John Bonura is a Policy Analyst with Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Prior to joining TPPF John served in the University system as a Graduate Assistant until he was given the opportunity to teach Principles of American Government. John holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from Texas State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Sam Houston State University.
As a proud Eagle Scout John is an avid camper and enjoys spending time in the outdoors as well as at home with his wife.
A federal judge has curtailed the efforts of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to end the disastrous policy of Housing First. With this new development Texas is on its own to compel cities to make changes to homeless spending. This article from Austin Reform shines light on the City of Austin underscoring that...
The last decade of homeless policy has been an abject failure. Currently the United States is facing the highest levels of homelessness and encounters with the mentally ill are increasing in Texas’ large cities. The blame can be squarely fixed on ‘Housing First’ which has prioritized a ‘one size fits all’ approach while ignoring the underlying causes of chronic homelessness. When...
We’re seeing it in every city: housing prices going up, up, up. It’s increasingly evident that Texas’ housing market can’t keep up with the soaring demand. Almost every Texan feels the squeeze. A recent survey from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University indicates that 9 out of 10 Texans say that the cost...
Under the current standards of review, 1 in 5 school districts in Texas received a D or F in their yearly evaluations. 42 percent of all Texas students are not on grade level in math, reading, science, or social studies. While all of this is happening, superintendents are earning obscene salaries and school districts are...
The Austin city council is once again patting themselves on the back for a tremendous nonachievement. Without any change in strategy to serve the homeless population of the city, officials have decided to continue throwing money at the problem and hope that, this time, $350 million over ten years is the charm. The Council touts...
With the new year barely under way, the union assault on employers under the guise of worker protections already going strong. On January 9th, 2025, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) descended on Austin in attempt to expand their political machine. Combined, these...
Cities across Texas are finding ever more creative ways to regulate away property owners’ rights. For Texans who rent out their homes—whether through short-term platforms like Airbnb or long-term arrangements—local ordinances have created a maze of rules that bring uncertainty, high costs, and diminished freedoms. It wasn’t always this way. For generations, Texans opened their...
It has become increasingly apparent that the cost of housing is rising at an alarming rate. Young Texans cannot become homeowners, and current homeowners are burdened by massive property tax bills that come from aggressive tax rate adoption, excessive debt, and the abuse of nonvoter-approved debt instruments like certificates of obligation. While this might be...
If simply throwing money at a problem worked, then all of our problems would have been solved many years ago. Sadly, for lawmakers, simply spending does not produce results—you, at the very least, need accountability too. In a state where you are more likely to step in human waste than dog waste, in a state...
Homelessness in America has reached its highest level since point-in-time (PIT) counts, the method used to estimate “the total number of individuals experiencing homelessness on any given night,” first began being recorded in 2007. The total number of those without shelter in this country has reached a staggering 653,000. In many cities, homelessness is not...
People often talk about the federal government as if it is set in a bubble removed from time and space, existing outside of the influence of the people. It is often forgotten that this government is made up of people selected from the public and that its authority is derived only from the consent of...
“I remember saying … I feel so sick I need to go home.” This is how a young woman, identified only as Adele, began describing the time she overdosed after injecting heroin many years ago. She went on, saying that as she rested on her ex-partner’s bed “suddenly, I’ve gone into this overdose.” She was...