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.
For years, I’ve warned that college grade inflation is real, rampant, and ravaging a university near you. It is a cancer eating away at American higher education, undermining academic standards, devaluing transcripts, and cheating students and employers alike. My research has tracked this crisis over the last decade, and the evidence is stark: what was...
Property taxes imposed by local governments have, in many instances, outpaced population growth and inflation. As a result, Texans pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation. Key points: Property taxes are assessed and collected by local governing bodies. The State does not levy a property tax. Local governments levied $89.4 billion in...
Despite federal laws prohibiting foreign funding of candidate elections, foreign individuals and entities are still able to fund campaigns related to state and local ballot initiatives in multiple jurisdictions, creating a loophole that hostile foreign actors can exploit to influence American elections. Key points: Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to candidate campaigns or...