Center for Public Policy Priorities


Every Texan, formerly known as the Center for Public Policy Priorities is an Austin-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit policy institute.

Origin

The Congregation of Benedictine Sisters in Boerne, Texas founded CPPP in 1985 to improve health care access for the poor. The center became an independent nonprofit corporation 1999. The Nation called CPPP an example of “sophisticated independent policy experts” and a state level “force to be reckoned with.” And according to The Dallas Morning News, the center “has emerged as the primary source for detailed analysis on almost any legislative issue affecting low- to moderate-income Texans.” In May of 2020, CPPP changed its name to Every Texan.

Current research

The center provides research and policy analysis on issues such as:
The center is also home to the Texas KIDS COUNT Project, which tracks the well-being of children county by county.

Board and staff

Flora Brewer of Ft. Worth is the Chair of the Board of Directors, which includes Bill Hobby, the longest serving Lieutenant Governor of Texas. F. Scott McCown retired as a state district judge in 2002 to become the Executive Director, who then left the center in 2013. Ann Beeson has been Executive Director since 2013. The Center has a current staff of twenty-two. 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.

National affiliations

CPPP is a member of several national networks: