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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Many families across Texas keep a lean household budget that’s within their limited resources. Priorities matter for every dollar within their budget, whether it be for savings or food. This means families track expenditures and compare them over time to determine how to best spend their money. Your government should budget similarly. You should be...
On the first Tuesday of the month, bidders still gather promptly at 10 a.m. on the west-facing steps of the Travis County Courthouse for the tax sale — the auction of properties that have been seized by local taxing entities for unpaid taxes. Some of the sales are of homes once owned by my neighbors...
Chuck Devore, former California assemblyman, says the cost of high-speed rail tickets would cost twice as much as an airline ticket. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, under budgetary pressure to provide more government health care for illegal immigrants and more housing for the working poor, just threw the Green New Deal’s nationwide train network under the...
The new year has our families – and yours – thinking about our budget priorities for the coming year. Some families will be cutting back on things like fast food and increasing savings. But a budget is more than just a spending guideline; it’s also a statement of priorities. It reveals what’s important to us,...