November 1, 2024
Week in Review: November 1, 2024
America First Policy Institute published a paper advocating for a skills-based hiring approach and moving away from rigid degree requirements. This shift addresses both the preparedness gaps seen in recent college graduates and the growing frustrations of employers with the limitations of the traditional degree-based system. The paper also proposes steps for governors and state legislatures to prioritize skills in public sector hiring, helping to build a workforce equipped to meet modern demands.
Bluegrass Institute created a new dashboard designed to better inform citizens about spending, academic results and teachers’ pay in their local school districts.
Foundation for Government Accountability’s Center for Excellence in Polling released the polling results of its survey of likely voters in South Dakota on a range of issues from education to election integrity.
Mackinac Center released its 101 Recommendations to Revitalize Michigan, which includes a wide array of reform ideas aimed at reducing living costs, boosting quality of life, improving government services and making it easier to do business in Michigan.
Mountain States Policy Center released a new video, MCPC’s 2024 Election Preview.
Opportunity Arkansas released a groundbreaking research paper, Getting Back to Work: How Arkansas Can Lead the Nation in Medicaid Reform Once Again. This paper outlines key challenges within Arkansas’s Medicaid program, which, rather than being a safety net, has become a dependency trap, discouraging work and straining the state budget. The paper calls for decisive state action by which Arkansas can restore Medicaid as a safety net for the truly needy, set a national example, and become an economic powerhouse when coupled with phasing out the state income tax.
Philanthropy Roundtable published a new values-based giving story on school choice victories in the states. With voices from school choice leaders including Kate Baker Demers, executive director of Children’s Scholarship Fund in New Hampshire; Jenny Clark, founder and CEO of Love Your School in Arizona; and Garrett Ballengee, president and CEO of the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy; author David Bass lays out how donors can keep the momentum going.
Reason Foundation released a new report, Public Schools without Boundaries 2024, which ranks the K-12 open enrollment laws of all 50 states, grading each state across seven critical areas.
Steamboat Institute launched a new campaign, the Campus Liberty Tour, to much success, including more than 1500 total in-person attendees and over 400,000 online views. The Institute also welcomed Hadley Heath Manning as its new Executive Vice President.
Sutherland Institute and the American Enterprise Institute announced that they will hold a joint event with state and national housing experts on possible solutions to Utah’s housing crisis. The event will feature Gov. Spencer J. Cox, who will provide the keynote address.
Texas Public Policy Foundation compiled a database of Texas school districts that are attempting to raise property taxes in the state via the ballot box in the upcoming election — moves that would further erode property tax cuts state lawmakers passed in the last legislative assembly. The database also links to efficiency audits for each school district, calling into question that there might be budget solutions outside of raising taxes for these school districts.
Undivide Us, a documentary that challenges the idea that citizens who disagree are not capable of civil conversation and demonstrates the truth that the American experiment is still alive and well, was selected for an encore screening on Maryland Public Television on Sunday, November 3rd at 6:00 PM EST.
Washington Policy Center hosted its Annual Dinner in Bellevue, which was attended by over 1,000 guests who heard about the Center’s work and keynote speeches from Mollie Hemingway and General Jack Keane.
The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Speech First v. Whitten, arguing that bias response teams on college campuses chill free speech, undermine free debate and open inquiry, and violate the U.S. Constitution.
Liberty Justice Center filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in its legal challenge to Senate Bill 3649 (SB 3649), Illinois’ recently enacted employer speech ban. The Center also announced that the Technology & Manufacturing Association has joined the lawsuit on behalf of 1,000 members. In addition, the Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief in Woolard v. Thurmond, a case concerning parents’ right to direct the education and upbringing of their children according to their values.
Texas Public Policy Foundation filed an amicus brief supporting the State of Texas’s challenge to the Biden Administration’s backdoor attempt to impose universal background checks.
Florida: As college tuition rates skyrocket across the country, Florida is leveraging technology to provide a new option for parents and students to consider. With their new website, XploreFLEd, Florida’s top-tier education system is now accessible for the low cost of only $7,000 per year — the lowest-cost option for college in the country. For students with Pell Grants, tuition would be fully covered, meaning no cost to lower-income families — a trailblazing reform that, if widely implemented, could make the student loan industry unnecessary (Foundation for Government Accountability).
Wyoming: In a long-awaited victory for free speech, a Federal judge ruled that the Sheridan County School District violated the First Amendment by censoring criticism of a school official during a public meeting — a ruling which protects state residents from bureaucrats who would create rules to suppress dissent and evade accountability (Institute for Free Speech).
Idaho Freedom Foundation posted briefs that show why ranked choice voting has been so disastrous in other states, analyze a proposed 43% pay raise for the state legislature, and expose how multiple welfare programs offered only to refugees are often more generous and robust than those offered to Idaho’s citizens.
Kansas Policy Institute published a brief with an analysis of school district cash reserves, which indicates that school administrators used nearly $800 million of state and local taxes to increase their bank accounts over the years.
