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Lone Star Lessons: September 29-October 3
- Sep 30, 2008

Are public schools underfunded?
- Sep 29, 2008


About the Foundation

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan research institute guided by the core principles of individual liberty, personal responsibility, private property rights, free markets and limited government.

The Foundation’s mission is to improve Texas by generating academically sound research and data on state issues, and by recommending the findings to opinion leaders, policymakers, the media and general public.

Learn more about the Foundation in our video, Ideas Into Action.
Research Link

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Highlighted Research


2009-2010 Legislators' Guide to the Issues
The 2009-2010 Legislators' Guide to the Issues is a comprehensive guide to the most important issues facing Texas in the upcoming 81st Session of the Legislature. Among the issues covered in this Guide are education, taxes and spending, health care, effective justice, private property rights, insurance, telecommunications, tort reform, energy, and natural resources.

Influential Issues
Education
As more young Texans are failing to meet the standards that are needed to make it in the 21st Century, Texas needs to make bold choices and go against the failing status quo of more money and more of the same. This Influential Issues paper on education provides facts and recommendations for making the Lone Star State a true leader in education without bankrupting its citizens.

For other Influential Issues papers covering health care, immigration, the economy, and thinking economically click here.


Paying for Results
Examining Incentive Pay in Texas Schools
Teacher incentive pay programs in Texas school districts have produced higher test scores, higher state accountability rankings, improved teacher morale, and less teacher turnover. This report (with generous support from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation) examines how incentive pay has been implemented in the Austin, Dallas, Houston, and Lamesa school districts; and provides recommendations for future implementation.

States' Right--To Mess It Up: What Makes a State Competitive?
Thinking Economically: Lesson 7
A pro-growth, market-friendly state attracts talented workers, entrepreneurs, and investment, which spurs job creation and booming tax receipts. Empirical evidence backs this up: on every important criterion, pro-growth states outperform those with hostile business climates. State policies matter!

Competitive States: Texas v. California
Economic Growth Prospects for the 21st Century
The result of a head-to-head competition between Texas and California is an economic blowout. The economic environment in Texas has significant advantages over California. The implications of this competitive advantage are clear; Texas’ economic prospects are bright and the Texas economy will significantly outperform California’s.

Visit the Publications section for all of our reports.

Latest Commentaries


A Bailout That Sacrifices Freedom for Dependency
Throughout our nation’s history, the size and scope of government has grown by leaps and bounds during times of crisis, financial or otherwise. The political class’ natural instinct is for government to rush to the rescue, particularly when an election is near.

Economic Damage From Ethanol Mandate Will Continue
U.S. energy policy has been supplanted by counterproductive environmental policy. Built on mandates, subsidies, trade restrictions, and bans on production, federal energy policy operates like slipshod energy central planning. Let ethanol compete in the market without government preference.

Consumers Lose with Texas' Burdensome Insurance Regulations
There is simply no one-size-fits-all solution for insurance prices, and attempts to impose one wreak more havoc on consumers than the supposed problem.

Texas Transparency and the Growth of Government
James Russell Wiggins, the late editor of the Washington Post, once said that “the more that government becomes secret, the less it remains free.” Thankfully, Texas is leading the way toward opening the workings of its governments, particularly when it comes to how they spend your tax dollars.

Is Insurance the Answer?
Clearly, the objective should be to provide access to health care for the uninsured in the most efficient way possible. The answer will not be easy. But Texas should look for new ideas and innovations and also promote what is already working here.

More commentaries are found in the Newsroom.



Recent Press Releases


Major Texas Associations Launch Coalition to Urge Lawmakers to Prepare Future Workforce
Texas Association of Business, Texas Institute for Education Reform, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Governor’s Business Council, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Unveil Education Principles
Several major trade associations and research organizations today formally launched the Texas Coalition for a Competitive Workforce (TCCW) to encourage focus on career and college readiness in public schools; improved career and technology education; and expanded teacher incentives -- all with the goal of better preparing students for life after high school.



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'Influential Issues - The Economy'
Complete archive and podcast.
Proposition 12 a winner five years later, Joe Nixon writes
- Fort Worth Star-Telegram
A bailout would sacrifice dependency for freedom, writes Jeff Sandefer
- Austin American-Statesman
Editorial: Free-market reforms would bolster Texas insurance market
- Tyler Morning Telegraph
Good government demands transparency, writes James Quintero
- San Antonio Express-News
Drew Thornley: "Texas has been warned for at least a decade that TWIA's rates did not accurately reflect the risk to coastal communities"
- Amarillo Globe-News
Financial transparency initiatives save tax dollars, says Talmadge Heflin
- Denver Post
Talmadge Heflin: Texas "still a good place to come and do business"
- San Antonio Business Journal
Foundation promotes teacher incentive pay
- Lone Star Foundation
Windstorm insurance structure a burden for the state, Bill Peacock says
- Amarillo Globe-News
Foundation report lists what Texas can teach California
- Dallas Morning News
Editor: "Texas is clearly outrunning California in the economic race"
- San Diego Business Journal
Let charter schools flourish, writes Brooke Terry
- San Angelo Standard-Times
Texas' policies more conductive to economic growth than California's, says Dr. Arthur Laffer
- Lone Star Report
Foundation report: Texas outpaces California economically
- Austin American-Statesman
21st century belongs to Texas, says Dr. Arthur Laffer at Texas Public Policy Foundation event
- Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Dr. Arthur Laffer tells Texas Public Policy Foundation audience, "Head-to-head competition between Texas and California is an economic blowout"
- Amarillo Globe-News
(VIDEO) Dr. Arthur Laffer declares Texas economy hands down winner over California at Texas Public Policy Foundation luncheon
- KVUE-TV 24 (Austin)