Taxes & Spending
SB 9: Strengthening Texas’ Appropriations Limit
Vance Ginn, Ph.D, testimony before the Senate Finance Committee for SB 9 on Strengthening Texas’ Appropriations Limit.
March 27, 2017
Property Rights
Austin tree ordinance violates private property rights
Trees are timber — a natural resource that belongs to private property owners in the same way as a backyard garden. It would be absurd to require a government permit to harvest your peppers and potatoes — yet many Texas cities strictly regulate trees on your land.
March 26, 2017
Higher Education
The Latest–And Surprising–Victims of the Student-Loan Debt Crisis: Older Americans
The data reveal that older Americans with “outstanding student loans are more likely than those without outstanding student loans to report that they have skipped necessary health care needs such as prescription medicines, doctors’ visits, and dental care because they could not afford it." This increased burden on older Americans has caused them to tap savings that were being safeguarded for their retirement years.
March 24, 2017
Criminal Justice
Acosta could unwind regulatory tangle at the Department of Labor
With the confirmation process of Alex Acosta as labor secretary underway and proposed budget cuts for the Department of Labor, the Trump administration seems poised to reverse direction.
March 24, 2017
Health Care
Instead of the House healthcare bill, replace federal healthcare laws by letting the states decide what to do
For more than 50 years, the federal government has dominated healthcare using a military command-and-control model.
March 23, 2017
Health Care
“Free” Medicaid, Sign-ups, and the Work Requirement
As long as Medicaid is a free entitlement, many people will have no commitment, will not be personally invested, will see no value in the program, and won’t sign up. A good solution is some form of work requirement.
March 23, 2017
Taxes & Spending
ICYMI: Texas Senate Passes Property Tax Reform!
On Tuesday, the Texas Senate gave their approval to Senate Bill 2, the Property Tax Reform and Relief Act of 2017, on a vote of 18-12. Passage of the bill means that strong taxpayer protections, like an automatic election trigger and a reduced rollback tax rate, are one step closer to becoming reality, much to...
March 23, 2017
Criminal Justice
Kids no longer get arrested for truancy and guess what? They still go to class
While Texas most certainly values education, using criminal punishment as the primary tool to ensure school attendance was a misallocation of public safety resources that failed to address the root cause of chronic absences.
March 23, 2017
Economy
HB 108: Texas Model of Limited Government is the Best Business Incentive
The Texas Model has demonstrated that it is creating the right incentives for businesses to invest in the Lone Star State: low spending per capita, low taxes, low regulation. The creation of an additional business incentive program that uses taxpayer money to provide services, including training programs, to private businesses in order to lure them...
March 23, 2017
Health Care
This Last-Minute Obamacare Amendment Could Hurt Millions of Veterans’ Health Coverage
At least some of those seven million veterans eligible for but not enrolled in VA health programs may not qualify for the House’s new insurance subsidies for other reasons
March 22, 2017
Taxes & Spending
Taxpayers locked-out of pension plans
Letting communities have control and oversight of their home-grown pension plans is a commonsense idea whose time has come. And now that the 85th Texas Legislature has convened, it's fast-becoming time to turn this idea into action.
March 22, 2017
Energy & Environment
SB 736 & HB 1685: Powering the Texas Electricity Market into the Future
SB 736 and HB 1685 will foster competition in the Texas statewide electricity market by eliminating the authority of the General Land Office (GLO) to sell electricity to certain governmental entities. This will decrease government interference and increase efficiency in the Texas electricity market.
March 21, 2017