Friends,
Texas is racking up several major wins this month. New economic data showed the Texas economy hit a record $2.9 trillion in 2025, growing 2.5% from the previous year. Our economy is larger than Canada, Brazil, Russia and most of Europe. There’s just one question: what keeps us from hitting $3 trillion and passing France?
Here at TLR, we know civil justice reform is the key to fully realizing the Texas Miracle. Past policy victories have allowed Texas to go from the 15th to the 8th largest economy in the world. California and New York, once the pinnacle of the American Dream, are now seeing a continued exodus by residents and the employers that once made their states prolific prosperity generators. It’s been three years since Texas solidly passed New York as the #2 economy in the United States and the gap continues to grow.
In response to our continued growth, states are prioritizing lawsuit reform to catch up to Texas. At the same time, some lawmakers in the Lone Star State have pumped the brakes on policy reforms that will continue to strengthen the Texas economy. Plaintiff’s lawyers are clever, and when they find new ways to harass and attack businesses, we must respond. Unfortunately, some elected legislators in Austin stand in the way of fully unleashing the nation’s most powerful economic engine. In the worst case, their stubborn refusal to address the problem could reverse the Texas Miracle, while other states speed forward.
This week, we look at the current success of the Texas economy, while also pointing out weaknesses created by aggressive lawsuit abuse. Lawsuit reform in Texas helped create the most vibrant economy in the world, but it’s also an ongoing project. We can either fix the cheating by billboard lawyers who threaten the Miracle, or we can do nothing and let other states pass us by.
Ryan Patrick
CEO | TLR
Since 2015, Texas has added 2.5 million jobs, attracted 327 corporate headquarters, and built the 8th-largest economy on Earth — and it’s still accelerating. A new article argues the Texas economy has a hidden ceiling, one built in its own courtrooms. Inflated and phony medical damages, foreign lawsuit funding, and runaway jury verdicts may be costing the state as much as $30 billion a year and suppressing an economy that could be $50–80 billion larger with serious tort reform.
Read the full blog — then ask whether Texas is leaving money on the table.
Lawsuit abuse is already hurting Texans, their families, and businesses of all sizes. Excessive litigation has driven up insurance premiums so high that nearly 1-in-5 Texas drivers are uninsured, according to a new study. These are not drivers who cannot get insurance, but drivers who can no longer afford it. This is an alarming rate for a state of more than 30 million people, most of whom hit the roads every day going to work or school.
The near-term concern is how much premiums will continue to increase as more drivers take the risk of driving without coverage. Click here to read more about the study and why driving without insurance could make affordability worse for Texans.
Texas passed its first sweeping round of lawsuit reform policies almost 40 years ago. The resulting economic change has been historic. Other states and even national leaders are calling for more lawsuit reform, including from Washington. This week, we take a look at a National Review cover story that outlines why lawsuit abuse hinders growth and innovation, and what state and national policy leaders can do to unleash more prosperity for Americans.
Click here to read more about how lawsuit abuse is creating roadblocks to economic growth.
Vance Ginn, former Chief Economist for The White House and Texas Public Policy Foundation, followed up his National Review piece on lawsuit reform with this piece in TheCenterSquare.com. In the OpEd, Ginn highlights how Texas is attempting to address affordability through a fresh round of lawsuit reforms similar to the landmark 2003 measures that spurred a resurgence in health care and medical research.