Mountain States Policy Center issued briefs that examine solutions to healthcare policies that currently isolate patients from the true cost of health care and limit the ability of patients to make their own health care decisions, prognosticate the future of election polling via artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and report on the updates to a lawsuit which defends the right of western states to have more control over unappropriated federal lands within their borders.
Platte Institute published a brief breaking down the tax burden in Nebraska over the last 24 years, showing how a lower tax burden can only be secured with greater taxpayer engagement and tighter controls on tax and spending growth.
Washington Policy Center released briefs which uncover why Washington ranks 31st in new “clean energy” jobs and reveal how farmers in the state can get back some of the money they have lost in taxes due to the state’s CO2 tax.
Hawaii: Gov. Green suspended a requirement that mandates that Hawaii’s four counties automatically adopt unamended state building codes as interim county building codes, a practice that often slows down the construction and increases the costs of new housing mid-project. Although the move is temporary, it signals to the legislature that a stalled 2024 housing reform bill should be re-addressed in the upcoming session (Grassroot Institute of Hawaii).
Missouri: Good news for men’s hair in the city of St. Louis — the St. Louis Board of Aldermen repealed the regulation of barbershops in the city with a mandatory 6:30 closing time. While the bill does not repeal statewide occupational licensing for barbers, it is a significant step in the right direction (Show-Me Institute).
Topics:
Delaware’s Next Governor Must Declare a State of Emergency in Education
Caesar Rodney Institute
Flaws in the Education System
Cardinal Institute
The Siren Song of Free School Meals
Cascade Policy Institute
What Do Public School Teachers Think of School Choice?
Center of the American Experiment
Illinois Schools See Small Academic Gains, But Still Need Improvement
Illinois Policy
Teacher Pay — ‘Guesswork with Footnotes’
Indiana Policy Review Foundation
Homeschooling Isn’t the Problem
Libertas Institute
Disruptive Children Deserve Support, Not Isolation
Libertas Institute
Increasing Number of Wisconsin High School Grads Need Remedial Education in College
MacIver Institute
What’s So Great about Performance Districts?
Show-Me Institute
The Scholarship That Wasn’t
Show-Me Institute
How Early Traditions Made School Open Enrollment Necessary
Sutherland Institute
Pat Curry, Business Leader and Activist
Texas Public Policy Foundation
School Choice
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty
Wyoming Education Departments Plans to Use AI in the Classroom – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Wyoming Liberty Group
Ways California Can Have Abundant Water
California Policy Center
Ways California Can Have Abundant Energy
California Policy Center
Ford Loses $1.2 billion on EVs in Q3
Center of the American Experiment
State Mandate for Wind Power Divides Rural County
Center of the American Experiment
More Problems for Manufacturer of Failed Turbine Blades in Nantucket
Center of the American Experiment
Data Centers Fueling Massive Growth in Electricity Demand
Center of the American Experiment
Incoming! Rate Hike for Minnesota Power Customers
Center of the American Experiment
Without Nuclear, a Carbon-Neutral Grid Needs an Unthinkable Amount of Solar
John Locke Foundation
Should Climate Change Be a Graduation Requirement?
Pacific Research Institute
Yankee Institute Calls for Lower Energy Costs
Yankee Institute
Medicaid Money Grab
Empire Center
How to Reduce Medicare Fraud with Charles M. Silver and David Hyman
Show-Me Institute
Grassroot Suggests Ways to Improve ‘Miscellaneous Uses’ Section of Bill 64
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Restoring Old Lahaina Won’t Be Possible Without Zoning Changes
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
‘Guest House’ Bill Accords with 2018 Update to Kauai General Plan
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Reduce Permit Reviews for SMA Areas That Do Not Warrant High Scrutiny
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Make Adaptive Reuse More Feasible
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Getting Started with Small-lot Starter Homes
Libertas Institute
Utah Cities Should Legalize Backyard Cottages
Libertas Institute
Legalizing Housing Will Do More for Denver Than a Tax Hike
Pacific Research Institute
Senior Citizen Property Tax Freezes in Stone and Webster Counties Are Not Sound Public Policy
Show-Me Institute
New Study Ranks Minnesota Among Top 10 Strictest States for Childcare Regulations
Center of the American Experiment
Yet Another “Plan” to Revive Downtown Minneapolis
Center of the American Experiment
Gov. Walz Celebrates 36,000 New Jobs in Minnesota Over Last Year: 59% Were ‘Government’ Jobs
Center of the American Experiment
Florida Is Making Student Loans Obsolete
Foundation for Government Accountability
Frontier Institute Public Comment on Bolstering Data Center Growth
Frontier Institute
Here’s How Frivolous Lawsuits Against Truckers Hurt Everybody, Including You
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
10,000 Arizonans Free to Work Thanks to Goldwater’s Reform
Goldwater Institute
Unemployment High in 13 of 15 Illinois Metro Job Markets
Illinois Policy
Eliminate Laws That Stifle Innovation
Mackinac Center
Maine’s Childcare Regulations 10th Most Restrictive in Nation
Maine Policy Institute
Oklahoma Among Top States in Job Creation
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Report Finds Families Moving to Oklahoma
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Oklahoma Lawmakers Seek to Reduce State Regulations
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
California’s Ballot Measures Could Worsen Homelessness
Pacific Research Institute
Louisiana’s Labor Market Improves but More Work to Do
Pelican Institute
Good News for Men’s Hair in the City of St. Louis
Show-Me Institute
California’s Unstoppable Taxation Machine
California Policy Center
Should Voters Approve New Taxes Without Seeing the Books?
