Energy & Environment
Video- Renewables in the Lone Star State: Benefits, Risks, and the Texas model
2018 Policy Orientation Panel: Renewables in the Lone Star State: Benefits, Risks, and the Texas model
February 22, 2018
Economy
Texas Should Boost Economic Freedom to Let People Prosper
Texas ranks the 2nd most economically free state, tied with Florida, in the U.S. according to the Fraser Institute. This ranking is based on levels of taxes, government spending, and labor market freedom. Figure 1 shows states that rank in each quartile of economic freedom. Figure 1: Economic Freedom Ranking by State Research finds...
February 21, 2018
Taxes & Spending
Should Dedicated Funds Help Certify The Budget?
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar certifies the two-year budget passed by the Texas Legislature after each legislative session. He does so by using projected general revenue-related (GR-R) funds, which includes collections from sales tax and other sources, to determine if those funds will sufficiently cover estimated expenditures. Here’s the Comptroller’s comments from the 2018-19 budget certification:...
February 20, 2018
Taxes & Spending
Stop Wasteful Spending on Unappropriated Programs
Texans value every hard-earned dollar. They work hard to put food on the table, pay for college, save for retirement and satisfy their desires. Given some dollars pay taxes, every dollar collected by the government should go to essential programs that preserve liberty. It’s essential to evaluate every taxpayer dollar spent and pass a conservative budget...
February 20, 2018
Taxes & Spending
ICYMI: Quintero on Property Taxes in the Austin American-Statesman
Sick of sky-high property tax bills? So is Governor Abbott. Speaking at a news conference last month, the governor captured the frustration well: “Texans are fed up with property taxes being raised with impunity. They are tired of endless government spending while honest, hard-working people struggle just to keep up with paying their tax bills....
February 20, 2018
Economy
ICYMI: Mathew Debates the Potential Austin Paid Sick Leave Mandate
On Tuesday, Think Local Liberty’s Bryan Mathew appeared on FOX 7 to point out some of the many flaws with Austin’s paid sick leave ordinance, which is expected to be voted on tomorrow. “When we have a regulatory environment where many firms are able to enter and compete, you’ll see that they start to compete...
February 20, 2018
Other
A promise to keep Texas ahead
Texas is a leader in economic prosperity, but that gap may narrow soon. Missouri is enacting a slate of pro-business policies, including tort reform and considering deep cuts to its corporate tax rate. North Carolina’s low cost of doing business put it on top of Forbes’ list of best states for business in 2017....
February 19, 2018
Taxes & Spending
Let’s use better tools to decide which inmates get bail
Criminal justice reform is a prominent issue in the public square, capturing the interest of both ends of the ideological spectrum, as well as celebrities, think tanks and even the White House. Propelling this issue forward, both nationally and in the Lone Star State, is a recognition that change is needed. Especially when it...
February 18, 2018
Health Care
Americans can be entitled or free — but not both
No matter the headlines about tax cuts, immigration controversies, or foreign threats, the top priority for Americans remains health care. People can’t get care when they need it and most struggle to afford health care costs, both insurance premiums and out-of-pocket copayments. The latest so-called crisis in health care is about work requirements for Medicaid recipients. Supporters say these obligations...
February 18, 2018
Local Government
A New Way Forward to Overcome Poverty
Success – success that means something – is overcoming, not succumbing. "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed," wrote Booker T. Washington in his autobiography, "Up from Slavery." But...
February 16, 2018
Other
Trump’s State of the Union captured the bipartisan spirit America forgot
This is what State of the Union speeches used to be. On a bright January morning in 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off from its Cape Canaveral launch pad and broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean. The nation was shocked, and deeply shaken. President Reagan postponed his scheduled State of the Union address...
February 9, 2018
Energy & Environment
Following rule of law shouldn’t be too much to ask of EPA
If you are breathing as you read this, you are emitting an officially designated dangerous pollutant, subject to federal regulation. At least that was the position of the Environmental Protection Agency under the past administration. In 2009, the EPA issued an “endangerment finding” concluding that carbon dioxide, the same gas that we exhale, poses...
February 8, 2018