Announcements

• Following the groundbreaking for the new Intel facility in central Ohio, The Buckeye Institute hit the airwaves to discuss policy priorities and how Ohio can prepare workers for new job opportunities. 

• Frontier Institute released a new video providing a policy roadmap for lawmakers to successfully combat censorship and surveillance from ‘Big Tech’.

• The Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) announced today the launch of a new series, Wisconsin State Agency 101, about educating the public on Wisconsin’s executive branch, explaining the functions, problems, and history of the 20 largest state agencies. 

• A national survey from the Pacific Research Institute finds Americans are overwhelmingly satisfied with their health coverage.

• The James Madison Institute announced the newest addition to its team, Edward Longe, director of JMI’s Technology and Innovation Policy Center. Launched in 2019, this center focuses on policy goals to ensure Florida is best positioned to be a major driver of innovation in the 21^stCentury.  The Tech and Innovation Policy Center focuses on areas such as data privacy, broadband infrastructure, antitrust, transportation innovation, and the future of work in the digital age.

• The Washington Policy Center announced their annual dinner events in Spokane and Bellevue, featuring speakers Victor Davis Hanson, Tulsi Gabbard, Chris Rufo, and Mike Pompeo.

This Week on SPN.org

Strategic Framework Explained

Solutions from the states: This week’s policy briefs

• A new report from Center of the American Experiment details how Governor Tim Walz’s 100 percent carbon-free electricity mandate would cost each Minnesota electricity customer, on average, an additional $3,888 in electricity costs each year. 

• A new analysis by the Alaska Policy Forum considers how Alaska’s defined contribution plan and supplemental annuity plan compare to the gold standard

• The Badger Institute released a report that argues dental therapy can fill gaps in care and access.
• 
  The Cascade Policy Institute released three ways new Oregon leadership can improve K-12 education fast.

• Georgia Public Policy Foundation released a solution for Georgia’s rural healthcare shortage.

• The Pelican Institute released a scorecard ahead of Louisiana’s upcoming school board elections. These questions will help Louisiana voters gauge whether those running for elected office are concerned with the interests of our children’s education or with maintaining the mediocre status quo.

Policy News from the States

Education

Webinar: The Accountability Myth
Alaska Policy Forum

When Will Our Schools Return To Normal?
Alaska Policy Forum

Educational Options and Government Permission
Beacon Center of Tennessee

Do American Students’ Lives Matter?
California Policy Center

Amendment 4: What You Need To Know
Cardinal Institute

Minnesota K-12 Education Revenue Is Up 31% Since 2002
Center of the American Experiment

NY Pandemic Learning Loss Data Under Wraps 
Empire Center

Baby Bust’s Effect On Public Schools
Empower Mississippi

Illinois Has More Teachers, Fewer Students Than 10 Years Ago
Illinois Policy Institute

A Closer Look at Graduation Rates Reveals More Negative Fallout From School Shutdowns
John Locke Foundation

To Get More Teachers, Remove Barriers to Entry
Nevada Policy Research Institute

Experts Say More Police, Diversion Programs, Can Lower Crime
John Locke Foundation

A Closer Look At The Teacher Shortage
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

How Are Federal Covid Recovery Dollars Being Used To Reverse Student Learning Loss?
Pelican Institute

Energy and the Environment

California Emission Goals Lead To Blackouts, Could Vermont Be Next?
Ethan Allen Institute

Government Accountability

California’s Unelected Tyrants
California Policy Center

5 Outrageous Examples of Government Waste That Highlight the Need for Accountability
Goldwater Institute

Illinois’ Public Pension Mess Shows Threat Of Unchecked Government Union Power
Illinois Policy Institute

Big Government Crushes Wealth Creation, Harms The Poor
John Locke Foundation

Kelly Administration Has $1.2 Billion In Unspent ARPA COVID-Relief Funds
Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy

Healthcare

Drive Times To Methadone Treatment Among Medicaid Patients
Cardinal Institute

Nurses Strike Shows Why Minnesota Should Join The Nurse Licensure Compact
Center American Experiment

Addressing Montana’s Healthcare Shortage Should Begin With Occupational Licensing
Frontier Institute

Solutions To Montana’s Healthcare Shortages
Frontier Institute

Right to Try Is Unleashing the Future of Medicine
Goldwater Institute

Secure Telehealth Laws to Aid Nurses with Kids
Pacific Research Institute

Housing

On Rent Control, Will Minneapolis Ever Learn From St. Paul?
Center American Experiment

Dour Housing Predictions
Ethan Allen Institute

Why Housing In Hawaii Is Expensive
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Moving To Maine To Escape High Housing Prices In New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy

Inflation

High Inflation Continues To Squeeze American’s Living Standards
Center American Experiment

A Month After President Biden Boasted Of 0% Inflation, It Returns
Center American Experiment

