Making the Case
What to know: Former Vice President Kamala Harris inadvertently made the case for the SAVE America Act, which would help secure U.S. elections. She warned that the bill would mean “you’re going to have to have proof of who you are.”
The TPPF take: Yes, exactly.
“The argument is not that eligible Americans should face unnecessary barriers to voting,” says TPPF’s Josh Findlay. “It is that citizenship should be established before someone is placed on the voter rolls, protecting the weight of every legally cast ballot.”
Higher Taxes on the Horizon
What to know: Cities, counties and school districts across Texas are setting their budgets and tax rates for the upcoming year. Many are choosing to raise taxes.
The TPPF take: The city of Kemp, a small town about 45 miles southeast of Dallas, is raising taxes.
“Of course, there is no requirement that Kemp officials adopt the proposed tax rate. In fact, they have the discretion to choose a better, friendlier option in the form of the no-new-revenue (NNR) tax rate,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “The NNR rate is the tax rate that would effectively hold tax receipts constant and give homeowners and businesses a chance to catch their breath.”
Reproductive Exploitation
What to know: A messy custody battle is underway after a California couple paid a woman to carry a child for them — and told her to get an abortion. She refused and traveled to Texas to give birth.
The TPPF take: This baby’s plight is a symptom of a larger permissive regulatory environment that enables reproductive exploitation.
“Transforming pregnancy into a service, and unborn children into products that can be bought or sold, inherently debases human dignity,” says TPPF’s Eric Oldfather. “On the surface, it’s just consenting adults signing a contract with stated terms for monetary compensation. In reality, in these contracts, mothers are treated as leased incubators, while children are treated as manufactured goods subject to quality control, return policies, and the changing preferences of commissioning buyers.”