Time for School Choice What to know: The Texas Legislature continues to debate empowering parents with school choice. The TPPF take: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appeared on TPPF’s The Arena with CEO Greg Sindelar on Wednesday to talk about school choice. “What this legislation does is to ensure that every parent, regardless of wealth, regardless of income, regardless of zip code,...
How Smartphones Hurt Our Children What to know: Smartphones “broke children’s brains,” studies show, and have resulted in a mental health crisis among adolescents. The TPPF take: Texas can limit the harm done to children by Big Tech. “The sad reality of the digital age is that moms and dads have been left on their own to...
Physician Shortage What to know: Texas has an opportunity to address the state’s doctor shortage by opening up alternatives to residency requirements. The TPPF take: Texas is projected to be short more than 10,300 doctors by the year 2032. “Rather than wait on Congress to provide more general medical education (GME) appropriations, at least eight...
Bias What to know: NPR’s CEO once called President Donald Trump a “deranged racist sociopath.” But she still claims that NPR is not biased. The TPPF take: Elitist public media sources do not reflect the American people—which wouldn’t be a problem if they were a private company, but public broadcasting is taxpayer funded. “The fight isn’t...
Just Visiting What to know: Tourism brought in $1.3 billion to the city of New Braunfels, Texas in 2023 (the latest published numbers). So why are city officials banning short-term rentals, such as AirBnBs? The TPPF take: TPPF attorneys have filed a lawsuit challenging New Braunfels’ ban on short-term rentals. “For over five years, our clients have...
Taxpayers Shouldn’t Fund This What to know: Texas lawmakers are taking aim at taxpayer-funded lobbying, where cities and counties and other taxing entities lobby the Legislature for more power and dollars. The TPPF take: We don’t need local government lobbying state government for more government. “Taxpayer-funded lobbying is a practice that promotes the government’s interests at the...
Guard the Gains What to know: Following the erosion of last session’s tax relief, many state lawmakers today are “proposing a host of ideas to make it tougher for local governments to borrow money” and raise taxes. The goal is to protect state-directed tax relief from greedy local governments. The TPPF take: Tax relief should benefit taxpayers,...
Keep Your Doctor What to know: More and more states are limiting the “non-compete agreements” that doctors are often forced to sign. Limiting such agreements can help keep doctors local. The TPPF take: Texas should protect doctors—and their patients—from non-compete agreements. “When a doctor leaves his employer, NCAs can create a significant disruption in patient care,” says...
Justice for Americans What to know: The Trump administration’s Justice Department is setting up a legal showdown with judges that want to stop the deportation of dangerous illegal aliens. The TPPF take: These are violent gang members who should be deported. “After President Donald Trump ordered the immediate deportation of Venezuelan gang members on Saturday, U.S. District...
Don’t Ruin College Sports What to know: College athletic programs are “in crisis now,” Sen. Ted Cruz contends: “Nobody wants to see a handful of super schools with unlimited cash, all the best athletes and nobody else even able to survive,” he says. The TPPF take: Congress can step in and save college athletic programs. “College sports...
Forever Chemicals Too Close to Home What to know: Texas state Rep. Helen Kerwin has filed a bill that would regulate the sale, production and use of PFAs, “forever chemicals” that have found their way into the water supplies used by farmers and ranchers. The TPPF take: Texas farm and ranch land is at risk. “These chemicals...
No More Golden Parachutes What to know: After recent controversy in Keller ISD, the Texas House is taking aim at golden parachutes for government employees. The chamber recently considered a pair of bills, HBs 610 and 762, to limit the size of any severance package for departing public employees. The TPPF take: Some government employees are walking...