A Texas version of Trump's $1,000 baby account? Not so fast.

Originally published at The Houston Chronicle.

Families don’t need new mandates or entitlements. They need policies that let them keep more of what they earn today.
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Washington’s new Trump Accounts program is being presented as a patriotic way to invest in America’s children. 

Every newborn from 2025 through 2028 will receive a taxpayer-funded $1,000 account, invested in market index funds and restricted until age 18. It sounds hopeful and future oriented. 

Now Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to create a matching state program called the “New Little Texan Savings Fund” that would give every newborn in Texas an additional $1,000 from taxpayers.

The message feels compassionate, but nothing the government gives is free. Texas taxpayers should be wary.

Trump Accounts function as a form of universal baby income paid for by today’s taxpayers and sustained by tomorrow’s taxpayers. Patrick’s proposal would commit Texans to a permanent, constitutional obligation before we understand its long-term fiscal and economic consequences... 

Read the full article at The Houston Chronicle.