Today, United States District Judge Carl Nichols ruled in favor of the Trump Administration to make the negotiated rates between hospitals and insurers transparent. “This is an important ruling and a great step toward making the healthcare industry less opaque by requiring that they post the real prices for patients to see,” said David Balat,...
Press Release June 23, 2020Today, Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) unveiled a bill to reform qualified immunity for law enforcement. The Reforming Qualified Immunity Act would increase accountability across the board. “Long-lasting, meaningful reform starts with fixing qualified immunity to protect the rights of citizens secured by the Constitution while protecting good police officers,” said Dr. Derek Cohen, policy director of...
Press Release June 23, 2020Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published the paper Punished for Being Poor: The Relationship Between Poverty and Neglect in Texas. “Removing a child from their home is a traumatic event that has been shown to cause long-lasting negative effects,” said Nikki Pressley, a policy analyst with the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “In Texas, over 90%...
Press Release June 23, 2020As Austin’s new ordinance restricting the rights of citizens across the city goes into full effect today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Executive Director Kevin Roberts released the following statement: “Austin city officials have consistently redefined public health goals to justify unnecessary and ineffective restrictions on the actions of citizens. Austin is not and has never been close to seeing our health care system...
Press Release June 23, 2020Today, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released state-level labor market data for May 2020. Texas, which started responsibly reopening its economy in early May, led the nation with 237,000 net nonfarm jobs added at a pace of 2% compared to California who delayed their opening and added 141,600 jobs last month at only a 0.9%...
Press Release June 19, 2020The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Executive Director Kevin Roberts, Ph.D., a historian of American slavery and former college president, released the following statement in celebration of Juneteenth: “Today, much of the nation celebrates the Texas holiday of Juneteenth. Juneteenth formally commemorates the 19th of June, 1865, when General Gordon Granger of the United States Army,...
Press Release June 19, 2020Nearly a year after the Texas Public Policy Foundation issued its report “Towards a 21st Century Asylum System” and formed a Border Security Coalition calling for “decisive U.S. Executive and Legislative action to update the asylum system and reduce the massive backlog of cases faced by overwhelmed immigration courts”, the organization’s leadership welcomed the Trump...
Press Release June 15, 2020AUSTIN – Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Life:Powered project published the paper U.S. Cities Had Clean Air Before COVID-19: Reducing Emissions Will Barely Move the Needle. “With a 40% decline in passenger vehicle travel during March and April 2020, the media was quick to draw connections between declines in activity and drops in pollution levels in many...
Press Release June 11, 2020The Texas Public Policy Foundation announced the expansion of its Right on Healthcare Initiative to the Sagamore Institute in Indiana. The partnership will amplify efforts to lower health care costs, increase access, and ensure every American is in charge of their own individual or family medical decisions. “The Sagamore Institute was formed to tackle difficult issues with civility and focus on solutions,” said Right on Healthcare’s Director David Balat. “This has...
Press Release June 11, 2020AUSTIN – The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency injunction order in the Texas Democratic Party v. Texas lawsuit. The Fifth Circuit panel found that the district judge “took matters into his own hands” in a decision that will be remembered more for “audacity than legal reasoning.” The panel rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments...
Press Release June 5, 2020AUSTIN – Today, the Texas Supreme Court denied the City of Austin’s petition for review in the Austin paid sick leave lawsuit. “The Texas Supreme Court’s denial of the city of Austin’s appeal leaves undisturbed the Third Court of Appeal’s opinion that the Austin paid sick leave ordinance is unconstitutional because it is preempted by state law,”...
Press Release June 5, 2020Dr. Vance Ginn, former Chief Economist for the Office of Management and Budget and current Chief Economist for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, released the following statement regarding the Bureau of Labor Statistics recent jobs report: “Today’s jobs report is proof that the states phasing out government shutdowns are helping families and workers get back on track, while the states still on lockdown are...
Press Release June 5, 2020