Rising Costs
What to know: Rising health care costs are now Americans’ top worry, according to a new Gallup poll.
The TPPF take: Those rising costs are why TPPF has put out its Health Care Agenda for the upcoming 90th Legislature.
“Health care is a case study in the negative consequences of market consolidation, anti-competitive practices, and government interference,” says TPPF’s Dr. Cliff Porter. “Despite the United States offering some of the best medical care in the world, costs continue to rise at unsustainable rates, patient options are increasingly limited, and outcomes too often fail to justify the expense.”
For more on health care costs, click here.
Gender Sanity
What to know: Texas Tech University will close all majors, minors, certificates and graduate degrees that are focused on sexual orientation or gender identity, Chancellor Brandon Creighton has announced.
The TPPF take: Good riddance to bad teaching.
“Creighton called a halt to the teaching of the so-called ‘gender spectrum’—a theory that insists there are genders beyond male and female—on Tech campuses around the state,” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “To make sure there was no misunderstanding—because faculty who teach courses in the SOGI field seem easily confused—Creighton spelled out exactly what he means. No Texas Tech course can be ‘centered on’ sexual orientation or gender identity. That means no readings, assignments or lectures.”
For more on Texas Tech, click here.
Foreign Funding
What to know: The 2026 midterm elections are expected to cost upwards of $11 billion for ads alone, a study says. And some of that money could be coming from foreign entities.
The TPPF take: Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to candidate campaigns or political parties, but not ballot propositions.
“In an era of geopolitical tensions, sophisticated ways of moving money around to fund elections, and growing foreign attempts to influence events in the U.S., allowing foreign money to sway ballot outcomes undermines the principle that American laws should reflect American voices,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “Blocking foreign funding in ballot initiatives represents a straightforward, constitutionally sound solution.”
For more on foreign funding of elections, click here.