The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) is a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
based in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. The organization was founded in 1989 by
James R. Leininger
James Richard Leininger (born 1944) is an American physician, businessman and conservative and Christian activist from San Antonio, Texas.
Biography
Early life and education
Reared in Indiana and Florida, Leininger attended Indiana Universi ...
, who sought intellectual support for his education reform ideas, including public
school vouchers
A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...
. Projects of the organization include
Right on Crime
Right on Crime is a conservative U.S. criminal justice reform initiative that aims to gain support for criminal justice reform by sharing research and policy ideas, mobilizing leaders, and by raising public awareness. Right On Crime reforms are f ...
, which is focused on criminal justice reform, and Fueling Freedom, which seeks to "explain the forgotten moral case for fossil fuels" by rejecting the
scientific consensus on climate change
There is a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists' opinions and by position statements of scientific org ...
.
History
TPPF was initially founded and funded in 1989 by
James R. Leininger
James Richard Leininger (born 1944) is an American physician, businessman and conservative and Christian activist from San Antonio, Texas.
Biography
Early life and education
Reared in Indiana and Florida, Leininger attended Indiana Universi ...
, a physician, businessman and conservative activist from
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
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. Leininger is notable for school voucher and privatization activism. The organization's board of directors includes thirteen individuals. Originally based in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, s ...
, the organization was relocated in 2003 to
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
to be near the state capitol. In February 2015, TPPF moved into a new $20-million building two blocks from the Texas Capitol.
In 2010, TPPF received funding from
Koch Industries
Koch Industries, Inc. ( ) is an American privately held multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiaries are involved in th ...
as well as Geo Prison Group, a
GEO Group
The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in North America, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, the company's f ...
company.
In January 2018, the organization announced that it had opened a new office in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
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.
In February 2019, the organization hired former U.S. Representative
John Hostettler
John Nathan Hostettler (born July 19, 1961) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1995, to January 3, 2007, representing the Indiana's 8th congressional district. He lost his reelectio ...
, 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.
Funding
In 2015, TPPF had total revenue of $10.8 million. Donors to the organization include energy companies
Chevron
Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to:
Science and technology
* Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines
* Chevron (anatomy), a bone
* ''Eulithis testata'', a moth
* Chevron (geology), a fold in rock lay ...
,
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
, and other fossil fuel interests. 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."
Organization and activities
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
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...
,
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...
, and
Phil Gramm
William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...
.
[
In 2013, TPPF published ''The Texas Model: Prosperity in the Lone Star State and Lessons for America''. TPPF also publishes a quarterly journal titled ''Veritas''.
Current U.S. Senator ]Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
formerly headed TPPF's Center for Tenth Amendment Studies.
The organization sponsors the Right on Crime
Right on Crime is a conservative U.S. criminal justice reform initiative that aims to gain support for criminal justice reform by sharing research and policy ideas, mobilizing leaders, and by raising public awareness. Right On Crime reforms are f ...
initiative, an effort to reduce crime, restore victims, and replace mass incarceration with more cost-effective and humane sentencing and criminal punishment.
In October 2017, the White House announced that President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
had selected Kathleen Hartnett White
Kathleen Hartnett White is a Republican American former government official and environmental policy advisor. White currently serves as a senior fellow at the free-market think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation. She was nominated by President ...
to serve as chair of the Council on Environmental Quality
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of the Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices on the developmen ...
. White is a fellow at TPPF. A climate change denier
Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or the ...
, White has said that climate change does not exist and that United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
findings on climate change are "not validated and politically corrupt." 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." In February 2018, the White House confirmed their intention to withdraw their nomination of Hartnett White as a senior advisor on environmental policy.
TPPF has been described by NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
as "an influential think tank that opposes efforts to fight climate change and receives millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests."
TPPF lobbied for the Texas legislature to ban the prescription of puberty blockers and hormone treatments for minors.
Notable staff
* Chuck DeVore
Charles S. "Chuck" DeVore (born May 20, 1962) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010 when he lived in Irvine and represented the 70th District, which includes portion ...
, vice president of national initiatives
* Talmadge L. Heflin
Talmadge Loraine Heflin (born January 16, 1940) is an American politician. He served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member for the Texas's 149th House of Representatives district, 149th district of the Texas House of Representa ...
, distinguished senior fellow
* Joshua Treviño
Joshua Treviño is an American political commentator, formerly a consultant and United States Army officer. He is a former George W. Bush Administration speech writer and was listed as a 2006 Lincoln Fellow with the Claremont Institute. , chief of intelligence and research
* John Hostettler
John Nathan Hostettler (born July 19, 1961) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1995, to January 3, 2007, representing the Indiana's 8th congressional district. He lost his reelectio ...
, vice president of federal affairs
* Ron Simmons
Ronald Nasir Simmons (born May 15, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He performed for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under his real name, and in the World Wres ...
, director of Right on Work
* Carol M. Swain
Carol Miller Swain (born March 7, 1954) is a retired professor of political science and Law of the United States, law at Vanderbilt University. A frequent television analyst, she is the author and editor of several books. Her interests include ra ...
, distinguished senior fellow
* Zach Whiting
Zach Whiting (born December 17, 1987) is an American politician and policy analyst. A Republican, he served in the Iowa Senate from 2019–2021 before resigning to take a job at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Political career
Whiting serv ...
, senior fellow of technology policy
See also
*State Policy Network
The State Policy Network (SPN) is a nonprofit organization that serves as a network for conservative and libertarian think tanks focusing on state-level policy in the United States. The network serves as a public policy clearinghouse and advises ...
References
External links
*
EDIRC listing
(provided by RePEc)
Organizational Profile
– National Center for Charitable Statistics
The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house for information about the nonprofit sector of the U.S. economy. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops st ...
(Urban Institute
The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...
)
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Organizations based in Austin, Texas
Political and economic think tanks in the United States
1989 establishments in Texas
Conservative organizations in the United States
Climate change denial
Organizations established in 1989