The Texas Public Policy Foundation will host a policy primer on the Outcomes of the 84th Legislative Session TODAY, Friday, June 5, at 11:30 a.m. at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. The Policy Primer is the first in a series of Traveling Primers on the Outcomes of the 84th Texas Legislative Session, and will be followed by events in Houston, Midland, and Austin in coming weeks.
Press Release June 5, 2015Earlier today, the Dallas City Council overwhelmingly voted to repeal its ordinance establishing a 5-cent fee on single-use bags. Beginning next week, stores and businesses will once again be able to freely provide consumers with single-use paper and plastic bags without government interference.
Press Release June 3, 2015The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Effective Justice Director Marc Levin will participate in a press conference on House Bill 48 TODAY, Monday June 1, at 3:00 p.m. or 30 minutes after the Texas House adjourns, in the Speaker’s Conference Room, room 2W.15 at the State Capitol. HB 48 creates a commission to review convictions after exoneration and aims to prevent wrongful conviction. Governor Abbott is expected to sign the legislation into law today.
Press Release June 1, 2015On the closing days of the 84th session, the House and the Senate overwhelmingly adopted the Conference Report on HB 1396, which codifies the rule of lenity, a long held canon of statutory interpretation that instructs a judge, as a matter of law, to interpret objective ambiguities in criminal law in favor of the defendant. HB 1396 also creates a commission to study potentially unnecessary criminal penalties for activities not traditionally criminalized; codifies the recent U.S. Supreme Court case, Riley v. California, which states that law enforcement must obtain a warrant in order to access a telephone; places theft value thresholds in line with modern-day inflation values; and provides docket preference to cases where the victim is under the age of 14.
Press Release June 1, 2015Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Effective Justice Director Marc Levin and Senior Policy Analyst Derek Cohen issued the following statements on the Texas Legislature’s passage of House Bill 2398.
Press Release May 30, 2015The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Director of the Center for Effective Justice, Marc Levin, issued the following statement concerning SB 1630, which aims to reform the juvenile justice system by increasing accountability and helping to keep youth out of the adult corrections system. The amendment is the subject of negotiations between the House and Senate on an amendment to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction.
Press Release May 30, 2015The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy, the Honorable Talmadge Heflin, issued the following statement congratulating the 84th Texas Legislature for passing a conservative Texas budget. The budget increases in all funds, including federal funds of 3.6 percent to $209.4 billion and state funds of 5.8 percent to $141.4 billion, are below the Conservative Texas Budget Coalition’s recommended 6.5 percent spending limit based on population growth plus inflation.
Press Release May 29, 2015The Texas Public Policy Foundation released a statement in support of the 2016-17 budget as developed by the Conference Committee. The budget increases in all funds, including federal funds, of 3.6 percent to $209.4 billion and state funds of 5.8 percent to $141.4 billion are below the recommended 6.5 percent spending limit based on population growth plus inflation.
Press Release May 28, 2015The Conservative Texas Budget Coalition issued the following statements in support of the Conference Committee’s Report for House Bill 1. This is the final 2016-17 Texas budget that will be voted up or down by both chambers. The increases in all funds of 3.6 percent to $209.4 billion and state funds of 5.8 percent to $141.4 billion are below the Coalition’s recommendation of a 6.5 percent spending limit based on population growth plus inflation.
Press Release May 28, 2015Vice President of Policy for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, The Hon. Chuck DeVore, issued the following statement on the Texas Senate passage last night of House Bill 20, which would reform planning processes at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
Press Release May 28, 2015The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Kathleen Hartnett White, Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and the Director Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment issued the following statement on yesterday’s action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to finalize the Clean Water Act Rule, which redefines “the waters of the United States” under the federal Clean Water Act.
Press Release May 28, 2015Director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) Center for Health Care Policy John Davidson issued the following statement on the Texas House passage today of House Bill 966, which would allow state employees the option of choosing a high deductible health plan coupled with a health savings account.
Press Release May 27, 2015