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Balance!

What to Know: Sweden is refusing to shut down its economy because of the coronavirus, yet its rates of infection and mortality aren’t disproportionately high.

The TPPF Take: The Constitution requires that government restriction of civil liberties must be narrowly tailored and least restrictive.

“It’s vital that we strike the right balance between public health concerns and keeping the economy running—so that we all have jobs to come back to,” says TPPF’s Rob Henneke. “Many Texas cities and counties, though, have failed to achieve that balance. Draconian—and unenforceable—shelter-in-place orders that don’t focus on the real public health risks, do immeasurable harm to the economy. We must take necessary steps to protect our most vulnerable neighbors, but we don’t have to crash the economy to do so.”

Bad Policy in Tough Times

What to Know: The Austin American Statesman is calling on Gov. Greg Abbott (and TPPF) to drop challenges to cities’ mandatory paid sick leave ordinances.

The TPPF Take: Paid sick leave is a wonderful employee benefit, but mandating it will only cost more jobs and upend the lives of workers trying to make it through.

“You shouldn’t set ordinary policy based on extraordinary circumstances,” TPPF’s James Quintero says. “The current pandemic will, eventually, subside. But policies made permanent won’t. So those small businesses with razor-thin margins would be burdened with those costs long afterward. Other businesses, which have chosen a different set of employee benefits that better suits their needs and those of their workers, would still be forced into the city’s one-size-fits-all approach.”

Loading Up with Loans

What to Know: The coronavirus stimulus package just passed by Congress will pause student loan payments—but not address the loan amounts.

The TPPF Take: The student debt crisis is one made by heavy-handed government.  

“The Texas Public Policy Foundation has published a ranking of colleges, gauging the ability of students to repay loans based on their post-graduation income,” says TPPF’s Andrew Gillen. “While there is more to college quality than the economic return, it is an important factor that shouldn’t be ignored by the students, parents, and taxpayers funding a state’s colleges.”