Inflation Still Near Four-Decade High Despite Drops in Gasoline Prices
John Locke Foundation

Jobs And State Economies

Minnesota Ranks 42nd out of 50 in Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota

GSI Analysis: August ’22 Jobs Report – NJ Jobs, Labor Force Continue to Advance as Unemployment Rate Increases
Garden State Initiative

State Budgets and Spending

Alabamians Deserve More Than A One-Time Tax Rebate
Alabama Policy Institute

PCC Wants More of Your Tax Dollars to Spend Its Way out of a Slump
Cascade Policy Institute

How Minnesota’s Spending On Public Welfare Compares To Other States: A 2020 Update
Center American Experiment

The Essential Plan’s accumulated surplus balloons to $8 billion, with no fix in sight
Empire Center

Why Is The Flat Tax Important?
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation

Tax Reform: The Conversation We Need To Have
Pelican Institute

Would an Income-tax Cut Benefit Missouri?
Show-Me Institute

No, Texans Don’t Pay More Taxes than Californians
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Richmond’s Unfinished Business: Tax Indexing
Thomas Jefferson Institute

Workplace Freedom

California To Provide Tax Credit For Union Dues
American for Fair Treatment

The Union Grievance Process: Clearing Up Common Misconceptions
American for Fair Treatment

How The Teachers Union Can Save L.A. Unified
California Policy Center

Other

Seattle’s Ugly Reality – Do We Have The Resolve To Avoid A Similar Fate?
Center American Experiment

Democrats ‘Pivot’ On Crime
Center American Experiment

Violence In Minneapolis – The New Norm
Center American Experiment

Asheville Sees 31% Surge in Violent Crime
John Locke Foundation

Think Tanks in the News

Legal Group Asks IRS To Audit AFT Teachers Union’s Political Spending
Americans for Fair Treatment cited in the Washington Examiner

Westinghouse Arts Academy Voted To Remove Their Union.
Americans for Fair Treatment on Issues and Ideas Radio

Why Biden Is Beholden To Big Labor, Jon Meachem’s Influence At The WH
Americans for Fair Treatment on the Vince Coglianese Show

Student-Debt Cancellation Order: Bad Policy, Overtly Political
Bluegrass Institute

Best Practices For A Better Kentucky: More Work Less Welfare
Bluegrass Institute in the Richmond Register

California’s Unelected Tyrants
California Policy Center in The Epoch Times

Biden’s Divisive Rhetoric Won’t Hide The Democrats’ Massive Policy Failures
Commonwealth Foundation in The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia’s School Board Needs To Get Out Of Charter Authorizing
Commonwealth Foundation at Broad+Liberty

Biden’s Divisive Rhetoric Won’t Hide The Democrats’ Massive Policy Failures
Commonwealth op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Vermont Climate Council Is Unraveling
Ethan Allen Institute in the Vermont Daily Chronicle

Knowledge, Not Cancelation, is the Solution to the Student Loan Debt Crisis
Foundation for Government Accountability at RealClearPolicy 

Gov. Newsom Pays Unions Back for Recall Rescue
Freedom Foundation cited in the California Globe

Several Unnecessary Crises Culminate at Once – and the Biden COVID Mandates Are Directly to Blame
Freedom Foundation at RedState

The Certificate Of Need System Has Become Obsolete
Georgia Public Policy Foundation in the Dalton Daily Citizen

Should the FDA Force 30 Million Americans to Face Their Addiction?
Goldwater Institute at Townhall

Debt Forgiveness Won’t Shield Students from Illinois’ Pension Pinch
Illinois Policy Institute at RealClearPolicy

Charter Schools — Separate And Unequal
Independence Institute in The Gazette

Reliable Power Means Nuclear Power
John Locke Foundation in the Richmond County Daily Journal

The Troubling Rise of Surveillance Cities
Libertas Institute at RealClearPolicy

Removing This Regulation Let an Entrepreneur Follow Her Dream
Mississippi Center for Public Policy at RealClearPolicy

Hospital Pricing Transparency Important, Empowering For Patients And Payers
Pacific Research Institute in The Coastland Times

What’s At Fault For Lower Life Expectancy? Health Care Has Less Influence Than Individual Choices.
Pacific Research Institute in the Chicago Tribune

Don’t Make Massachusetts ‘Taxachusetts’ Again
Pioneer Institute in The Wall Street Journal

Reaction Mixed To Salmon Study Rejecting Snake River ‘Status Quo’
Washington Policy Center cited in the Tri-City Area Journal of Business

Biden To Celebrate Inflation Reduction Act With Big White House Event
Washington Policy Center cited at KIRO Online

Seattle Mayor’s $6.5M Green Proposal Light On CO2 Cuts, Critic Charges
Washington Policy Center cited in The Center Square

Events and Opportunities

Please see SPN’s Network Calendar for a full list of events.