Tossing Out TML
What to know: Dallas City Council members recently stopped paying membership dues to taxpayer-funded lobby groups, like the Texas Municipal League and others, and instead directed that nearly $100,000 to transportation projects and paying down debt.
The TPPF take: Less money for lobbyists means more money for core services.
“Taxpayer-funded lobby groups have made a fortune from Texas’ ~5,000 local governments and taxpayers have received nothing but big government in return. Kudos to the city of Dallas for recognizing that the public’s money can be better spent on core services,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “More cities should follow suit.”
For more on the Texas Municipal League, click here.
Losing the Messaging Battle
What to know: Voters blame Democrats for the ongoing federal government shutdown, new polls show.
The TPPF take: Democrats are losing the messaging battle.
“In the beginning, it looked like the Democrats might have finally landed on an effective message for themselves by insisting they were shutting down the government to reduce health care costs,” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “But we are now more than two weeks into the shutdown, and polling data shows that voters overwhelmingly blame Democrats for the shutdown. They don’t trust Democrats to address health care costs, or with any economic issue.”
For more on the shutdown, click here.
Wokeness in the Classroom
What to know: President Donald Trump is determined to root out wokeness and indoctrination from our nation’s classrooms.
The TPPF take: What are we teaching the teachers?
“This year, Texas passed historic school choice reform that gives every parent the opportunity to choose the best education for their child,” says TPPF’s Brian Phillips. “But if every teacher must go through the same program that indoctrinates them with a far-left, radical ideology they are expected to use in the classroom, then parents may not be left with real choices that match their own values.”
For more on teaching and wokeness, click here.