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Spending like drunken sailors
- Jul 24, 2008

Lone Star Lessons: July 21-25
- Jul 22, 2008

Personal purchases on the county dime?
- Jul 21, 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

Ludwig von Mises Institute

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Highlighted Research


Letter to the Sunset Advisory Commission
Regarding Texas Youth Commission (TYC) and Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC)
After working closely with state policymakers on landmark legislation to overhaul the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), the Texas Public Policy Foundation is pleased to share with the Sunset Advisory Commission key research and recommendations as it reviews both TYC and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission.

Testimony Presented to the House Committee on Regulated Industries
Regarding Telecommunications Taxes and Technology Deployment
Consumers have greatly benefitted from recent efforts to reduce telecommunications taxes. But the municipal franchise tax on video, voice, electricity, and natural gas services still takes hundreds of millions of dollars a year out of consumers' pockets.

State Employee Health Benefits
With almost 560 state employees per 10,000 Texas residents, the increasing cost of health insurance benefits means state lawmakers must allocate considerable funding for these benefits. While health insurance benefits are an appropriate benefit for state employees, there are things lawmakers can do to help control these costs.

Trade: You Ain't Got the Frills If You Ain't Got the Skills
Thinking Economically: Lesson 6
Many people today call for "fair" trade rather than free trade. But that ignores the fact that all free trade is fair because people only agree to trade if they believe they will benefit from it.

Thinking Outside the Cell
Aligning Goals and Incentives in the Texas Criminal Justice System
This PowerPoint presentation was given to the Montgomery County Bar Association Luncheon and provides policy recommendations on how to align goals and incentives in Texas' system of criminal justice.

Five Technological Solutions for Texas' Correctional and Law Enforcement Challenges
Better utilization of technology in the criminal justice system can help control costs and maximize the productivity of personnel. In some cases it can also improve outcomes such as recidivism, crime rate, and percentage of crimes solved.

Visit the Publications section for all of our reports.

Latest Commentaries


National Health Care Costs Government and Patients
To this point, we have been successful in avoiding the pitfalls of nationalized health care. But putting more of our private health care consumers into government programs and granting the government more financial control over the health care market gets us closer to the Canadian model that even its architect says is in “crisis.”

Unrealistic Energy Policies Harm Consumers
When misguided environmental theory dictates energy policy, the result is high prices, unreliability, and inadequate supply. It is time to reverse course.

Texas-Sized Transparency
While Texas taxpayers are busy earning a living, taking care of their families, and paying their taxes, they deserve to know that their tax dollars are being used judiciously by the state and local governments that are spending them.

More Health Care Requires More Choices
Giving consumers more choices would improve access to health care by providing individuals with more choices that would be affordable, regardless of insurance status.

The Importance of Business Friendliness
A state (or a city or a county or a country) that wants to be loved, economically speaking, must make itself lovable, by implementation of business policies that business loves.

A Better Homeowners’ Insurance Market Awaits
For most of the last 20 years, Texas regulators have battled homeowners’ insurers, attempting to block “excessive” rates. The losers in these battles have been consumers, who have been harmed by the instability injected into the market by over-regulation.

Denying Dropouts a Second Chance?
Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. This sounds oddly familiar in the world of education policy. Throw more money at it and expect different results.

More commentaries are found in the Newsroom.



Recent Press Releases


Statement by Drew Thornley, Natural Resources Policy Analyst
On the Public Utility Commission’s approval of new wind transmission lines
While the development of renewable energy resources is generally a good thing, we can’t hide from its high costs. Building the transmission capacity to carry energy from West Texas and the Panhandle to East Texas will be tremendously expensive.

Foundation launches TexasBudgetSource.com
New website allows taxpayers to track spending by state and local governments
The Texas Public Policy Foundation debuted TexasBudgetSource.com today, a new website that will provide a comprehensive resource for information on state and local government budgets and spending.



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Complete archive and podcast.
State efforts to regulate CO2 emissions "pointless, at best, and counterproductive, at worst," says Kathleen Hartnett White
- Dallas Morning News
Kalese Hammonds on the "What's Up Radio Program" - Part 3
- KKHT-FM 100.7 (Houston)
Talmadge Heflin explains Texas' part-time legislature on "The Box"
- WHP 580 AM (Harrisburg, PA)
Abhinav Kumar: TexasBudgetSource.com "sure to give people an edge over big government bureaucrats and politicians"
- The Daily Texan
Wind turbines cannot be expected to consistently produce abundant energy, says Drew Thornley
- The Guardian (UK)
Companies building wind farms should pick up more of new transmission line cost, according to Drew Thornley
- Los Angeles Times (CA)
Kalese Hammonds on the "What's Up Radio Program" - Part 2
- KKHT-FM 100.7 (Houston)
State has no authority to regulate Houston's leading source of ozone-forming pollution, says Kathleen Hartnett White
- Houston Chronicle
Kalese Hammonds on the "What's Up Radio Program" - Part 1
- KKHT-FM 100.7 (Houston)
Nonpartisan efforts for greater transparency and accountability in Texas government are gaining ground, writes Talmadge Heflin
- Tyler Morning Telegraph
TexasBudgetSource.com #1 "Brightest Idea of the Week"
- Washington Examiner (DC)
TexasBudgetSource.com puts Texas government spend-o-meter online
- Austin American-Statesman
Texas Matters interview with Talmadge Heflin on TexasBudgetSource.com
- Texas Public Radio (San Antonio)
KTRH Morning News segment with Talmadge Heflin on TexasBudgetSource.com
- KTRH 740 AM (Houston)
Texas Budget Source website lets citizens see how tax dollars are spent
- Dallas Morning News
Talmadge Heflin and Terry Lowry talk about TexasBudgetSource.com and spending transparency
- KKHT-FM 100.7 (Houston)
TexasBudgetSource.com: "Every state should have a project like this."
- National Review Online