“I commend House Speaker Joe Straus for promoting the cause of budget transparency. State fees should be collected only for their stated purpose. Legislators should end the practice of hoarding these fees to balance the state budget and hiding the true cost of government from taxpayers. “Legislators should also disavow the misuse of dedicated funds...
Press Release July 9, 2012“We applaud Governor Perry’s leadership in rejecting the implementation of ObamaCare in Texas. Access to health care, affordability of health care, and health care outcomes are tremendous concerns for all Texans – and the ObamaCare expansion of Medicaid and so-called insurance exchanges are grave threats to all three. “Medicaid in particular is a failed system,...
Press Release July 9, 2012AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation reacted today to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the requirement that state governments expand Medicaid under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The Supreme Court rejected the previous findings of the lower courts regarding Medicaid expansion and largely concurred with the arguments set...
Press Release June 29, 2012AUSTIN – Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the individual mandate within the federal Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a tremendous blow against Americans’ health care and individual liberties, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “The fundamental question before the U.S. Supreme Court in this case was, if the federal government...
Press Release June 28, 2012AUSTIN – The 83rd Texas Legislature should enhance the ability of parents, citizens, and educators to form home-rule school districts and campus charters in Texas public schools, according to a report published today by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. "By freeing schools from costly, inefficient mandates and empowering parents to better guide their children's education,...
Press Release June 26, 2012“Against challenges from Texas, 15 other states, and almost 100 petitioners from industry, the D.C. Circuit has upheld the EPA’s legal foundation for regulation of greenhouse gases. “The D.C. Circuit’s ruling for EPA repeatedly relies on the deeply flawed, policy-laden, and now outdated 2007 U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Massachusetts v. EPA. In that ruling, a...
Press Release June 26, 2012AUSTIN – With enrollment in online coursework growing at 10 times the rate of higher education enrollment overall, the 83rd Texas Legislature should remove barriers to the expansion of online higher education, according to a report published today by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “The Future Face of Higher Education: Online Learning in the New...
Press Release June 22, 2012AUSTIN – The Texas Workforce Commission’s latest employment report continues the string of positive news about the Lone Star State’s economy, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Texas’ economy added 12,500 net new jobs in May 2012, making this the 22nd consecutive month of employment growth. Meanwhile, Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2012 remained...
Press Release June 15, 2012“When the Texas Public Policy Foundation considered its options for keynote speaker at this year’s 10th Annual Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature, there was no question that Governor Scott Walker was at the top of our list. His fight for accountable government, genuine democracy, and fiscal responsibility in his own state directly reflects the...
Press Release June 5, 2012“Rep. Ken Legler was a stalwart champion of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s energy and environment issues. I have known him for 20 years. He was a self-made man who created a now highly successful metal fabricating business, operating in the United States and several other countries. “Ever the joking clown, Ken could be easily...
Press Release June 1, 2012AUSTIN – Texas Public Policy Foundation President Brooke Rollins will make history on Monday, June 4, as she hosts the nationally syndicated broadcast of “The Mike Gallagher Show.” Part of the Salem Radio Network, “The Mike Gallagher Show” is the fastest-growing radio-talk program in the country, reaching roughly 3.5 million listeners each week on 165...
Press Release May 26, 2012AUSTIN – The recent attacks on the American Legislative Exchange Council stem from its critics’ fundamental opposition to limited government and economic freedom, write the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s top leaders in today’s Wall Street Journal. The op-ed, “Why the Left Wants to Blacklist ALEC,” was penned by Dr. Wendy Lee Gramm, the Foundation’s chairman of...
Press Release May 17, 2012