Texans appreciate living in a state that values liberty, sensible business policy, and, perhaps most importantly, a strong dislike for taxes, which inevitably infringe on the first two values. But, in comparison with other states, Texas is beginning to lose its competitive edge in business climate as noted in the Tax Foundation’s recently released 2019...
Texas’ property tax system has turned property holders into renters, where government is their landlord and Texans who struggle to pay annual tax bills face confiscation of their properties. Additionally, the growth of government is harming taxpayers and the economy through higher taxes and more regulation. For example, Eddie Wilson owns the landmark Austin restaurant...
“But if we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that what too many fathers are also missing—missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.” Though these words were spoken just 10 years...
We previously discussed the problems with Texas’ skyrocketing property tax burden. Let’s now consider past failed property tax relief attempts signaling a need for options that will provide permanent relief. Since Texas’ modern property tax system took shape in 1979 with the passage of the “Peveto bill,” there have been three major attempts by the...
Despite the economic success of the Texas Model of relatively fiscally conservative governance, a skyrocketing local property tax burden remains one of the state’s most pressing policy challenges. While Texans have the luxury of not paying a state personal income tax, which should be constitutionally banned, they’re currently weighed down by more than 5,100 local...
The stock market responded immediately to news on Monday that a preliminary bilateral trade deal had been reached with Mexico, in the Trump administration’s effort to modernize NAFTA. The Dow closed above 26,000 points — a sign that investors reluctant to execute deals out of fear of a trade war are ready to get into the game. Still,...
2018 08 Testimony Deregulating Occupational Licensing CEP Ginn by texaspolicy on Scribd
Regulatory growth since 1980 has contributed to at least $4 trillion in less U.S. economic output, according to research by the Mercatus Center. To let that sink in, this amount is equal to Germany’s economy, the size of the federal budget, and the combined economies of California and Texas. But, more importantly, it equals lost...
A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted how the $4 trillion in total unfunded public pension debts of cities and states nationwide equals Germany’s economy. The WSJ figure below highlights how this massive sea of red ink means that there could be a tremendous burden on taxpayers as contributions rise or on public sector employees’...
President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors recently released a report showing that there is a large portion of non-disabled, working-age adults (16 to 64 years old) who are receiving government non-cash welfare payments funded by taxpayers but aren’t working. For example, of those on Medicaid, 53 percent of non-disabled, working-age adults don’t have a job....
Seven out of ten Americans consider foreign trade an economic opportunity, according to Gallup. You wouldn’t expect this given the protectionist rhetoric about “unfair” trade practices and “bad” trade deficits in the news regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and tariffs. To avoid impoverishing Americans, trade uncertainty should quickly end by reducing trade...
“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results,” said Milton Friedman. This is certainly true when considering government-mandated paid sick leave. Connecticut learned that unintended consequences matter after it passed a mandatory paid sick leave law in 2011. And now Austin, which passed its own...