Austin has a long history of abusing local control, but its recent push for mandatory paid sick leave may end up being the straw that breaks the camel’s back. That much is evident by what’s happening at the Capitol. What exactly is unfolding? Maybe something big. But first a brief bit of history. In February...
With the 86th Legislature getting into full gear, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has listed school finance reform and increased teacher pay as the first emergency item. Directly related to teacher pay is a teacher’s pension in the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) of Texas. Unfortunately, this pension plan is in dire need of reform. TRS’s primary...
No, the world is not going to end in 12 years if we don’t do anything to combat climate change. But you already knew that. How do you know? Because Al Gore predicted we had about a decade left back in 2006. And in 1989 a senior environmental official at the United Nations said “entire nations could be wiped off the face of the...
Texas is one of seven states that doesn’t levy a personal income tax. And while Texas’ overall state and local tax burden is considered relatively light, putting Texas 15th on the Tax Foundation’s 2019 State Business Tax Climate Index, the Lone Star State’s property tax ranking is 37th, meaning that 36 other states have a...
When property tax reform—embodied in Senate Bill 2 and its companion, House Bill 2—comes before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, local governments and their lobbyists will be out in force to testify against it. Many expect a repeat performance of what transpired in a packed Senate committee hearing earlier this month, with...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...