Protecting Your Vote
What to know: A slate of new election integrity bills has been introduced in the Texas Senate. It includes a bill that would clean up the voter rolls.
The TPPF take: Voter rolls—the official lists of qualified voters—are crucial to ensuring election integrity.
“Poorly maintained voter lists are estimated to include about 75,000 noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who have moved out of state,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “Texas should increase efforts to identify and remove noncitizens from the voter lists.”
For more on election integrity, click here.
The TASB Two-Step
What to know: The Texas Association of School Boards is awash in public money. According to TransparencyUSA.org, TASB is one of the chief taxpayer-funded organizations hiring lobbyists in Texas. Not surprisingly, TASB argues that school boards should continue spending tax dollars on lobby groups and calls the possibility of a ban “bad for local taxpayers.”
The TPPF take: The fox is guarding the hen house. TASB and other taxpayer-funded groups aren’t watching out for taxpayers so much as they’re protecting their bottom line.
“Texans expect their tax dollars to be spent on potholes and police, not on lobby groups that argue for higher taxes, more spending, and bigger government,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Groups that hire registered lobbyists at taxpayer expense, like TASB, are promoting a false narrative. It’s wrong and must not go unchallenged.”
For more on taxpayer funded lobbying, watch this.
We’re Getting Noticed!
What to know: A piece on direct primary care authored by TPPF’s David Balat has appeared in the prestigious Dallas Medical Journal.
The TPPF take: Direct primary care benefits patients and physicians alike.
“The Direct Primary Care model addresses many of the challenges facing primary care by reducing administrative burden and allowing primary care providers to spend more time with their patients, resulting in improved satisfaction for providers, better care for patients, and the potential to reduce costs for patients and the healthcare system,” says TPPF’s David Balat.
For more on Direct Primary Care, click here.