Home-Rule Hissy Fit What to know: Some San Antonio City Council members “are calling for the city to take legal action” to stop House Bill 2127 (i.e., the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act) from taking effect on Sept. 1. City officials argue the bill unfairly limits their ability to regulate. The TPPF take: Progressive activists might not like the...
Blowing Up the Bills What to know: Offshore wind threatens to blow up British utility bills, as offshore wind developer Orsted demands more money. According to the Financial Times, Orsted feels “the electricity prices the UK government offers to developers are not high enough to absorb surging costs.” The TPPF take: Subsidies don’t make “renewable” energy any cheaper...
The Kids Are Not Alright What to know: Middle schoolers’ scores in math and reading are plummeting, a new report shows. The TPPF take: Parent empowerment would help those students. “Having been brought up in the progressive environment of our leftist colleges, the education establishment can’t help itself from focusing on ideology instead of academics,” says TPPF’s Mandy Drogin. “And,...
That’s Good Business? What to know: CNN’s morning crew claimed that “inclusion is good business,” then harrumphed at the spontaneous boycott of Bud Light after its parent company sought to use the brand to push the trans agenda. The TPPF take: Polls show that Americans don’t believe the radical trans agenda is “inclusive” and efforts by Bud Light, Target and...
What to know: America is waking up to the political movement we’ve come to call “woke.” The TPPF take: Texas is winning the war on “woke.” “Ignoring predictable progressive charges of racism and transphobia, Texas lawmakers took on the ‘woke’ insanity, and they won,” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “They took significant steps to return reason and free speech...
Living High on the Hog at Taxpayer Expense What to know: Highland Park ISD officials just purchased a $1.8 million home for the superintendent “to live in rent-free.” That comes in addition to his $310,000 annual salary and other generous benefits. The TPPF take: No one should get rich from public service. “An elite few in public education are...
Heat Wave What to know: How have this week’s high temperatures affected the Texas power grid? The TPPF take: Despite another summer of record demand, the grid should hold up fine. But the solar generation that’s helping the grid now will not help in the winter. “The summer situation for the Texas grid is actually better than advertised,...
Outlier What to know: The U.S. has become an outlier regarding treatment of gender dysphoria, a new report shows. European countries are urging caution when it comes to puberty blockers for children. The TPPF take: States such as Texas and Florida are right to prohibit surgical and chemical modification of children. “’Gender-affirming care’ sounds harmless and even positive,”...
First Principles What to know: One middle school teacher warns that in our public school systems, “DEI and anti-racism aren’t teaching accurate history; rather, they use history as a cudgel to condemn classical liberalism and our exceptional American system.” The TPPF take: The Texas Public Policy Foundation has a new program to engage with high school students on...
It’s Not About the Humans What to know: Women-led tobacco companies receive higher ratings from environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings groups than Tesla, which makes electric vehicles. The TPPF take: ESG is a scam. Just look how China, with its record of human and environmental devastation, ranks higher on ESG scales than responsible American companies. “So, here’s the bottom line...
Money for Nothin’ What to know: Harris County commissioners are launching a new universal income program to give 1,500 qualifying families $500 a month for 18 months “to help households pay for basic needs like rent, groceries, transportation, housing and utilities.” The county is funding the pilot project with $20.5 million in pandemic-related federal aid. The TPPF take: Harris...
Parent Empowerment What to know: Texas public school parents and teachers are just realizing that, in their leadership’s haste to deny parents choice, they also blocked a bill that would have increased teacher pay—now they’re blaming the Legislature rather than admit, they sabotaged teacher pay all to block parent empowerment. The TPPF take: The state surplus doesn’t “belong”...