Energy & Environment

Wildfires Caused By Bad Environmental Policy Are Causing California Forests To Be Net CO2 Emitters

In the past two years, wildfires scorched 2.9 million acres in California, including five of the state’s 20 deadliest fires killing 131 people. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown grimly warned that because of man-made climate change, these destructive wildfires are the “new abnormal” that threaten “our whole way of life.” Newly elected Gov. Gavin Newsom’s rhetoric has...

February 25, 2019

Higher Education

Texas Flagship Universities Fly the Flag for Freedom of Speech on Campuses

In January, Texas A&M University became the Lone Star State’s sole university to receive the highest possible rating for its protection of the First Amendment on campus. At the same time, it appears that the University of Texas System is considering taking its own principled stand for freedom through adopting the University of Chicago’s exemplary...

February 25, 2019

Health Care

‘Medicare for all’ would limit health care choices even more

Will those who say they promote the ideology of choice be the ones to limit your choices when it comes to health care and coverage? The drumbeat for socialized medicine — nowadays often referred to as “Medicare for all” or a “public option” — is becoming relentless. The truth is this is a deliberate effort...

February 22, 2019

Taxes & Spending

Two Views: State reforms needed to rein in big city government

City governments need to get back to the basics. Instead of focusing on the fundamentals, too many city councils — especially in large urban areas — are playing politics in areas where they don’t belong. As Sen. Donna Campbell recently put it: “City officials need to get their nose out of the private sector and...

February 22, 2019

Energy & Environment

Georgetown Calls For Increased Transparency

Texas Public Policy Foundation hosted an event in Georgetown, Texas — the city once famous, now infamous, for the claim that its municipal electricity utility uses 100 percent renewable energy. But reality has officially caught up with the hype. The city is losing millions of dollars in its electricity fund, spending nearly $30 million more...

February 22, 2019

Energy & Environment

Texas Taxpayers, the French Government and Wind Power

At least 57 times in 2017, and many more last year, Georgetown’s residents paid EDF, a company owned 84.5% by the government of France, around 6 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity produced in the middle of the night when demand was low—so low, in fact, that because of tax incentives and government subsidies, the...

February 21, 2019

Local Government

City of Austin May Hire $50 Per Hour Public Art Coordinator

The City of Austin likes to spend money. The latest example of local largesse comes from Austin’s Art in Public Places (AIPP) program, which is run by the city’s Economic Development Department. AIPP currently has three job openings for Art in Public Places Coordinators. These new employees will be responsible for “recommend[ing], develop[ing], and assist[ing] with...

February 21, 2019

Taxes & Spending

Will Trump Put California’s Broken Bullet Train Out Of Its Misery?

A little more than a decade after California voters narrowly approved a ballot proposition to build an 800-mile high-speed rail system for $35 billion, with completion promised for next year, the project has been derailed by gross government incompetence and malfeasance. The remarkable (and very public) beginning of the end for the state-run rail project...

February 20, 2019

Property Rights

Texas Legislature Should Stop Taxing Land Use Discretion

Buying property is the largest purchase most Texans make. There should be clear property rights so they can use land as they desire. Although property taxes force Texans to pay rent to the government forever (meaning we can never truly own our own property, which is a pretty good argument for eliminating those taxes), other...

February 20, 2019

Taxes & Spending

Property Tax Roadshow Report

TPPF’s Rafa Bejar, Kara Belew and Vance Ginn spoke to an estimated 100 members of the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch in Fairview near McKinney on Monday, explaining the state’s complicated school finance and property tax systems, and proposing some fixes. “Over time, per-pupil spending for public education is up,” Kara explained. “But at the...

February 19, 2019

Taxes & Spending

Excess Rainy Day Funds Should Be Used for Tax Relief

The 86th Texas Legislature has started the session at full speed, much like the Texas economy that’s based partly on a thriving oil and gas industry. In fact, oil and gas production continues to reach new heights. And with these new heights means more severance taxes into the state’s rainy day fund (technically the Economic...

February 15, 2019

Health Care

Pre-existing conditions: Political versus financial reality

Health care was the single biggest issue affecting voters this past election cycle, and it will continue to be, at least through the 2020 elections. And at the center of the debate — the crux of the issue — is protection for consumers with pre-existing conditions. The Affordable Care Aact (ACA) — ObamaCare — mandated...

February 13, 2019