State Policy Network

Traffic congestion costs Arizonans at least $2 billion annually in lost time and wasted fuel. There are numerous solutions, including: the legalization of flexible, private mass transit; implementation of known techniques to improve traffic flow; the active pursuit of a toll road policy and congestion pricing to reduce traffic at peak hours.

Orlando, Florida is the site of the June 19-20 Excellence in Action national summit on education reform. Strategy sessions will cover accountability, expanding school choice, raising standards and more. Speakers include First Lady Barbara Bush, Jeb Bush, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and John Stossel. For additional details, visit Foundation for Excellence in Education.

Soon premiering in New Mexico, "Mine Your Own Business," a one-hour documentary highlighting environmentalism's dark side. The film highlights how western environmentalists are campaigning to keep some of the world's poorest people in poverty because the environmentalists think their impoverished way of life is quaint. May 20 in Albuquerque; May 21, Roswell; and May 22, Farmington. All showings begin at 5:30 pm. For details, write info@riograndefoundation.org.

The American Lung Association's State of the Air report ranks Pittsburgh area as having the sootiest air in the nation. However, this report, and thus the rankings, is flawed. To begin, the Pittsburgh ranking is based on only one of 16 air monitors in the region - the Liberty Borough monitor that sits in a valley near the nation's largest coke plant and the only monitor in the region to show readings above the national standard.

In keeping with transparent government, Sunshine on Schools is an easily searchable website containing North Dakota K-12 school budget data. The website was designed to be a tool for school board members and administrators, policymakers and taxpayers. In addition to basic school district information, the website contains historical data, and teacher and administrative salaries. Further, it tracks categorized revenue and spending back to 1985.