Science should drive environmental policy; not political agendas. The EPA tightened air quality standards by 25% while ignoring conflicting peer-reviewed research. TPPF is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hold the agency accountable.

Property rights mean little if the government can restrict them without meaningful judicial review. TPPF is urging the Texas Supreme Court to ensure local governments must justify restrictions on private property instead of simply demanding deference from the courts.

For 35 years, Wings of Mercy has provided free flights to patients in underserved communities seeking critical medical care. But the FAA’s interpretation of federal law is making it harder for volunteer pilots to help, preventing them from receiving reimbursement for fuel costs despite a congressional mandate allowing it. TPPF has filed two federal lawsuits challenging the FAA’s overreach and fighting to keep these lifesaving flights in the air.

Wings of Mercy is a charitable organization that has spent the past 35 years arranging free flights for patients in rural and underserved communities. Its network of volunteer pilots flies patients to appointments at world-class facilities like the Mayo Clinic, the University of Wisconsin Hospital, and the Cleveland Clinic. The organization is funded entirely by private donations—patients and their insurers pay nothing. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has claimed authority to regulate such organizations and their pilots like a commercial airline, based on an improper reading of federal law and its own regulations. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act (2012) requires the FAA to allow pilots to accept reimbursement for fuel costs on charitable medical flights, subject to a few enhanced safety requirements related to the pilot’s training and experience. The FAA ignored that mandate, choosing instead to treat any reimbursement of a pilot’s expenses as flying “for compensation or hire.” The cost is real. In July, a volunteer pilot paid $460 to fly part of a Wings of Mercy mission to the Mayo Clinic. Wings of Mercy had the funds and would have reimbursed him, but the FAA’s interpretations stood in the way. So long as those interpretations remain in force, fewer pilots will be available to help transport patients in need. In response, we've filed two federal lawsuits asking the courts to enforce the law Congress actually enacted, rather than giving agencies unchecked power to interpret the rules that govern our lives.

Local tree ordinances rely on the flawed premise that government may use the permitting process to extract desirable public benefits from individual property owners. Every new requirement increases the cost of development, and every increase in development costs eventually shows up in the price of housing.