September 20, 2024
Week in Review: September 20, 2024
Listen to the highlights here!
Empower Mississippi announced the December 10 date of their 2024 Empower Solutions Summit, which brings together Mississippi’s leaders, policy experts and everyday citizens for a solutions-centered discussion on how to tackle the state’s biggest challenges and help all Mississippians rise.
Idaho Freedom Foundation released a three-part series on the importance of sound money policy, explaining where Idaho currently is at with sound money policy, highlighting the exemplary sound money policy of other states, and detailing how Idaho could be the leading state in sound money policy this upcoming legislative session.
Institute for Free Speech submitted comments to the Federal Election Commission to express opposition to the proposed rulemaking “Disclosure and Transparency of Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content in Political Advertisements.”
Kansas Policy Institute’s investigative journalists discovered that many school districts gave administrators double-digit pay increases despite little improvement in student achievement. In addition, the Institute’s Kansas School Board Resource Center held its second annual conference for school board members with a theme of Improving Student Outcomes by Changing Adult Behaviors.
Liberty Justice Center’s Jacob Huebert discussed whether the proposed ban on TikTok is censorship and the legal challenges to the proposed federal TikTok ban in interviews on NPR’s Morning Edition and Morning in America.
Mountain States Policy Center announced the keynote speaker for its 2025 Spring Dinner— best-selling author and former Judge Jeanine Pirro.
Rio Grande Foundation announced an upcoming luncheon event series featuring Trent England, founder and executive director of Save Our States, who will discuss the importance of the Electoral College and what attendees can do to help safeguard the American republic.
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy announced — in response to calls for the end of the Electoral College — that its next Federal Policy Dinner will be on the topic of Democracy, Election and the Electoral College.
The Buckeye Institute, in an amicus brief in Kentucky v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,called on the court to rein in the U.S. EPA, which issued a new emissions rule that effectively imposes a de facto electric-vehicle mandate on Americans. Buckeye also joined the Cato Institute and the National Federation of Independent Business in filing an amicus brief in Leachco, Inc. v. Consumer Product Safety Commission, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to end the federal government’s use of unconstitutional in-house tribunals to harass and intimidate Americans.
Freedom Foundation attorney Timothy R. Snowball appeared before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Seattle, Washington to defend the Foundation’s right to offer a counterbalance to Big Labor’s deceptive habits during new employee orientations.
Institute for Reforming Government filed a brief in the Wisconsin Supreme Court in support of groups making the argument that Governor Evers’ partial veto is unconstitutional and sets a disastrous precedent for policy—a move that signals the Institute’s dedication to the fight for a clear separation of powers in the state.
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, filed a notice of appeal with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on its challenge to the COVID-era student loan pause. While deferments were lawfully suspended as part of the CARES Act in March of 2020, the suit argues that subsequent deferments were unilaterally extended without congressional appropriation in September 2020.
Connecticut: The state announced that it had made a 11.5% return last year investing its pension assets—welcome news that show that the fiscal guardrails are working in the state (Yankee Institute).
Badger Institute posted a brief that examines how states without an income tax fund essential services and the circumstances that would be needed to be make a similar policy feasible in Wisconsin.
Empire Center issued briefs that examine data that show that New York’s health coverage costs remain among the highest in the nation, driven by heavy taxation and regulatory burdens and critiques New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, arguing that the plan’s assumptions about replacing fossil fuels with renewables in the near future are unrealistic and financially burdensome.
Idaho Freedom Foundation released briefs which examine the realities of how school choice works to better K-12 education, and compare Idaho’s problems with discriminatory programs to the solutions that other states have implemented.
Mackinac Center published a brief which explains the costs and benefits of a so-called clean fuel standard in Michigan. The data shows that the move would increase gasoline costs by about $350 per year for a typical Michigan household while increasing costs for local governments as well.
Mountain States Policy Center issued a brief examining an Idaho ballot proposal that will decide whether to enact Ranked Choice Voting for statewide elections while using a non-partisan Top 4 primary system to determine which candidates advance to the general election.Pioneer Institute released a brief examining 10 data points that may provide early warnings that the Bay State may be facing some headwinds—news that indicates the need to adopt new economic growth strategies.
