Growth and Adaptation to New Markets: Generation Capacity, Renewable Energy Subsidies, and the Operating Reserve Demand Curve. “Renewable energy subsidies have brought increases in wind generation which lowered incentives to build the dispatchable generation that is needed to maintain reliability of the Texas electricity grid,”...
Press Release April 4, 2019AUSTIN – Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released the following statement from Executive Director Kevin Roberts in support of Sen. Paul Bettencourt’s resolution declaring America’s border crisis an emergency: “The Texas Public Policy Foundation thanks the Texas Senate for recognizing what is painfully obvious to Texans and the citizens of other southern border states:...
Press Release April 2, 2019AUSTIN— The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas released an opinion in American Stewards of Liberty v. United States Fish & Wildlife Service in which the district court granted in part the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s summary judgment motion on behalf of our client, Mr. John Yearwood. “The ruling from the...
Press Release March 29, 2019AUSTIN— Following the committee passage of HB 2, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released the following statements: Vance Ginn, Ph.D., senior economist and director of the Center for Economic Prosperity: “We support this measure’s effort to reduce the skyrocketing burden of property taxes that has forced too many Texans out of their homes and businesses....
Press Release March 28, 2019AUSTIN— Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published the policy perspective Why Film Subsidies Fail: A Case Made for Texas by the States. “The 85th Legislature appropriated $22 million to the Moving Image Industry Incentive Program for the current budget,” said Carine Martinez, policy analyst with the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “As the 86th Legislature is...
Press Release March 27, 2019AUSTIN— The Texas Public Policy Foundation applauds the Department of Justice’s letter notifying the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that it agrees with the trial court’s ACA decision. “The Department of Justice has determined that the district court’s judgment should be affirmed,” the letter reads. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled in December that the...
Press Release March 26, 2019AUSTIN—The Texas Public Policy Foundation commends President Trump’s executive order which protects the freedom of speech on college campuses by tying First Amendment protections to federal funding. Tom Lindsay, Ph.D., director of the Center for Innovation in Education, who attended the signing ceremony for the executive order, made the following statement: “President Trump’s executive order regarding free...
Press Release March 25, 2019AUSTIN – Today, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released state-level labor market data for February 2019. Vance Ginn, Ph.D., senior economist and director of the Center for Economic Prosperity at the Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following statement: “Texas continues to lead the nation in job creation, which has been a common theme for...
Press Release March 22, 2019AUSTIN—Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published the paper Toward Strengthening Civic Education in Texas. “It has been said that ‘the philosophy of the classroom in one generation becomes the philosophy of government in the next,’” said Tom Lindsay, Ph.D., director of the Center for Innovation in Education at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “If...
Press Release March 21, 2019