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Texas Public Policy Foundation

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Coordinates: 30°16′15″N 97°44′29″W / 30.2709°N 97.7413°W / 30.2709; -97.7413
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Texas Public Policy Foundation
Founder(s)James R. Leininger
Fritz S. Steiger
Established1989
FocusTexas state government
Chief Executive OfficerGreg Sindelar
Staff80
BudgetRevenue: $17.7 million
Expenses: $16.4 million
(FYE December 2019)[1]
Address901 Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas 78701
Coordinates30°16′15″N 97°44′29″W / 30.2709°N 97.7413°W / 30.2709; -97.7413
Websitetexaspolicy.com

The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) is an American conservative think tank based in Austin, Texas.[2] The organization was co-founded in 1989 by James R. Leininger and Fritz S. Steiger, who sought intellectual support for his education reform ideas, including public school vouchers.[3] Projects of the organization include Right on Crime, which is focused on criminal justice reform,[4] and Fueling Freedom, which seeks to "explain the forgotten moral case for fossil fuels"[5] by rejecting the scientific consensus on climate change.[6]

History

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Headquarters of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, 2019

TPPF was initially co-founded in 1989 by James R. Leininger, a physician, businessman and conservative activist from San Antonio, Texas and Fritz S. Steiger, a businessman who had formerly worked for George H. W. Bush and Sam Walton. Leininger is notable for his school voucher and privatization activism.[7] The organization's board of directors includes 19 individuals.[8] Originally based in San Antonio, it was relocated in 2003 to Austin, Texas to be near the state capitol. In February 2015, TPPF moved into a new $20-million building two blocks from the Texas Capitol.[9]

In 2010, TPPF received funding from Koch Industries as well as Geo Prison Group, a GEO Group company.[10]

In January 2018, the organization announced that it had opened a new office in Washington, D.C. At the time, TPPF had more than 75 employees based in Texas; it announced plans to increase its D.C.-based staff from 5 to as many as 15 employees in 2018 in order to expand the group's work in the areas of environmental and health care policy and criminal justice reform.[11]

In February 2019, the organization hired former U.S. Representative John Hostettler, a Republican from Indiana, to lead its state-based policy efforts. The Texas Public Policy Foundation States Trust initiative promotes policy ideas aimed at increasing state's rights and decreasing the role of the federal government in areas including energy regulation, spending, and health care.[12][13]

Funding

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In 2015, TPPF had total revenue of $10.8 million.[14] Donors to the organization include energy companies Chevron, ExxonMobil, and other fossil fuel interests.[15] The stated mission of TPPF is "to promote and defend liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise in Texas and the nation by educating and affecting policymakers and the Texas public policy debate with academically sound research and outreach."[16]

Organization and activities

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TPPF is organized into nine issue-area centers and a litigation arm.

During the year, TPPF hosts monthly policy events ("Policy Primers") covering a range of issues, and an annual conference ("Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature"). The 2015 policy orientation included Steve Forbes, Newt Gingrich, and Phil Gramm.[9]

In 2013, TPPF published The Texas Model: Prosperity in the Lone Star State and Lessons for America.[17] TPPF also publishes a quarterly journal titled Veritas.[18]

Current U.S. Senator Ted Cruz formerly headed TPPF's Center for Tenth Amendment Studies.[19]

The organization sponsors the Right on Crime initiative, an effort to reduce crime, restore victims, and replace mass incarceration with more cost-effective and humane sentencing and criminal punishment.[20][21]

In October 2017, the White House announced that President Donald Trump had selected Kathleen Hartnett White to serve as chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. White is a fellow at TPPF. A climate change denier, White has said that climate change does not exist and that United Nations findings on climate change are "not validated and politically corrupt."[22][23] She has argued that carbon dioxide levels are good for life on Earth, that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, and that "fossil fuels dissolved the economic justification for slavery."[24] In February 2018, the White House confirmed their intention to withdraw their nomination of Hartnett White as a senior advisor on environmental policy.[25][26]

TPPF has been described by NPR as "an influential think tank that opposes efforts to fight climate change and receives millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests."[27] A 2023 study by TPPF found that the total cost of fueling an electric vehicle would equate to an electric vehicle owner "paying $17.33 per gallon of gasoline."[28]

TPPF lobbied for the Texas legislature to ban the prescription of puberty blockers and hormone treatments for minors.[29]

