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

No-Show Strategy

What to Know: Two Lubbock County commissioners who don’t support proposed tax hikes are skipping meetings—denying court members who want to raises taxes the quorum they need.

The TPPF Take: Too many counties, cities and other taxing entities are raising their tax rates before the taxpayer protections of Senate Bill 2 kick in next year.

“This is what it looks like to put taxpayers first,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Local governments seem to be grabbing all they can now, not because there are new, unexpected needs, but because their ability to grab won’t be as great in the future, without taxpayer approval. They should trust their taxpayers more.”

Recipe for Disaster

What to Know: California has passed a sweeping new rent control law, guaranteed to further worsen the state’s housing crisis.

The TPPF Take: If you want more affordable housing, you make it easier to build new homes—not more difficult to invest in them.

“Government-caused artificial scarcity of housing is the main reason why California has the nation’s highest Supplemental Poverty rate,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “That’s about to get worse, with statewide rent control further discouraging new investment in the state. Californians need less regulation, not more.”

Here Comes the Bill

What to Know: It’s about to get even more expensive to live in Austin, thanks to the city’s new climate plan.

The TPPF Take: It’s going to be a tough sell, even in liberal Austin.

“According to the resolution, Austin hopes to subsidize inefficient and pricey renewable energy, levy a carbon tax (thereby raising utility bills for everyone), bully citizens into giving up driving, and launch a public awareness campaign to ‘ensure that Austin residents understand the potential catastrophic effects of the climate crisis’—one of which, as the resolution itself notes, is a budget shortfall of your tax dollars,” says TPPF’s Jason Isaac. “Yet it’s all for no climate benefit whatsoever. Want a workable climate plan? Allow more freedom to innovate and prosper.”