Improving Debt Transparency in Bond Elections

August 31, 2016

James Quintero

James Quintero is the policy director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Government for the People campaign. Since joining the Foundation in 2008, Quintero has focused extensively on: state & local government spending, taxes, debt, public pension reform, annexation, and local regulations.

Policymakers should be concerned about the size and growth of local government debt in Texas – a contributing factor is that voters do not have enough information provided to them at the ballot box to make an informed decision about new debt issuances. Voters should be provided with basic fiscal facts at the ballot box to better understand how their decisions will affect their community.

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Southern Spirit Line: High Voltage Hype, Low Impact for Texas

The proposed Southern Spirit transmission line connecting Texas to Louisiana and Mississippi has generated a lot of headlines over the past week, with my favorite coming from the publication Electrek: “Hell froze over in Texas—the state will connect to the U.S. grid for the first time via a fed grant.” I laughed. The article fails...

October 11, 2024

Taxes & Spending

Taxes are High. Local Spending is to Blame.

Over the last few months, local property taxes have been described as: “steep,” “burdensome,” “stressful,” “too high,” and “out-of-control.” Yet despite these sharp (and accurate!) criticisms of Texas’ property tax, many local governments seem oblivious to the system’s excesses, as evidenced by the adoption of high tax rates this year (see TPPF’s Taxman Cometh series) as well as historical tax, spending, and debt patterns. Worse, what once may have been excused as indifference or detachment now borders on exploitation. Consider some recent revelations about local government compensation. ...

March 26, 2026

Border Security

Red states need to take action before it’s too late

Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez (D) recently said the quiet part out loud: If Democrats regain power, they intend to “melt ICE” and “dismantle the Department of Homeland Security.” Not reform. Not recalibrate. Dismantle. At this point, no one should be surprised, but everyone should be paying attention. The window for aligned federal action is limited, and states...

April 2, 2026

James Quintero

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Southern Spirit Line: High Voltage Hype, Low Impact for Texas

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