TPPF is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025,[30] a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power should the Republican nominee win the 2024 presidential election.[31]

Notable staff

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Quickview data". GuideStar. See also "Charity Rating". Charity Navigator.
  2. ^ Price, Asher (May 2, 2017). "Austin think tank seeks to unravel Obama-era climate change policy". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  3. ^ Wilder, Forrest (January 6, 2014). "The Money Behind Texas' Most Influential Think Tank". Texas Observer. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  4. ^ Garrett, Brandon (March 31, 2017). "Conservatives Are Leading the Way as States Enact Criminal Justice Reform". Slate. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  5. ^ Profeta, Tim (October 19, 2017). "The Climate Post: Trump Nominates CEQ Lead". HuffPost. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  6. ^ Dennis, Brady; Moody, Chris (October 13, 2017). "Trump taps climate skeptic for top White House environmental post". Washington Post. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  7. ^ Weil, Danny (2002). School Vouchers and Privatization: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 180. ISBN 9781576073469. ISSN 1556-0465. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  8. ^ "Board of Directors". Texas Public Policy Foundation. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Satija, Neena (January 7, 2015). "TPPF Building the Foundation of Texas Conservatism". Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  10. ^ Lennon, Will (November 16, 2018). "Stung by Trump and midterms, the Koch network changes its approach". OpenSecrets.
  11. ^ Drusch, Andrea (January 1, 2018). "Fort Worth's Rollins expands Texas policy shop into Washington". Kansas City Star. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  12. ^ Drusch, Andrea; Ordonez, Franco (December 18, 2018). "White House green-lights Texas think tank's ideas, irking Capitol Hill Republicans". Star Telegram. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  13. ^ Drusch, Andrea (February 20, 2019). "Texas think tank adds former Indiana Congressman to D.C. policy shop". Star-Telegram. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  14. ^ "Texas Public Policy Foundation". Nonprofit Explorer. ProPublica. May 9, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  15. ^ Kelly, Caroline (October 16, 2017). "Trump nominates ex-Texas regulator, a climate change skeptic, to head environmental council". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  16. ^ "Mission". Texas Public Policy Foundation. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  17. ^ Loyola, Mario (January 16, 2013). "The Texas Model". National Review. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  18. ^ OCLC 806032908, 806034290 (print and on-line versions)
  19. ^ Wilder, Forrest (December 5, 2013). "The Money Behind the Fight to Undermine Medicaid". Texas Observer. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  20. ^ Reilly, Ryan J. (March 7, 2014). "Conservative Skepticism About 'Tough On Crime' Policies Gets Its Turn At CPAC". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  21. ^ Hancock, The Hon. Sen. Loni (February 22, 2014). "Texas an unlikely model for prison reform". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  22. ^ Biesecker, Michael (October 14, 2017). "Trump to nominate climate change doubter as top environmental adviser". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  23. ^ Wray, Dianna (October 17, 2017). "Trump Picks Former TCEQ Head and Climate Change Denier for White House Post". Houston Press. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  24. ^ Kaufman, Alexander (October 19, 2017). "Trump's Pick For White House Environmental Post Once Said Coal Helped End Slavery". HuffPost. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  25. ^ "Climate change sceptic Kathleen Hartnett White dropped as Trump environment expert". The Guardian. February 4, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  26. ^ Eilperin, Juliet; Dennis, Brady (February 4, 2018). "White House withdraws controversial nominee to head Council on Environmental Quality". Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  27. ^ Buchele, Mose. "Texas and other states want to punish fossil fuel divestment". NPR. Retrieved March 17, 2022. Texas Public Policy Foundation, an influential think tank that opposes efforts to fight climate change and receives millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests.
  28. ^ "Study finds the true cost of owning an electric vehicle equates to $17 per gallon — TheStreet". apple.news.
  29. ^ Casey Tolan; Matthew Reynard; Will Simon; Ed Lavandera (July 24, 2022). "How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state's far-right shift". CNN. Retrieved July 25, 2022. Last month, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a think tank that Dunn serves on the board of, called on the legislature to ban the prescription of puberty blockers and hormone treatments for minors.
  30. ^ "Advisory Board". The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on November 19, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  31. ^ Mascaro, Lisa (August 29, 2023). "Conservative Groups Draw Up Plan to Dismantle the US Government and Replace It with Trump's Vision". Associated Press News. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
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