Every Texan, formerly known as the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP), is an
Austin-based, nonpartisan,
nonprofit policy institute.
Origin
The
Congregation of Benedictine Sisters in
Boerne, Texas
Boerne ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kendall County, Texas, in the Texas Hill Country. Boerne is known for its German-Texan history, named in honor of German author and satirist Ludwig Börne by the German Founders of the town. The pop ...
, founded CPPP in 1985 to improve
health care access for the
poor. The center became an independent nonprofit corporation 1999. ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' called CPPP an example of "sophisticated independent policy experts" and a state level "force to be reckoned with."
[Callahan, David. "State Think Tanks on the Move," '']The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'', p. 15, 17. October 12, 1998. And according to ''
The Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...
'', the center "has emerged as the primary source for detailed analysis on almost any legislative issue affecting low- to moderate-income Texans."
[Minutaglio, Bill. "Voice for the voiceless," '']The Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...
'', page 29A. March 28, 1997. In May of 2020, CPPP changed its name to Every Texan.
Current research
The center provides research and policy analysis on issues such as:
* economic opportunity, including workforce and economic development;
* the state’s social services safety net, including health care, nutrition, and
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF ) is a federal assistance program of the United States. It began on July 1, 1997, and succeeded the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, providing cash assistance to indigent A ...
; and
* fiscal analysis of state taxes and budgets; the center provides tax and budget analysis from the perspective of low-income Texans.
[Hamilton, Billy. "The Fight for Fair Taxes in Texas," ''State Tax Notes'', p. 587. May 19, 2008.]
The center is also home to the Texas KIDS COUNT Project, which tracks the well-being of children county by county.
Board and staff
The Center has a current staff of thirty-three.
Senior staff includes Anne Dunkelberg, Associate Director, named 2007 Consumer Health Care Advocate of the Year by Families USA, and Dick Lavine, Senior Fiscal Analyst, named Best Lobbyist for the Little Guy by ''Texas Monthly'' in 1999.
[Hart, Patricia Kilday. "The Capitol Gang," '']Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
'', p. 66. February 1999.
Former board members include:
* Flora Brewer of Ft. Worth, former Chair of the Board of Directors
*
William P. Hobby, Jr., the longest serving
Lieutenant Governor of Texas
The lieutenant governor of Texas is the second-highest executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the work of the Texas Senate and control ...
.
*
F. Scott McCown retired as a state district judge in 2002 to become the Executive Director, who then left the center in 2013.
* Polly Ross Hughes
["Judge leaves the bench to help out Texas' poor," '']Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
'', p. 24A. September 23, 2002.
* Ann Beeson, Executive Director starting in 2013
National affiliations
CPPP is a member of several national networks:
State Priorities PartnershipKIDS COUNT Network
References
External links
* {{official website, https://everytexan.org/, Every Texan website
Political and economic think tanks in the United States
Organizations based in Austin, Texas