Most states hold their legislative sessions from January through June of each year, which means statehouses across the country are teeming with activity. During these legislative sessions, state lawmakers are advancing policy reforms that address the unique problems and concerns of their constituents.
Working alongside these state leaders is a Network of state and local policy organizations, each with a shared mission to make life better for American families. These organizations engage with state lawmakers to address the problems that matter most to the people in their communities—including improving education, reducing taxes, and lowering healthcare costs.
What issues is this Network focused on in the 2024 state legislative sessions?
2023 was a significant year for the school choice movement—with seven states advancing “universal” education freedom programs. “Universal” means all K-12 students in the state, regardless of income, can access the program. Now, nine states have universal education freedom policies: Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Utah. Even more states are poised to pass these types of programs in 2024, including Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Education freedom policies empower parents to choose the best education for their children, whether that’s public, private, or even homeschool. If you live in a state where these policies are in place, your Zip Code doesn’t determine where your child goes to school. You can access funds for different learning options and resources for your kids. School choice policies are seen as one way to help improve K-12 education by giving parents and children more options when it comes to education.
In addition to education freedom, there are other aspects of K-12 education policy this Network is focused on in 2024, including legislation that focuses on improving literacy, teacher apprenticeships, and technical education. There are also several organizations that are working on reducing obstacles for education entrepreneurs in their state.
In the past three years, 25 states cut their income tax, and five of those states have flattened their income tax. As a result, there are now 23 states that have either no income tax or a flat income tax, and even more states are set to continue cutting taxes during the 2024 state legislative sessions. These states include Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota. Excess revenue, primarily from the pandemic, fueled a lot of this movement to cut income taxes these last few years. As that revenue growth slows, so too will the drastic tax cuts that have become so commonplace since 2021. However, according to State Policy Network’s Visiting Economic Policy Fellow Michael Lucci, what you will start to see is a shift away from cutting income taxes and towards cutting property taxes.
Some states where property tax reform is likely in 2024 include Georgia, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.
Energy costs have gone up significantly over the last few years, straining the budgets of many American families, especially those from lower income households. In addition to the cost, America’s energy has become unreliable in several parts of the country. What’s causing this? America’s transition to renewable energy sources could be to blame.
Several states have recently adopted more intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar—which is leading to an unreliable grid and soaring costs.
This Network is working to prevent states from adopting unreliable, intermittent sources that make the grid less stable and increase costs for Americans. In addition, these state policy organizations are demonstrating to state lawmakers and the public that there’s a better way. The answer lies in nuclear energy, geothermal energy, and policies that prioritize grid reliability and cost to ratepayers.
This Network believes energy should be affordable, reliable, and America should dominate the energy market worldwide. What’s more, America can be energy dominant as well as excellent stewards of the environment—a point this Network is advancing through research, legislative testimony, the media, and outreach to policymakers.
While the federal government has significant control over America’s energy policy, it’s the states that are responsible for their grids. This Network is working to ensure state leaders understand the problems with weather-dependent energy sources and the benefits, including environmental, of clean, reliable energy.
The baby boom generation is getting older, which means the demand for healthcare is going to increase. At the same time, doctors from this same generation are going to retire—which means healthcare supply is going to decrease. How will we address this looming shortage in healthcare?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one solution. AI is a massive innovation that could alleviate the supply crunch on healthcare. However, many of the recent AI bills that have been introduced do more harm than good, and this Network is working to stop these policies so this technology can start helping patients and families.
