The 2019 Point in Time (PIT) Count in D.C. revealed a welcome drop in the number of homeless families — a nearly 45 percent decline since its 2016 count. Unfortunately, this count grossly underreports the numbers of women and children experiencing homelessness. The Department of Housing and Urban Development mandates that every community receiving HUD funding perform...
A new report projects that it could take as many as four years to recover the 22 million jobs lost at the hands of the coronavirus shutdowns, a devastating blow to too many struggling families. With the stated goal of mitigating economic damages, Congress is deep in negotiations for a new stimulus and spending package. Unfortunately for...
Well, that didn’t take long. A border crisis is brewing before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Migrant caravans are forming in Honduras, where residents were hit with a pair of devastating hurricanes last month, adding to the economic hardship caused by COVID-19. Faced with ruin, many Hondurans have decided to defy local travel bans and head...
Doctors know that the key to a cure is the right prescription, administered at the right time. When it comes to the Texas health care system, expanding Medicaid is the wrong prescription — and it couldn’t come at a worse time. What’s a more effective approach? Improving Medicaid, so that it better serves those it’s...
If the outbound migration from Silicon Valley to Texas continues at its current clip, we may soon see a sign on southbound Highway 101 “Will the Last One in Silicon Valley, Please Turn Out the Lights?” (although California’s frequent blackouts might render the sign redundant). Just 11 days after Hewlett Packard Enterprise, part of the firm that created Silicon...
The Department of Homeland Security announced this week it will begin accepting applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the program earlier this month. The ruling briefly put DACA back in the headlines, with most news outlets framing the judge’s order as a defeat for...
It’s safe to say that no one—not the Republicans who appear to have lost the White House, nor the victorious Democrats who are still trying to explain away irregularities—is happy with the way the Nov. 3 election was conducted. This has left friends and even families divided, with no end in sight. In other words,...
Texas’s Economic Stabilization Fund (or “rainy day fund”) is a valuable tool for covering unexpected shortfalls in tax receipts, like those during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it should be used sparingly, and budget reductions should be prioritized instead. Key points: Texas ranks high in economic growth and must maintain a balanced budget, but the current...
While Texas has undertaken efforts to reduce regulatory burdens, it still has among the highest overall number of regulations in the country. Texas’s efforts to reduce unnecessary and harmful regulations should be expanded. Key points: Texas ranks high in overall economic freedom as a result of low taxes and favorable labor laws, yet it has...
Public schools are handing bags of cash to superintendents as they walk out the door. And the bags keep getting bigger. The latest example of excessive superintendent severance pay comes courtesy of Lancaster ISD, a small school district in Dallas County with only about 7,500 students. Two weeks after finalizing a five-year, $1.6-million contract, the...
Elon Musk, the inventor, investor and capitalist, has called it quits on California, his home for the past 25 years. He’s gone to Texas. As reported by FOX Business on Tuesday, “For myself, yes, I have moved to Texas,” Musk told Wall Street Journal editor in chief Matt Murray at a CEO Council Summit. “We’ve got the Starship development here in...
The Affordable Care Act—with its promise of reining in costs—was passed into law more than 10 years ago, yet today small businesses are still fighting the rising price tag of health care. One owner of a local restaurant chain here in Austin has told me that it’s precisely the flaws of the Patient Protection and...