The Texas Public Interest Research Group (TexPIRG) is a state-based offshoot of the national U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US-PIRG) that lobbies and influences public policy in support of left-of-center causes. The PIRG model was devised by left-wing activist and 2000 Green Party Presidential candidate Ralph Nader in 1970 ¹ and the Texas affiliate was founded in 1972. ²

Though it presents itself as a neutral, “commonsense” entity, ³ TexPIRG as well as the national PIRG umbrella organization share left-wing activist priorities, including weakening voting integrity requirements, climate change, public transportation, health care regulation, and net neutrality. ⁴

TexPIRG attempts to influence public policy through grassroots organizing, litigation, and media campaigns. ⁵ TexPIRG is also a member of the Public Interest Network, ⁶ which gathers organizations together to “work together on common progressive causes.” ⁷

Founding and History

TexPIRG was founded in 1972 ⁸ as a member of the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, which itself was founded in 1970 ⁹ and inspired by left-wing activist Ralph Nader. ¹⁰ PIRGs originated as college campus organizations that grew into state lobbying groups in Minnesota, Oregon, and New York, eventually expanding to 47 states, including Texas. ¹¹ The state affiliates and federal umbrella organizations of PIRG are closely aligned, sharing nearly identical activist priorities and even the same website structure and copy. ¹² The national organization, U.S. PIRG, coordinates among its 47 state affiliates to maximize the impact of its liberal advocacy efforts. ¹³

Since 2017, TexPIRG has been led by Bay Scoggin, a Democratic Pary political activist and former field organizer for Organizing for America, ¹⁴ a national Democratic campaign apparatus now known as Organizing for Action (OFA) that focuses on left-of-center issues such as climate change, comprehensive immigration reform, preserving Obamacare, LGBT issues, abortion, and progressive economics. ¹⁵

Activism

TexPIRG  focuses almost exclusively on left-of-center priorities like weakening voting integrity requirements, combatting climate change, expanding public transportation, increasing government health care regulation, and enacting “net neutrality.” ¹⁶

TexPIRG is a member of Democracy Movement, ¹⁷ a collection of activist organizations based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that focuses on loosening laws relating to voting. ¹⁸  Other members of Democracy Movement include left-of-center organizations like the ACLU, NAACP, and the League of Women Voters. ¹⁹ The top priorities of Democracy Movement including ending voter identification requirements, restricting the ability of states to keep up-to-date voter registration lists, expanding the franchise to felons, and expanding mail-in voting. ²⁰ Democracy Movement also supports statehood for the District of Columbia. ²¹

Environmentalist activism is another top concern of TexPIRG, which advocates “immediately and dramatically reducing fossil fuel emissions” before our society does “irrevocable damage to the planet in the coming decades.” ²² TexPIRG advocates ending the use of conventional energy and replacing it with energy produced from solar panels, wind farms, and batteries. ²³ In line with these goals, TexPIRG focuses on further urbanization by increasing adoption of public transportation through use of more electric busses ²⁴ and the creation of a subway system in Austin, Texas. ²⁵ TexPIRG opposes highway expansion projects. ²⁶

TexPIRG has also taken an extreme restrictionist stance on the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly two years after the pandemic started as most states, including Texas, had lifted Covid-19 associated restrictions and as vaccines were freely and widely available, TexPIRG still advocated for six-foot social distancing and forming quarantine “pods” in order to limit social interactions to a minimal group of people. ²⁷

1. Mark Hemingway. “Barack’s PIRG Past.” National Review. September 16, 2008. Accessed July 19, 2017. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/225685/baracks-pirg-past-mark-hemingway.
2. Siff, Ted. “50 years later, TexPIRG is still going strong.” TexPIRG. February 2, 2022. Accessed February 4, 2022. http://texpirgorg.live.pubintnet-dev.org/blogs/blog/txp/50-years-later-texpirg-still-going-strong
3. “About Us.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/about-us
4. “Stop Highway Boondoggles.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/stop-highway-boondoggles
5. “About Us.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/about-us
6. “About Us.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/about-us
7. Trevor LaFauci. “Before Bernie: How Ralph Nader Created a System to Exploit Young, Idealistic Progressives.” The Peoples View Blog. May 24, 2016. Accessed July 19, 2017. http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2016/5/24/naders-failure-how-the-public-interest-network-exploits-young-idealistic-progressives.
8. Siff, Ted. “50 years later, TexPIRG is still going strong.” TexPIRG. February 2, 2022. Accessed February 4, 2022. http://texpirgorg.live.pubintnet-dev.org/blogs/blog/txp/50-years-later-texpirg-still-going-strong
9. “About Us.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/about-us
10. Mark Hemingway. “Barack’s PIRG Past.” National Review. September 16, 2008. Accessed July 19, 2017. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/225685/baracks-pirg-past-mark-hemingway.
11. “About Us.” US-PIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://uspirg.org/feature/usp/about-us
12. “About Us.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/about-us
13. “About Us.” US-PIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://uspirg.org/feature/usp/about-us
14. “Bay Scoggin.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bay-scoggin-59a6a9138/
15. “Organizing for Action.” Influence Watch. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/organizing-for-action/
16. “Stop Highway Boondoggles.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/stop-highway-boondoggles
17. “The Democracy Movement in Texas.” DemocracyMovement.Us. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.democracymovement.us/states/texas/
18.  “DemocracyMovement.Us.” Facebook. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/DemMovementUS/about/?ref=page_internal
19. ^[1] “The Democracy Movement in Texas.” DemocracyMovement.Us. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.democracymovement.us/states/texas/
20. ^[1] “Solution.” DemocracyMovement.Us. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.democracymovement.us/solutions/
21. “Stand Up for D.C. Statehood.” DemocracyMovement.Us. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.democracymovement.us/urgent-action-3/
22. Colonnese, Aaron. “Global climate report underlines urgency of reducing emissions.” TexPIRG. August 31, 2021. Accessed April 4, 2022. http://texpirgorg.live.pubintnet-dev.org/blogs/blog/usp/global-climate-report-underlines-urgency-reducing-emissions
23. “Climate Solutions.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/climate-solutions?_ga=2.142933494.27181992.1649082205-1937785232.1649082205
24. “Electric Busses Texas.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/electric-buses-texas
25. “Vote Yes on Priop A.” TexPIRG. Accessed 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/vote-yes-prop
26. “Stop Highway Boondoggles.” TexPIRG. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://texpirg.org/feature/txp/stop-highway-boondoggles
27. Brown, Isabel. “Another Winter During Covid-19: How to Stay Safe and Sound.” TexPIRG. January 13, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2022. http://texpirgorg.live.pubintnet-dev.org/feature/usp/another-winter-during-covid-19-how-stay-safe-and-sound