California Policy Center
Report Finds St. Paul’s Budget Under Pressure from High Taxes, Business Loss, And Slower Growth
Center of the American Experiment
Georgia Has the Opportunity for Big-Ticket Tax Reform
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Hawaii’s Historic Tax Cut Must Be Protected Not Because We Want It, But Because We Need It
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Johnson’s 2025 Chicago Budget Breaks Property Tax Promise
Illinois Policy
Iowa’s Tax Reforms Propel State to New Heights in Competitiveness Ranking
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation
Rerouting How Roads and Highways are Funded
John Locke Foundation
Gov. Mills Ranked Third Worst Governor in Country for Fiscal Responsibility
Maine Policy Institute
Reparations – in California or Nationally – Will Bring Unnecessary Chaos
Pacific Research Institute
Nebraska Tax Sources: The Complete Tax Picture Over 24 Years
Platte Institute
K.C. Subsidies Stop Making Sense
Show-Me Institute
St. Louis Has Better Options Than Buying Nine New Mustangs for the City’s Fleet
Show-Me Institute
A Blank Check
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Which ISDs (and Lone City) are Pushing VATREs?
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Bigger in Texas
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Baltimore’s Red Line: Insane or Idiotic?
The Maryland Public Policy Institute
First Amendment: Why Teachers Can Request Refund of PAC Money
Center of the American Experiment
Union Political Spending Doesn’t Represent All Their Members
Commonwealth Foundation
Public Employee Unions Enduring Death by 1,000 Emails
Freedom Foundation
We Can’t Rely on FEMA, Nor Should We Try
Beacon Center of Tennessee
Utah Leads Lawsuit Challenging Federal Control of Third of Its Lands
Center of the American Experiment
Lucien Smith: Prognostications and Punditry
Empower Mississippi
The Senselessness of Identity Politics
Goldwater Institute
A Political Strategy that Works
Indiana Policy Review Foundation
America Must Protect and Restore Confidence in Elections
James Madison Institute
Election Reflections from a Visit to Hurricane-Ravaged Western North Carolina
John Locke Foundation
10-28 Data Dump: Will the Republican Early Voting Advantage Hold?
John Locke Foundation
Gen Z’s New Path: Skip College
Libertas Institute
Wisconsin Elections Commission: Non-citizen Driver’s Licenses Can Be Used to Vote
MacIver Institute
Biden Followed FDR’s Lead in Tampering with SCOTUS
Mackinac Center
Politics Without a Legacy Is Pointless
Mississippi Center for Public Policy
Jeffrey Meyers on Edgar Allan Poe, Gothic Horror, & Halloween
Pioneer Institute
Civics Refresher: How to Vote in Utah
Sutherland Institute
Fast Facts: Voter ID Laws
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Why the Founders Established an Electoral College & Why We Must Keep It
Texas Public Policy Foundation
In the City Journal, the California Policy Center’s Edward Ring examines the policies that have given rise the mass exodus of business from the Golden State.
In RealClear Energy, the Commonwealth Foundation’s André Béliveau points out that affordable energy could greatly alleviate Pennsylvanians’ economic anxieties.
In Discourse, the Goldwater Institute’s Jon Riches examines the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to curb the union practice of “release time.”
In Chicago Business, Illinois Policy’s Micky Horstman questions why other cities seem to have adapted to post-pandemic public transit while Chicago’s continues to languish.
In Florida Politics, The James Madison Institute’s Edward Longe notes that Florida is at a digital crossroads, especially as it related to regulating artificial intelligence (AI).
Lee Sands, local government policy analyst at Libertas Institute, in an op-ed for Deseret News later picked up by Yahoo Life says ‘Utah cities should legalize backyard cottages.’
In the Chicago Tribune and a live interview with Awake Illinois, Liberty Justice Center Senior Counsel Dean McGee discusses why members of the Chicago Teachers Union are suing their own union.
Daniel Oliver, director of Pacific Research Institute, in an op-ed for American Greatness says the election boils down to a choice between regional conflict and World War III.
Daniel Buck, senior visiting fellow at Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, in an op-ed for The Hill later picked up by AOL says teachers shouldn’t cover the election.
