HJR 10 & HB 20 Testimony before the Texas House Committee on Appropriations

April 3, 2019

Vance Ginn, Ph.D.

Vance Ginn, Ph.D., is an accomplished economist finding free-market solutions that let people prosper. He is founder and president of Ginn Economic Consulting where he provides high-quality research and trusted insights on how to affect change at the federal, state, and local levels. Ginn’s experience includes time in public policy, government, and academia. He is chief economist at Pelican Institute for Public Policy and a senior fellow at several think tanks, including at Americans for Tax Reform, Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), and Young Americans for Liberty.

House Joint Resolution 10 and its enabling legislation House Bill 20 would create a new Texas legacy fund with some dollars in the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) used to attempt to gain a higher return on taxpayer money and allocate the returns to unnecessarily grow government.

View Full Publication

A New Birth of Excellence: Independent Colleges and the Recovery of Academic Freedom

This week, five independent colleges—Benedictine College, Merrimack College, the University of Mount Saint Vincent, Bellevue University, and Houston Christian University—announced that they have joined as founding members of the National Association for Academic Excellence (NAAE). Their move could be momentous. Spanning New England to Texas and the Great Plains, these institutions are helping to build...

October 20, 2026

Local Government

Reinvigorating Federalism and Fiscal Discipline in Texas: Establishing the Office of State Sovereignty

Texas governments received $84.3 billion in federal funding in 2023, raising concerns over financial dependency and regulatory consequences. Creating an Office of State Sovereignty to monitor the application, receipt, and conditions of this aid could mitigate fiscal risk and improve transparency. Key points: Texas lacks a centralized system to oversee federal grants potentially flowing to...

September 9, 2026

Higher Education

Safe Schools and Fair Standards

Safe Schools and Fair Standards Key points: Texas’s higher education code is not aligned with Supreme Court precedent on the correct standards for defining harassment. Texas statute does not define what makes conduct “severe,” “persistent,” or “pervasive.” The existing legal framework should remain intact but needs updated definitions that protect both free speech and students...

September 28, 2026

Vance Ginn, Ph.D.

Related content

A New Birth of Excellence: Independent Colleges and the Recovery of Academic Freedom

Reinvigorating Federalism and Fiscal Discipline in Texas: Establishing the Office of State Sovereignty

Safe Schools and Fair Standards