Texas’ Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) acts as a rainy day fund to cover state government budget shortfalls during economic downturns or emergencies and is often used for other purposes. The ESF’s shortcomings include it being rather easily raided for purposes other than covering budget shortfalls and stockpiling of taxpayer dollars in the fund. Legislators should raise the threshold vote to use the ESF for nonemergency purposes to four-fifths of each chamber, and consider lowering the cap and allocating funds above the cap to return to taxpayers or pay state liabilities. Read the full policy perspective below.
Ranked-Choice Voting: Overview and Model Legislation
The movement to adopt ranked-choice voting as a system for elections has been growing throughout the nation. It is a complex method of voting that has a disenfranchising effect and violates the “one person, one vote” doctrine. Key Points: Ranked-choice voting is slow, confusing, and complex. RCV violates the one person, one vote doctrine. RCV...