Hawaii: A Grassroot-supported measure that would allow greater opportunities for beekeepers was approved by the Hawai‘i County Council. If signed by Mayor Mitch Roth, the measure will give beekeeping a boost by reducing rules and allowing apiaries countywide (Grassroot Institute of Hawaii).
Wisconsin: Due in part to a conscious decision made by the legislature, the starting point for spending in Wisconsin’s next state budget will be lower than it is in the current state budget, creating a golden opportunity to reduce state spending without making any cuts (MacIver Institute).
Topics:
Now Grand Forks Schools Crack Down on Epidemic of Absenteeism
Center of the American Experiment
School Choice Opponents Continue to Mislead
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Illinois Part of National Epidemic, Only 1 in 3 Students Reading Well
Illinois Policy
Opportunity Scholarship Foes Reanimate Old Myths
John Locke Foundation
DPI Asks Evers to Cut School Aid in the Next Budget
MacIver Institute
Move Up, Mississippi! It’s Time for School Choice in Our State
Mississippi Center for Public Policy
US Supreme Court Should Take Oklahoma Charter-School Case
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Vitamin Parents Part 1: Twin Moms Converting a Decent Traditional School Experience Into a “Wow” Homeschool One
Pioneer Institute
PRI’s Lance Izumi on The Great Classroom Collapse
Pioneer Institute
Comparing the Performance of Public Schools in the City of St. Louis
Show-Me Institute
Do Opponents of HB 1605 Really Want to Ban MLK from Texas’ K-12 Curriculum?
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Opponents of I-2109 Say if It Passes Lawmakers Will Cut Funding for K-12 Education, Early Learning and Daycare Programs, But History Shows They Won’t
Washington Policy Center
50.3% of Washington Public School Students at Grade Level in English, 39.7% in Math
Washington Policy Center
How Michigan Is Going Nuclear Again
Badger Institute
Electricity Prices to Rise 20% by 2028
Center of the American Experiment
US Needs Critical Minerals, Says New House Bills
Center of the American Experiment
EPA Bureaucracy Bogs Down Environmental Quality Efforts in ND
Center of the American Experiment
The Constitution Rejects Rule-by-Decree
Goldwater Institute
Columbia Should Privatize Its Water and Electric Utilities
Show-Me Institute
Questions About the Nuclear Plant in Kemmerer – Wyoming Deserves More Answers about Gates Project
Wyoming Liberty Group
Lamont and Dykes Silent on Offshore Wind: What’s the Secret?
Yankee Institute
New Yorkers’ Health Costs Spiral as Officials Take Credit for ‘Savings’
Empire Center
What Paul Francis Got Wrong About the Empire Center’s Nursing Home Research
Empire Center
Maine Learns the Difference Between Spending a Lot and Spending Smart on Mental Health
Maine Policy Institute
Senator Sanders’ Price Controls Will Harm Patients
Pacific Research Institute
Government Controlling Price of Prescription Drugs Not Promising
Washington Policy Center
Who Knew Water-Fixture Rules Could Be Such a Big Problem?
