TPPF Statement on Port Aransas City Council Suspension of Plastic Bag Ban

The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero issued the following statement on the Port Aransas City Council 5 to 1 vote last week to suspend its ordinance prohibiting businesses from providing single-use plastic bags to customers. Port Aransas’ decision to upend the ordinance comes on the heels of a recent opinion issued by the Fourth Court of Appeals finding that a similar ban enacted by the city of Laredo had been passed in violation of existing state law and must be struck down.

Press Release September 19, 2016

TPPF Statement on Texas Attorney General’s Intervention in Lawsuit to Protect Homeowners’ Tax Cuts

Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero issued the following statement on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s announced intervention into a property tax lawsuit, stating that local school districts violated the Texas Constitution and state law when they reduced or repealed their Local Option Homestead Exemptions (LOHE).

Press Release September 15, 2016

TPPF Statement on Austin’s Approved 2016-2017 Budget

Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero issued the following statement on the $3.7 billion budget for fiscal year 2016-2017 adopted yesterday by the Austin City Council. The new budget is up from $3.5 billion in the prior fiscal year. Under the terms of the new city budget, the average Austinite will pay an additional $7.21 per month or $87 per year in new taxes and fees.

Press Release September 15, 2016

TPPF Statement on Houston Mayor’s Pension Proposal

Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero issued the following statement on Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s tentative pension reform agreement with officials from the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System (HMEPS), the Houston Police Officers Pension System (HPOPS), and the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund (HFRRF) announced today. According to the Houston Chronicle, the Mayor’s proposal would “eliminate Houston’s pension under-funding within 30 years, avoid more than $2.5 billion in future costs through benefit reductions and include the issuance of at least $1 billion in bonds.”

Press Release September 14, 2016

TPPF Hosts Discussion on Key Issues in Clean Power Plan Legal Challenge

 The Texas Public Policy Foundation will host a discussion on the eve of oral arguments before the D.C. Circuit Court in State of West Virginia, et al. v. EPA. The discussion will preview the key legal arguments to be addressed before the en banc panel regarding EPA’s authority to regulate the nation’s power generating industry under the Clean Power Plan (CPP). Issues include constitutional challenges striking at the heart of the CPP, focusing on EPA’s usurpation of state powers to regulate the use of in-state natural resources, and its attempt to rewrite the Clean Air Act to suit its overarching goal of regulating CO2 emissions.

Press Release September 13, 2016

TPPF’s Kathleen Hartnett White to Speak at Energy Network Conference in Houston

The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and Director of the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment Kathleen Hartnett White will deliver the keynote presentation, “The Great Energy Enrichment,” at the Energy Conference Network’s 2nd annual Internet of Things (IoT) conference this week. Ms. White will speak at 9:45 am on Wednesday, September 14 at the Whitehall Hotel in Houston, Texas. She is coauthor of the recently released Fueling Freedom: Exposing the Mad War on Energy (Regnery Publishing).  

Press Release September 12, 2016
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