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

Vital Signs

What to Know: A panel for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals appeared open to arguments made by TPPF and others that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional.

“A three-judge panel that heard oral arguments Tuesday afternoon on the legal status of the Affordable Care Act appeared sympathetic to the reasoning that led a lower court to declare all of the sweeping healthcare legislation invalid,” Health Leaders Media reports. “Judges Jennifer Walker Elrod and Kurt Engelhardt, the two judges on the panel who were appointed by Republican presidents, made comments and asked questions that may have signaled a likeliness to agree with at least some of the arguments raised by the Texas-led group of 18 plaintiff states that challenged the law's constitutionality in light of Congress zeroing out the tax penalties tied to the ACA’s individual mandate.”

The TPPF Take: TPPF represented the individual plaintiffs in Tuesday’s hearing.

“Today’s job by the court of appeals is to call balls and strikes and constitutionality and leave it to the Congress and to our state leadership to actually address health care policy that will restore choices, doctors, decreased costs, improve access to care for the millions of Americans like my clients that have been injured by the Affordable Care Act,” says TPPF’s Rob Henneke, who made oral arguments.

Some Pretty Convenient Truths

What to Know: The Democrats aren’t radical enough on the environment, some young voters contend.

“Young climate activists are preparing to launch a sprawling, nationwide campaign to push the Democratic National Committee to allow a presidential primary debate devoted to the climate crisis,” Buzzfeed News reports. “’We started this fight centrally at the DNC headquarters. Now we’re taking the fight out of DC and into communities across America,’ Varshini Prakash, cofounder of the Sunrise Movement, told BuzzFeed News. At least 1,200 people, including more than 100 high schoolers, have already signed up to rally for a climate debate at local DNC offices in states including Arizona, California, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.”

The TPPF Take: Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to make real progress on the environment.

“Other nations lag far behind American reductions in dangerous particulate matter, mercury, and ozone,” TPPF’s Mike Nasi says. “It is frustrating that so much time and attention has been spent on climate change agreements based on modeling and debated projections, yet we have not secured a single international agreement regarding the pollutants we know kill people.”

Convenient Loopholes

What to Know: State leaders say they will stop local governments from trying to get around Texas’ new property tax protections.

“Some local officials are already looking for ways to maneuver around SB 2. There are proposals to get rid of the homestead exemption and threats to slap excessive fees on residents. Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and I have jointly announced that we will eliminate any loopholes designed to circumvent the property tax reforms in SB 2 in the next legislative session,” Lt. Governor Dan Patrick writes in the San Antonio Express-News.

The TPPF Take: Sky-high property taxes shouldn’t be traded for other tax and fee increases.

 “State lawmakers should close any and all loopholes that let local governments sidestep Senate Bill 2,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “It’s well past time that Texas prioritize a family’s budget over a local government’s budget.”