Carine Martinez joined the Foundation in 2016 and is campaign director of Secure and Sovereign Texas and has been director of research and publications since 2021.
As campaign director, she oversees the Foundation’s initiative to look for additional and innovative policy solutions for the state of Texas to help secure its southern border.
As director of research and publications, she oversees and manages the publication schedules for all policy areas the Foundation is working on and is responsible for editing research publications.
Carine also conducted research on Texas–Mexico paradiplomacy, as well as, earlier on, on the effects on taxpayers and consumers of government programs that grant special privileges to certain businesses in the form of subsidies, tax credits, regulatory advantages, or other favors.
She is the co-editor of the Foundation’s Policymaker’s Guide to Corporate Welfare and is the author of several research publications, notably on film incentives, the hotel occupancy tax, and the three-tier system of alcohol distribution. She testified on these issues before the Texas Legislature during its 85th and 86th regular sessions. She was published in several newspapers including the Austin American-Statesman, The Hill, and Forbes.
Carine began working in public policy as a policy intern at the Foundation in 2014. She later worked as a policy analyst for Texas Action during the 84th Legislature and then spent a year in Washington, D.C., working as a research associate for the Charles Koch Institute.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in international business administration (completed in English, French, and Spanish) and a master’s degree in American studies from the Sorbonne in Paris, France.
Carine is originally from Paris, France, but happily moved to the United States in 2011 and finally to Texas in 2013. She became an American citizen in 2019.
It was early morning. The sound of a plane woke me up and I thought to myself, “that plane must be flying very low.” I was staying at the (now demolished) Hotel Pennsylvania, across from the Madison Square Garden, midtown Manhattan. I looked at the clock and decided it was time to get up—it was...
The preliminary injunction hearing in the case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against Gov. Abbott and the state of Texas for the removal of the 1,000-foot buoy barrier took place on Tuesday, August 22. The DOJ alleged that the state of Texas, in violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA), built a...
The coyote—a human smuggler—armed with what appeared to be an AR-style rifle, directed migrants as they crossed the river between Piedras Negras, Mexico, and Eagle Pass, Texas. Scanning the shore and the brush beyond, he ensured his charges were across, then he slipped back into Mexico. This is what drone footage captured on Aug. 2...
Not content with creating the humanitarian crisis Texans are facing at their southern border, the federal government is now adding insult to injury by threatening to sue Texas over a floating barrier the state is now using to ensure the integrity of its border. In early July, Texas installed a 1,000-feet marine buoy barrier in...
In schools across Texas, dorm hallways and school bulletin boards are now adorned with grim messages. Next to flyers promoting the basketweaving club and the Harry Styles concert are flyers warning students of the deadly effects of fentanyl. In Hayes County, four children lost their lives after consuming a lethal amount of the drug. One...
The revelations from the massive hack of the Mexican Defense Ministry (#SedenaLeaks) are explosive: A nexus exists between some Mexican government officials, the Mexican military, and drug cartels—all at the expense of Mexican people, but not only. The human rights abuses, unrest, and corruption have spilled over across Texas’ southern border through human and drug...
It started with the nonrenewal of Chapter 313 during the 87th Texas Legislature, which signaled concerns from a broadening coalition about government—in that case school districts—picking winners and losers by granting property tax breaks to select businesses. Now it seems hesitation is growing at the local level to handing out property tax breaks under Chapter...
The regular session of the 87th Texas Legislature has ended, and time has come to take stock of the changes that will follow. In terms of economic development, the Legislature ended one program, created a new one, and passed bills that will increase transparency. The biggest transformation relates to the Texas Economic Development Act, better...
Good Jobs First, an organization focused on tracking corporate subsidies, published a report analyzing the effects of tax abatements for economic development on school funding. The results should be a wakeup call to Texas legislators considering whether to renew these controversial corporate property tax breaks. Abating Our Future – How Students Pay for Corporate Tax...
Smithville ISD’s two elementary schools earned “D” ratings from the Texas Education Agency for 2018-2019 (the most recent year available). Its junior high got a “C.” Though its high school received a very low “B,” it earned no distinctions from the TEA. Yet in March, the Smithville school board told its attorney to begin negotiations...
Government may soon decide whether a major multinational corporation should pay no taxes on a chip-making plant planned for the Austin area, stirring concerns that economic development programs are being abused. Samsung Semiconductor plans to build a new plant, and Austin, where it already has facilities, is on the short list. But Samsung is requesting...
One year ago, on March 5, I became an American citizen, just a few miles away from the Alamo. It is only fitting that this special milestone in my life also happened just three days after the anniversary of Texas’ Independence, because I found in Texas what I was looking for in America. To me,...