The Children’s Health Insurance Program in Texas

April 20, 2006

Mary Katherine Stout

This report looks at the design of the CHIP program, whether CHIP is meeting the goal of covering uninsured children, and the impact of policy changes coupled with an improving economy as they relate to the decline in CHIP enrollment.

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Hijacked: How the Bond Process is Being Used Against Taxpayers

School bonds are one of the main instruments contributing to Texas’s local government debt, which is currently over half a trillion dollars. Key points: As of 2026, school bond debt in Texas is over $236 billion. In May of 2023, Texas passed 79% of the 245 bond proposals put on the ballot, costing taxpayers $22.9...

April 7, 2026

Local Government

When Government Lobbies Itself: Why Texas Should Ban Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying

Texas local governments use taxpayer dollars to hire lobbyists to influence state legislation—creating conflicts of interest, distorting democratic accountability, and undermining the interests of Texas taxpayers. Key points: Taxpayer-funded lobbying expenditures more than doubled from the 85th to the 89th Legislature, now reaching as high as $111.5 million. Taxpayer-funded lobbyists consistently opposed legislation involving property...

April 6, 2026

Economy

Don’t Fence Me In: Lianne’s Story

Family, then finances—and opportunity. Those are what brought Lianne Halpern back to tiny Shamrock, a small, dusty stop on the famous Route 66 in the Texas panhandle. Like generations of Americans before, Lianne and her family had traveled west along that route in search of the golden promises of California. Lianne’s father worked in the...

January 29, 2026

Mary Katherine Stout

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Hijacked: How the Bond Process is Being Used Against Taxpayers

When Government Lobbies Itself: Why Texas Should Ban Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying

Don’t Fence Me In: Lianne’s Story