Emily Brizzolara-Dove, Policy Advisor
This post on the valid petition tool and encouraging gentle density is the first part in an ongoing series laying out the various ways land use policies keep Texans from achieving home ownership. In January 2023, Austin resident Bradley Hoskins brought a rezoning case in front of the Austin Planning Commission. He was requesting that his…
Texas 2036 Policy Advisor Emily Brizzolara-Dove offered testimony Wednesday in front of the Texas House Land & Resource Management Committee in favor of House Bill 14, which focuses on housing affordability. Here are highlights from her testimony: Texas 2036 approaches the housing policy discussion from the lens that homeownership is the single best tool for…
First-time homebuyers are facing big obstacles in their hunt for a starter home. Housing prices in Texas have risen over 30% since the beginning of the pandemic. And even though wages are rising, they aren’t keeping up with this meteoric increase in prices. While there’s no true definition of a “starter home”,” the chart below…
Three years since the beginning of Covid, the pandemic’s classification as a public health emergency and its subsequent continuous eligibility for Medicaid recipients is coming to an end. The end of the emergency will pose a challenge to Texas on two fronts: All of the nearly 6 million Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees…
In order to expand access to primary care, the foundation of a healthy population, the Texas Legislature should allow medical professionals to practice to the fullest extent of their licensure. The shortage of primary care providers in Texas, particularly rural Texas, is pervasive. There are 435 Health Professional Shortage Areas in our state, where an…
This is part of our blog series for Texas 2036’s Strategic Framework, which provides in-depth, cross-cutting data to inform key decisions about the most significant issues facing the state. Texas has long prided itself on the affordability of its housing, but as prices rise rapidly in comparison to income, homeownership may soon be out of…