Announcements

• The Alaska Policy Forum held a webinar with the Tax Foundation on what new income and sales taxes could mean for our economy.
  
• The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in a New Civil Liberties Alliance case calling on the court to protect citizens from excessive fines in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. 
  
• Commonwealth Foundation Director of Policy Analysis Elizabeth Stelle delivered remarks at the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ listening tour.
  
• As we celebrate National School Choice Week, Georgia Public Policy Foundation Senior Fellow Eric Wearne wrote how learning pods and micro schools have gone for a temporary solution during the pandemic to a new permanent schooling option for many today, and why that is a good thing.
  
• On a new episode of the GSI Briefing, the Garden State Initiative highlighted how tax cuts are all around—except in New Jersey.
  
• The James Madison Institute’s Sal Nuzzo testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Ticketmaster debacle.
  
• Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of Paul Gessing, a property owner, CEO of Rio Grand Foundation, and taxpayer advocate, and Care Net Pregnancy Center of Albuquerque challenging an unconstitutional gift of taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood in New Mexico. 
  
• The Mackinac Center filed an appeal to the US Court of Appeals at the 6^th Circuit in the Center’s Blaine Amendment challenge.
  
• Registration is now open for the Pelican Institute’s annual Solutions Summit on March 9th, an event that brings policy experts and elected officials from across the country and state together to discuss the most critical policy issues facing Louisiana.
  
• The Texas Public Policy Foundation announced that the Texas Governor will serve as the opening keynote speaker for the March 1^st lunch session of Texas Policy Summit.
  
• Over the past several weeks, the City of Neenah sent a number of “Notice of Violation” letters to residents, ordering them to remove signs opposing re-zoning efforts in the city. This week, on behalf of one of the families receiving such a notice, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty sent a letter to the City of Neenah, demanding that they immediately withdraw the Notice of Violation and give assurances that the city’s efforts to stifle First Amendment-protected speech will stop immediately.
  
• The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a lawsuit against the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) for violating public records law.
  
• On Wednesday January 25, WILL hosted a webinar on “The State of School Choice in Wisconsin and the Bureaucrats Trying to Stop It.” Watch it here.

This Week on SPN.org

Iowa Gives Thousands Of Children More Opportunity With New School Choice Program

Let Kids Transfer to a Different Public School

School Choice in 2023: 10 States to Watch

Success Stories

• The Iowa Governor signed legislation that creates a universal Education Savings Account (ESA) program in the Hawkeye State. Iowa now joins Arizona and West Virginia, who also have “universal” ESA bills, which means all families in the state can access the program. Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation noted the legislation is a victory for families across Iowa.
  
• The Utah Legislature passed a bill that creates the Utah Fits All Scholarship, a universal education spending account similar to West Virginia and Arizona. The Libertas Institute noted families will now have the option to utilize up to $8,000 per child for private school tuition, homeschool curriculum, and other educational activities. Sutherland Institute added the bill makes important strides toward both meaningful financial accountability to taxpayers and academic accountability to students and parents.
  
• In a win for the Mountain States Legal Foundation, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that environmental groups cannot weaponize the Endangered Species Act and infinitely litigate species recovery plans. MSLF noted such suits would bankrupt American ranchers and farmers.

Solutions from the States: This Week’s Policy Briefs

• The Badger Institute released a fact sheet on Wisconsin’s economy.
  
• The Beacon Center published “A Blueprint for a Freer Tennessee,” an analysis of the four top policy issues facing Tennesseans. This blueprint is a direct result of Beacon’s listening tour.
  
• As lawmakers prepare Ohio’s next biennial budget, The Buckeye Institute issued a new policy brief that outlines specific tax reforms, k-12 education reforms, and higher education reforms lawmakers should pursue to improve Ohio’s economy and workforce. If adopted, these reforms would make Ohio a freer, less expensive, and more desirable place to live, learn, and work.
  
• Empower Mississippi released a new report, “Nurse Practitioners and the Quality of Care,” which answers concerns about the quality of care provided by nurse practitioners, and more particularly about the quality of their education. 
  
• The Foundation for Government Accountability released a paper that outlines how Florida has used transparency and innovation to open up new workforce pathways.
  
• The Frontier Institute released state strategies for forest restoration and wildlife response.
  
