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When the Texas Public Policy Foundation moves into its brand-new $20-million building in February, visitors will enter through the “Come and Take It” foyer. Then, perhaps, they'll take in a view of the Texas Capitol — two blocks north on Congress Avenue — from the second-floor "Governor Rick Perry Liberty Balcony."
The six-story, 40,000-plus-square-foot building — nearly six times larger than the foundation's current space — will have the feel of the “epicenter of liberty in Texas,” TPPF’s chief operating officer, Greg Sindelar, said during a recent tour.
The free-market think tank’s staffers see the move as fitting for the times. The nonprofit celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, and the building will open just weeks after one of the most conservative Legislatures in recent Texas memory convenes.
Among the myriad outside groups jockeying for influence on Texas policy, TPPF has claimed its place at the head of the table.
The group brought in more than $5 million in grants and contributions in 2013 (not counting donations for its new building) and now employs 37 people full time. By comparison, the left-leaning Center for Public Policy Priorities pulls in about $2.5 million a year and has 19 full-time staffers. The pro-business Texas Taxpayers and Research Association has six staffers and brings in about $1.3 million annually.
Here's a critic of the TPPF: Lyle Larson: In name of conservatism, Texas lawmakers refuse to think for themselves.
