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Connecting today’s news with the research & opinion you need.

Partying on the Public Dime

What to Know: The city of Austin has been caught wasting gobs of money again. KXAN Investigates reports that Austin officials “spent $156,248.99 on holiday parties in December 2019. That’s up from a year earlier, when 34 city departments spent $140,532.97.”

The TPPF Take: Austin is mismanaging public money at a time when an affordability crisis is raging.

“Austin employees are partying on the public dime while homeowners and businesses struggle to make ends meet. Austin residents should be outraged,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Instances like this are a good reminder that cities don’t have a revenue problem; they have a spending problem.”

Where Do Your Taxes Go?

What to Know: Some local governments aren’t posting the info about what they spend on lobbying, as a new law requires.

The TPPF Take: Taxpayers’ money shouldn’t be used to lobby against their interests.

“Government—especially local governments in Texas—has no business handing millions of taxpayer dollars over to lobbyists,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “Those are critical funds that should be used for education, public safety, property tax relief or other priorities that benefit taxpayers directly. It is time to end taxpayer-funded lobbying in Texas.”

Stop the Misinformation

What to Know: The “Stop the Money Pipeline” is pressuring banks to cut ties to energy producers.

The TPPF Take: The movement will end up hurting the poor. Driving up energy costs by divesting from fossil fuels and forcing the use of unreliable renewable energy is particularly cruel for people in developing nations.

“The ramifications of unreliable renewable energy are particularly cruel in developing nations,” says TPPF’s Jason Isaac. “Having no or limited access to energy isn’t just an inconvenience. It means being trapped in poverty and poor health, lacking clean running water and modern medical care. It means sickness and nearly 4 million deaths a year from toxic air pollution caused by burning unsafe fuels indoors.”