• A Kansas Policy Institute analysis of education spending and student achievement in Kansas over the last 30 years shows that despite huge spending increases, many students have been academically left behind.
  
• The Mackinac Center announced its 2023 Policy Priorities.Worker freedom, government transparency, and rejecting corporate welfare are key issues.
  
• New research from the Mackinac Center finds prison education programs reduce recidivism.
  
• The Mountain States Policy Center released a study on the policies and politics of COVID-19 in the Mountain States.
  
• Sutherland Institute released a fact sheet on on the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program.
  
• The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty issued its fifth edition of the “Apples to Apples” report, an assessment of the state of education in Wisconsin.

Policy News from the States

Tracking Positive Forms in the States: Updates from State Think Tanks

Maine: Maine lawmakers are considering legislation that would exempt small towns from new housing regulations (Maine Policy Institute).

Mississippi: The Mississippi Legislature is considering a bill that would allow homeschool students to participate in public school extracurricular activities(Empower Mississippi).

Mississippi is also considering a bill that would allow shampooers to work without obtaining a time-consuming and irrelevant cosmetology license (Empower Mississippi).

Montana: Montana lawmakers introduced a bill that aims to increase the aggregate limit for student scholarship and innovative education tax credits (Frontier Institute).

Georgia: A Georgia lawmaker introduced legislation to expand the scholarship tax credit program cap from $120 million to $200 million, making the program available for thousands of additional students (Georgia Public Policy Foundation).

Florida: The Florida Governor announced sweeping proposals to protect Florida’s teachers and ensure that the groups seeking to represent them are acting in teachers’ best interests (James Madison Institute).

Virginia: The Commonwealth is considering a bill that creates an ESA program in the state (Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy).

Criminal Justice Reform

Kentucky’s High Incarceration Rates ‘Unacceptable’
Bluegrass Institute

Education

Alaska’s Education Freedom Report Card: Education Choice
Alaska Policy Forum

Tennessee’s Charter School Community is Under Attack
Beacon Center

Minnesota K-12 Funding Is Up, Enrollment Down
Center of the American Experiment

If Education Funding was the Problem, Minneapolis and St. Paul Would Have Highest Test Scores in State
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota

Why Educational Opportunity Is Good For Rural Areas, Too
Georgia Center for Opportunity

School Choice Would Benefit Rural Students In Georgia
Georgia Public Policy Foundation

Time to End the Manufactured Shortages in K-12 Education
Goldwater Institute

Iowa Secures School Choice, Tees Up Academic Transparency
Goldwater Institute

School Choice Is Driving Entrepreneurship in Education & the Workforce
Goldwater Institute

Education Freedom Works Like Grocery Freedom
Idaho Freedom Foundation

Study: School Choice Doesn’t Harm Rural Schools
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

School Choice Week

School Choice Works For Kids Who Attend Private Schools, Too
Bluegrass Institute

School Choice Helps Traditional Public Schools, Too!
Bluegrass Institute

Celebrate School Choice Week By Learning About Education Options
California Policy Center

Education Savings Accounts Would Make Oregon Students Better Off
Cascade Policy Institute

National School Choice Week: Celebrating Education Freedom And Opportunity — MN Can Do More
Center of the American Experiment

School Choice Celebration a Success
Empire Center

School Choice Week A Reminder Why Illinois Families Love The Invest In Kids Act
Illinois Policy Institute

What Happened With School Choice In Our State?
Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Lombardo Addresses School Choice in State of the State Address
Nevada Policy Research Institute

Energy and the Environment

Adding Climate Change To The Growth Management Act Adds Cost But Won’t Help The Environment
Washington Policy Center

Government Accountability

Rethinking Transparency And Accountability: Part 1
California Policy Center

Rethinking Transparency and Accountability: Part 2
California Policy Center

New Audit Finds School Districts Stockpiling Funding
Commonwealth Foundation

Despite Working At Home, Commuters Kept Paying A Big Share Of NY Taxes
Empire Center

Chicago Teachers Union spends $17M on Illinois political campaigns
Illinois Policy Institute

4 Steps To Rid Illinois Statehouse Of Madigan’s Corrupt Legacy
Illinois Policy Institute

Healthcare

SB 5236 Isn’t The Solution: More Nurses Are Needed, Not More Regulations
Washington Policy       

