Fire the Middleman

What to Know: One Texas lawmaker recently said his bill to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying “removes the middleman between local governments and legislators, and that local lawmakers elected to represent their cities or counties should be speaking to state lawmakers directly, instead of spending taxpayer dollars on lobbyists.”

The TPPF Take: A community’s interests are best represented by local elected officials, not contract lobbyists.

“Local elected officials are supposed to represent their communities, both at the statehouse and everywhere else. But a great many have outsourced this awesome responsibility to middlemen who have different motivations and concerns,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “For the sake of good government, it’s time to fire the middlemen!”

Welcome to the Party!

What to Know: Like Texas, South Dakota says it’s ready to challenge the Biden administration’s federal overreach.

The TPPF Take: We here at TPPF will also challenge unconstitutional federal government overreach through the courts.

“Three areas may provide immediate cause to sue: unconstitutional COVID-19 mandates, the Biden administration’s repeal of important Trump health care reforms, and the new administration’s revival of border policies that caused a humanitarian crisis (a crisis that Trump had largely ended),” says TPPF’s Robert Henneke.

Who Could Have Predicted This???

What to Know: When California mandated a hike in the minimum wage, some local stores were forced to close.

The TPPF Take: Raising the minimum wage hurts those it’s supposed to help.

“Mandating higher wages will force employers to fire their less-experienced employees, who are mostly teenagers or young people most in need of their first job experience,” says TPPF’s Maggie Selner. “The most vulnerable workers are always the ones most harmed by minimum wage laws.”