Energy & Environment

Was Washington’s Deadly Derailment Caused By A Federal Stimulus Fund Deadline?

  In the wake of the deadly Amtrak train derailment that claimed three lives in Washington state, The Seattle Timesreported that state transportation officials were under a tight federal funding deadline which, if missed, would have resulted in millions of federal stimulus dollars going unclaimed. Absent the federal incentive, state transportation officials had targeted a 2019...

January 3, 2018

Taxes & Spending

Texas GOP should take a page from the Congress playbook

  Congress just passed the most sweeping tax reform package in a generation, helping unshackle the U.S. economy and ease the burden on working families. That’s nothing short of a home run — and the Texas Legislature should take note. When state lawmakers return to Austin in 2019, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to revamp...

January 3, 2018

Other

Texas Capitol Leaders

January 8, 2018 Dear Legislative Staff: If you have at least one session but not more than five years of Texas legislative experience, the Texas Public Policy Foundation invites you to join the second class of Texas Capitol Leaders – a year-long leadership program that promotes the philosophical, policy, and professional development of early-career Texas...

January 1, 2018

Local Government

Trump’s tax bill and regulatory reform will spark an economic boom, benefitting all Americans

Historic tax cut legislation that President Trump signed into law Friday will give us the chance to see what happens when an entire nation of 326 million people discards the failed policies of big government and managed stagnation, and instead rewards hard work and innovation. Within hours of final passage of the Tax Cuts and...

December 22, 2017

Health Care

ObamaCare is set to take away any gains made by tax reform

  In recent months, both Congress and the media have been fixated on tax reform. Congress just passed the first tax reform bill in thirty years. So, after the Christmas break, maybe they can return to the problem that is foremost in the minds of Americans, our failing healthcare system. While the tax bill did...

December 22, 2017

Higher Education

College Tuition Inflation: An Overblown Crisis?

  The Trump administration’s higher education budget would eliminate the loan-interest waiver given to college borrowers. Ending the subsidy, it is argued, would reduce tuition inflation: A Federal Reserve study finds that subsidized interest hikes tuition. Between 1985 and 2011, average tuition nationwide increased 498 percent—more than four times the rate of general inflation (114 percent) as measured...

December 19, 2017

Energy & Environment

Wind Power: Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

An 1883 article in Scientific American noted that one of the main problems with wind power is “gathering it at the time we do not need it and preserving it till we do.” In other words, there was no way to economically and reliably store the electricity generated from windmills. Today, 134 years later, after having...

December 19, 2017

Economy

Who’s Better for the Texas Economy: Hollywood Filmmakers or Texas Entrepreneurs?

Filmmakers and government economic development types are bemoaning the fact that Texas doesn’t offer as much as other states when it comes to film subsidies. “Texas is losing jobs because we cannot compete,” said Janis Burklund, director of the Dallas Film Commission. It may, or may not, be the case that Texas is losing jobs in the film...

December 19, 2017

Economy

Alexander Hamilton: Father of Modern Corporate Welfare?

Corporate welfare, the use of government to enrich corporate executives and shareholders with profits they can't earn in the market, is rampant today. Title insurers, alcoholic beverage distributors, and renewable energy companies are just a few who rake in ill-gotten gains at the expense of taxpayers and consumers.   Though corporate cronyism today may be...

December 19, 2017

Taxes & Spending

NEW: Report Pegs U.S. Pension Debt at $6 Trillion+

Yesterday, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) published a startling new report on the deteriorating condition of U.S. public pension systems and warned that: “Absent significant reforms, unfunded liabilities of state-administered pension plans will continue to grow and threaten the financial security of state retirees and taxpayers alike. The fiscal calamity could be far deeper...

December 19, 2017

Energy & Environment

The Endangered Species Act is an ineffective regulatory burden

The Endangered Species Act is all over the news lately. The Washington Post breathlessly warned that Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) “wants to ‘invalidate’ the Endangered Species Act” and that he’s “getting close.” In that same newspaper, a George Washington University biologist wrote last week, “We don’t need to save endangered species” because “extinction is part of evolution.” Here’s what we do...

December 18, 2017

Property Rights

Make short-term rental policies on evidence, not anecdotes

  As with any human endeavor, there will always be some bad actor out there that can provide fodder for anecdotal reports. But we don’t base public policy on anecdotes, we base it on facts — particularly when constitutional rights are at stake. In a recent op-ed in TribTalk, Vivé Griffith wrote an impassioned defense of...

December 18, 2017