Jobs and State Economies

Mogul Migration
California Policy Center

The Rich Pay The Majority Of Federal Income Taxes
Center of the American Experiment

At End Of ’22, NY Still Near Bottom In Pandemic Recovery
Empire Center

High Cost Of Living Drives Family, Friends Out Of Hawaii
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

High-Tax Illinois Loses People, Low-Tax States Gain In 2022
Illinois Policy Institute

How Licensing Makes You Wait Longer For A Haircut
Josiah Bartlett Center

How Ohio and Utah’s Licensing Portability Laws are Boosting the Economy and Easing the Labor Shortage
Libertas Institute

Washington’s Gas Prices Have Jumped 25 Cents Per Gallon Since CO2 Tax Took Effect
Washington Policy Center

State Budgets and Spending

Walz Checks Will Boost Inflation
Center of the American Experiment

Huge Surplus Does Not Deter Walz From Raising Taxes
Center of the American Experiment

How To Cut Minnesota’s Income Taxes
Center of the American Experiment

North Carolina Among Many Other States Pursuing Lower Taxes
John Locke Foundation

It’s (Still) Time For Tax Reform
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Nebraska, Wisconsin, Aim Towards Flat Taxes
Platte Institute

Workplace Freedom

University Of Illinois-Chicago Faculty Strike Over Pay
Americans for Fair Treatment

Right-To-Work Under Threat In Michigan
Americans for Fair Treatment

What’s Behind NY’s Union Membership Slide?
Empire Center

Goldwater Tells Federal Agency to Protect Workers’ Rights from Union Power Grab
Goldwater Institute

Illinois Union Membership Shrinks By 17,000 In 2022
Illinois Policy Institute

Share of Union Workers at All-Time Low
John Locke Foundation

Other

Governor Walz Needs To Ban Tiktok From State Government Devices
Center of the American Experiment

Montana: A Sanctuary For Freedom And Free Enterprise
Frontier Institute

Green’s State Of The State Address Deserves Kudos But With Caveats
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Will Congress Raise The Debt Ceiling (Again)?
Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Changes To Food Packaging Rules May Increase Food Costs
Washington Policy Center

Think Tanks in the News

‘Blueprint For A Freer Tennessee’ Meant To Empower State’s Residents
Beacon Center | The Tennessean

‘Learning Pods’: Return Of The One-Room Schoolhouse
Bluegrass Institute | Richmond Register

California Voters Approve Over $3.0 Billion Per Year in New Local Taxes
California Policy Center | California Globe

Remove the HSA Ceiling to Improve Health Care
Cardinal Institute | RealClearPolicy

Sunshine Might Be Free But Solar Power Is Not Cheap
Center of the Experiment | RealClearPolicy

Small Steps Toward Solving Oregon’s Education Crisis
Cascade Policy Institute | Portland Tribune

Passing Voter ID Can Help Restore Trust In Elections
Commonwealth Foundation in City & State PA

Navigating Open Records Requests In An Age Of Pandemics, School Closures, And Mask Mandates
Commonwealth Foundation at Broad + Liberty

States Can Expand Educational Freedom Through Federal Tax Credit
Commonwealth Foundation at Newsweek

Mississippi Charter School Law Turns Ten
Empower Mississippi | Enterprise-Journal

Kurk Appeal to SCOTUS Pins Hopes on Freedom of Association Claim
Freedom Foundation at RedState

Bill To Revise Montana Labor Laws Gets Pushback From Unions
Freedom Foundation cited in the Daily Montanan

Legislative Staffer Unions Percolate Beyond D.C.
Freedom Foundation cited at Politico

Governing by Crisis
George Public Policy Foundation

Douglas Carswell Has Taken On Political Establishment, From Britain To Jackson
Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s Douglas Carswell featured in the Clarion Ledger

Don’t Fall for Biden’s Obamacare Boosterism
Pacific Research Institute | Newsmax

Sorry, We Have To Raise Medicare’s Eligibility Age
Pacific Research Institute |Washington Examiner

What Does Missouri’s Teacher Shortage Really Look Like?
Show-Me Institute |Columbia Daily Tribune

ESG Investments’ Failures Show States Are Right To Fight The Green Investing Agenda
Texas Public Policy Foundation | Washington Examiner

Make No Mistake: A Tax On Capital Gains Is An Income Tax
Washington Policy Center in the Spokesman-Review

Events and Opportunities

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