Wrong Again
What to Know: Remember how the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) was supposed to end medical bankruptcies? It hasn’t.
The TPPF Take: This is just one more broken promise from the ACA.
“The Affordable Care Act failed to cure medical bankruptcies. A 2019 study found that ‘Medical problems contributed to 66.5% of all bankruptcies, a figure that is virtually unchanged since before the passage of the Affordable Care Act,’” TPPF’s David Balat says. “Why? It’s simple. Costs get shifted; they don’t simply go away.”
For more on the ACA, click here.
Illinois Parents Empowered
What to Know: Illinois Gov. J.D. Pritzker has changed his mind on parent empowerment. He now supports a tax credit scholarship program for Illinois schoolkids that he once pledged to eliminate.
The TPPF Take: Pay attention, Texas. Parent empowerment is the future of education.
“In March, Texas GOP voters weighed in on the question of parent empowerment,” says TPPF’s Mandy Drogin. “Even in counties with fewer than 100,000 residents, an average of 88% of voters supported the proposition, ‘Texas parents and guardians should have the right to select schools, whether public or private, for their children, and the funding should follow the student.’”
For more on parent empowerment, click here.
The Jets and the Sharks
What to Know: Tyreek Hill almost became a New York Jet, but the wide receiver chose instead to become a Miami Dolphin—because of the New York tax burden. Florida, he pointed out, doesn’t have a state income tax.
The TPPF Take: Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke wants a “fairer” tax system in Texas—and he means state income tax like New York’s.
“O’Rourke is touting a recent report that misleadingly says Californians pay less in state and local taxes than Texans do,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “That’s simply wrong. And by citing the report, O’Rourke is clearly calling for a Texas income tax—even if such a tax would harm economic growth, new job creation, and bring with it a higher real poverty rate.”
For more on state and local taxes, click here.