Texas 2036

Named after Texas’s bicentennial year, ² Texas 2036’s focuses are education and workforce, ³ health care, ⁴ infrastructure and natural resources, ⁵ justice and safety, ⁶ and government performance issues in the state. ^{7 1} Texas 2036 supports the left-of-center concept of an “equitable education,” contends that what it identifies as structural inequities impact certain groups in the state, ⁸ and has included the critical race theory-influenced concept of equity in some of its metrics to represent progress on goals. ⁹

In 2022, Texas 2036 received $1,250,000 from the left-of-center California Community Foundation and $1,056,194 from Communities Foundation of Texas. ¹⁰ Texas 2036 also received $1,500,000 from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and $583,786 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2021. ^{11 10}

History and Leadership

Texas 2036 was founded in September 2016 by Dallas attorney Tom Luce. ¹² In 2017, the organization received tax-exempt status from the IRS. ¹³

Texas 2036 founder Tom Luce worked on the 1992 presidential campaign of Texas businessman Ross Perot ¹⁴ and was an Assistant Secretary at the Department of Education during the George W. Bush administration. He is also on the board of the Texas Education Reform Caucus, Education is Freedom, and Dallas Citizens Council. ¹⁵

As of October 2023, Justin Coppedge is the interim president and CEO of Texas 2036. Prior to joining Texas 2036, Coppedge worked in the Dallas Independent School District. He is an alum of the Teach for America Program. ¹⁶

Margaret Spellings was the president and CEO of Texas 2036 from until 2023, when she left to join the center-left Bipartisan Policy Center as its CEO. ¹ Previously, Spellings was the U.S. Secretary of Education in the George W. Bush administration and president of the George W. Bush Foundation, which operates as the George W. Bush Presidential Center. ¹⁷  In 2022, she was appointed by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) to co-chair a commission on university governance in North Carolina. ¹

Texas 2036 is headquartered in Dallas and has a satellite office in Austin. ¹⁸

Activities and Funding

Texas 2036 is a center-left think tank that is focused on Texas-specific issues. Texas 2036’s name is designed to encourage long-term thinking about Texas’s future as 2036 is Texas’s bicentennial year. ²

Former Texas 2036 CEO  and later Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) CEO Margaret Spellings has said that center-BPC’s thesis is “pretty much the same” as Texas 2036’s thesis, except with a focus on federal policy issues. ¹ The critical race theory-influenced concept of equity is included as a component of Texas 2036’s approach to primary metrics to represent progress on goals it calls “The Pyramid.” ⁹ Texas 2036 also advances the left-wing concept of an “equitable education” and claims that what it identifies as decades of structural inequities impact certain groups in the state. ⁸

Policy Advocacy

Texas 2036 publishes a strategic framework for its policy vision for the future of Texas and conducts polls of Texas voters to understand their preferences on major state policy issues. ^{8 19} The organization aims to influence lawmakers and the broader public to address education and workforce, ³ health care, ⁴ infrastructure and natural resources, ²⁰ justice and safety, ²¹ and government performance issues in Texas. ^{7 1}

To support these objectives, Texas 2036 produces and distributes policy memos, legislative reports, voter brochures, and other voting-related materials to advance its objectives, with a focus on economic security, workforce, and state politics. ²² During the 2023 Texas legislative session, 77 Texas 2036-endoresed bills and constitutional amendments passed into law. ¹

Texas 2036 also supports expanded broadband access across Texas and has praised Biden administration approaches to broadband, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Infrastructure Bill). ²³

Funding

Texas 2036 receives funding from individual contributions and grants. ²⁴ In 2021, Texas 2036 reported revenue of $9,172,626 and expenses of $10,745,456. In 2020, the organization reported revenue of $17,337,976 and expenses of $7,958,352. ²⁵

In 2022, Texas 2036 received $1,250,000 from the left-of-center California Community Foundation and $1,056,194 from Communities Foundation of Texas. ¹⁰ Texas 2036 received $1,500,000 from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and $583,786 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2021. ^{11 10} The Episcopal Health Foundation also gave Texas 2036 $125,000 in 2018 ²⁶ and 2019. ²⁷

Other supporters of Texas 2036 include Ann and John Newman Family Fund, Arnold Ventures, Byrne Family Foundation, Clements Foundation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Global Policy Group, Google, Greater Texas Foundation, Harold Simmons Foundation, Lori Henning, Hibbs Family Foundation, Hoglund Foundation, Wallace Jefferson, JP Morgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Eugene McDermott Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Texas Women’s Foundation, Sid W. Richardson Foundation, the Perot Foundation, Rees-Jones Foundation, Hirsch Family Foundation, and Google Community Fund. ²⁸