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Maui County Plumbing Rules Hindering Housing, New Grassroot Report Shows
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Illinois Can Boost Housing Affordability with Statewide Zoning Reform
Illinois Policy
Rent-Control Madness Coming to California’s November Ballot
Pacific Research Institute
The Three-Bedroom Solution to Our ‘Childless’ Cities
Pacific Research Institute
Kamala Harris’ Housing Plan Bad for South Carolina
Palmetto Promise Institute
Research Finds Families Are Fleeing Minnesota
Center of the American Experiment
Real Median Household Income Fell in Minnesota Last Year, Now $5,900 Lower than 2019
Center of the American Experiment
A Thorough Explanation of Why Inflation Drives Food Prices Higher
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota
People Vote with Their Feet
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Georgia’s Childcare Providers Say Out-of-Control Lawsuits Could Put Them Out of Business
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Healthy Habits for a Healthy Economy
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Universal Basic Income Programs: Less Work and Less Productivity
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation
North Carolina Democrats Abandon Free Enterprise
John Locke Foundation
Let Kids Be Entrepreneurs: Why Massachusetts Should Follow Utah’s Lead
Libertas Institute
Price Signals, Not Price Gouging
Mackinac Center
‘I Want an Economic System that Pulls Billions Out of Poverty’
Mackinac Center
A Look at Work-Comp Loss Costs
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Oklahoma Among Most Over-Regulated States, Study Says
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Learning from California: Policy Lessons from Golden State Exodus
Pioneer Institute
Is Massachusetts at a Turning Point – 10 Data Points That Give Me Pause
Pioneer Institute
The North Side “Grant” Program is a Racket
Show-Me Institute
Rich States, Poor States, & the Lone Star State
Texas Public Policy Foundation
The Trade Policies of Both Candidates are Bad for Virginia
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Gov. Tim Walz Uses ‘Tax Code as a Subsidy Machine for Politically Favored Groups’
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota
Don’t Invent Illegal Taxes to Pay for Pickleball
Goldwater Institute
Majority of Special Elections Approve Property Taxes; Low Turnout the Norm
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation
Should Cities Pursue Municipal Broadband?
Libertas Institute
More Trouble Ahead for Government-Funded Internet
Mackinac Center
The Many Doom Loops of St. Louis
Show-Me Institute
Will Houstonians Soon Pay More for City Government?
Texas Public Policy Foundation
The $42 Billion Internet Program that Connected 0 People
Washington Policy Center
Unions Are Planning Nationwide Takeover — It’s Already Begun in Illinois
Commonwealth Foundation
Connecticut Unions Learning to Pay Their Own Way
Yankee Institute
West Virginia Pride from Unexpected Places
Cardinal Institute
Why Focus More on Public Safety and Order? Kids Need More of It.
Georgia Center for Opportunity
Abe and Defending the Constitution
Indiana Policy Review Foundation
The Constitution and Its Enemies
John Locke Foundation
Top 5 Reasons to be White-Pilled on Privacy
Libertas Institute
The Importance of Federalism and Utah’s Public Lands Lawsuit
Sutherland Institute
More Limits, Not Less
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Phil Williams, policy director for the Alabama Policy Institute, in a column for the Trussville Tribune says forced benevolence discourages actual benevolence.
In The Columbus Dispatch, The Buckeye Institute’s Robert Alt exposes One Fair Wage’s bait-and-switch tactics to put the proposed minimum wage constitutional amendment on the November 2025 ballot after failing to make the November 2024 ballot.
Guy Ciarrocchi, senior fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation, in an op-ed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says a ‘single grain of rice’ in Pennsylvania can ‘tip the scales.’
In RealClearMarkets, The Free State Foundation’s Randolph May celebrates the 237th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution in Philadelphia.
Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, in a column for the Colorado Springs Gazette says cops, not gear, save lives in Boulder.
In the Washington Examiner, the Independent Institute’s Richard Vedder argues that creative destruction can save higher education.
At RealClearMarkets, the Independent Institute’s William Salter points out that the only way to increase living standards is to make labor more productive.
On Mises.org, the Independent Institute’s Lawrence McQuillan and Kristian Fors call for the transfer of unused federal land in less populated areas to private citizens to help jumpstart housing development across the country.
In The American Spectator, the Independent Institute’s Lloyd Billingsley reveals how there are no academic or legal arguments against school choice—only political ones.
In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Institute for Reforming Government’s Quinton Klabon explains four ways to quickly improve educational outcomes for children at Milwaukee Public Schools.
In The Dispatch, Liberty Justice Center Counsel Reilly Stephens answers the question “what is federalism?”
In the Washington Examiner, Liberty Justice Center President Jacob Huebert argues that conservatives who care about free speech should hope we beat Biden’s TikTok ban.
Barbara Anthony, senior fellow at Pioneer Institute, in an op-ed for the Boston Business Journal says a healthcare costs study in Beacon Hill is ‘overdue.’
Mike Stenhouse, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity in an op-ed for the Providence Journal says a state constitutional convention could ‘break the status quo.’
Ammon Blair, senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, in an op-ed for the Epoch Times says Texas is the wrong state for a Venezuelan gang to set up shop.
