In her Letter from Austin, Julie Drenner discusses public pensions, emergency response to wildfires and conservative thought on college campuses.
From the category archives:
Letters From Austin
In her Letter from Austin, Texas director Julie Drenner discusses TWIA’s many deficiencies to private insurance and the problems Texas has had in using the stimulus monies designated for Hurricane Ike victims.
No surprise here. State run businesses backed by state subsidies cost taxpayers dearly. Due to decreases in travel and the lagging economy, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is subsidizing almost 70 percent more of its toll roads than originally expected. The roads bring in $100 million less than their operating expenses. Thus, the state [...]
With legislation on the way to the Governor’s desk to reform Texas’ insurer of last resort, the board of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) voted to increase rates by 5 percent. The proposal is part of an approach implemented last year to annually raise rates until it can cover its liabilities. The five percent [...]
As part of the conference committee report passed this week, legislative members included a provision to allow an interim study on alternative ways to provide windstorm and hail insurance to the seacoast territory of the state. The report specifies the committee shall: “(1) examine alternative ways to provide insurance to the seacoast territory of this state, [...]
Letter From Austin: If TWIA Won’t Be Reformed, Should It Just Be Abolished? Senator Fraser Says Yes.
As a sign of the deep frustration over passing any TWIA bill this year, Senator Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, filed a bill to completely abolish the association. Most surprisingly, nineteen of the thirty-one Senators co-signed the legislation. The bill itself is not friendly for the free market since it requires private insurers to write policies [...]
Several HOA reform bills await the Governor’s signature this week. One restricts the homeowner associations’ power to prohibit the display of the American flag, small religious symbols, or the installation of solar panels. Another assures payments made by delinquent owners are applied to past amounts due first, thus assisting homeowners in avoiding foreclosure. Other bills [...]
Elections have consequences. And the residents of Houston are finding out just how much money those consequences personally cost. Back in November, the city’s voters passed a “rain tax”, advertized by Mayor Annise Parker and proponents of the proposition as $5 a month charge on average. Turns out that average was based on only 1,875 [...]
It’s like watching a hurricane build a house. That’s how I would describe the attempt to write a comprehensive bill to address the issues at the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). Much of the ever changing language is due to the battle over tort reform issues such as treble damages and multi-district litigation courts. Unfortunately, [...]
The omnibus eminent domain bill has passed both Texas chambers and now is on its way to the Governor’s desk for approval. Gov. Perry included this issue as one of his emergency items at the beginning of the session. It prohibits a taking of real estate by a governmental or private entity that is not [...]
