You Do You, New York
What to know: New York is responding to the exodus of residents (largely because of its high taxes) by raising taxes.
The TPPF take: Texas can benefit from New York’s blunders—if we can get our own taxes under better control.
“Texas now has a prodigious opportunity to welcome hundreds of thousands of more people and jobs, and billions of dollars, into the state,” says TPPF’s E.J. Antoni. “Texas’s veracious fiscal discipline has been attracting people for decades and has created an economic rocket sled on rails. But one thing stands to derail this freight train of prosperity: Texas’s property taxes are going sky-high.”
For more on property taxes in Texas, click here.
Eviction Ban Invalid
What to know: Another federal judge has ruled against the Centers for Disease Control’s ban on evictions.
The TPPF take: TPPF won a similar victory in court in March.
“The case filed by Texas Public Policy Foundation and Southeastern Legal Foundation on behalf of private property owners argued that the eviction order was unconstitutional because the federal government cannot interfere with private property owners’ rights or access to the courts, and the court agreed,” says TPPF’s Robert Henneke. “Though only a handful of landlords filed suit, the intent of the court was clear in its decision to set aside the entire CDC Order, rendering it today of no legal force or effect.”
For more on the evictions ban, click here.
More Options
What to know: The Texas House has approved a bill that will allow the Texas Farm Bureau to offer health coverage that is exempt from one-size-fits-all government mandates. It was one of several important health care reform bills moving forward this session.
The TPPF take: House Speaker Dade Phelan’s “Healthy Families, Healthy Texas” package is gaining steam.
“If these bills are signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, the result will be a healthier, more prosperous Texas,” says TPPF’s David Balat. “The bills, bundled together as the Healthy Families, Healthy Texas plan by Speaker Dade Phelan, are a bipartisan effort—something truly rare in these hyperpartisan times. They focus on three things: increasing access to care, improving health outcomes and making care more affordable.”
For more on Healthy Families, Healthy Texas, click here.