Announcements
Garden State Initiative welcomed their inaugural class of college interns who conducted independent research to explore “the issues that matter to the next generation of New Jerseyans”, including energy, education, and transportation policies.
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii’s Keli’i Akina released a statement to express his overwhelming sorrow over the destruction caused by wildfires on Maui.
Idaho Freedom Foundation released an infographic illustrating the shortcomings of managed care, a type of Medicaid administration system where the government contracts with private insurance companies to run the program.
James Madison Institute announced the agenda for its 2023 Tech Summit, an event which will examine the implications of technology policy, seeking to improve cultivation of innovation at the state level.
John Locke Foundation released a first-of-its-kind report, “In the Tank: Grading State Biofuel Incentives and Mandates,” —which grades states on their biofuel incentives and mandates. The report outlines the real-world concerns related to policies that interfere with the domestic agriculture market and pit fuel against food for America’s finite farmland.
Kansas Policy Institute released their legislative scorecard, The Kansas Freedom Index, which highlights many of the votes from the 2023 legislative session, and scored an exclusive interview with the Chief of the Shawnee Tribe, who says a University of Kansas professor is falsely claiming Indian ancestry.
Liberty Justice Center’s Buck Dougherty appeared on the Liberty Watch podcast this week to discuss Hart v. Facebook. This case, like Missouri v. Biden, aims to challenge Facebook and Twitter’s censorship at the Biden Administration’s direction.
Maine Policy Institute released a statement on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s consideration of California-style bans on internal combustion engines, pointing out that the proposed rules would have no quantifiable impact on climate, but they would impoverish Maine families and undermine the state’s economy.
Mountain States Policy Center released a guide showing how lawmaking in Idaho works and announced that the Center’s Chris Cargill joined nearly 100 other free-market leaders in signing a Freedom Conservatism statement of principles for American Conservativism.
Nevada Policy recognized National Employee Freedom Week (NEFW). Started by Nevada Policy more than a decade ago, NEFW is a partnership of national, state and local organizations dedicated to the policy concept of employee freedom.
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty’s Preserving Democracy Project put forward a new report, The Citizens Guide To Open Government, that lays out the law that governs open records and open meetings while also providing best practices for holding government accountable.
Freedom through the Courts: The Latest Litigation Efforts across the Network
In an amicus brief filed in Braidwood Management v. Becerra, The Buckeye Institute argues that the Affordable Care Act violated the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution when it elevated the Preventative Services Task Force from a purely advisory body into a rule-making body but failed to provide accountability in how the task force members were appointed and confirmed.
Goldwater Institute is stepping up to help a New Jersey mom by defending the Marlboro Township Board of Education’s new parental notification policy against an unprecedented assault from the New Jersey Attorney General.
Success Stories
Arizona: The state university system’s Board of Regents felt compelled to reject widespread use of faculty ideological tests via mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) statements after the Goldwater Institute released what the WSJ called a “bombshell” report.
California: San Bernardino County announced it’s ready to cut a check for $75,000 to cover the Freedom Foundation’s litigating costs for a lawsuit it filed more than three years ago after the county refused a legal request for what were clearly public documents.
North Carolina: Christmas came in August for many North Carolinians as Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate flexed their muscles and overrode three of Gov. Cooper’s vetoes on bills impacting school choice (The John Locke Foundation).
Solutions from the States: This Week’s Policy Briefs
Foundation for Government Accountability released a brief exposing the falsehood that being married can prevent a couple from being eligible for food stamps due to combined incomes. FGA also highlighted ways that the food stamps program can be strengthened.
Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s Kyle Wingfield analyzed property tax policies, pointing out that no other tax has a basis that someone else simply invents.
Illinois Policy Institute’s Josh Bandoch took pension debt and property tax pain to the policy shop, showing how Mayor Johnson’s vows to avoid raises to the property tax won’t help Cook County residents, where property taxes are on the rise for most of the county.
Independence Institute illuminated Colorado’s energy future, revealing the high cost of 100% electric home heating, a policy that the state is slowly creeping closer to mandating.
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation released a brief showing why the Taxpayer Relief Fund, a fund created to capture excess revenue for the purpose of income tax relief, needs protection in the state constitution.
John Locke Foundation’s Kelly Lester examined the proposed Poultry Grower Fairness Act and the potential benefits and downsides this would have on poultry farmers.
Mackinac Center’s Joshua Antonini compiled data showing the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing, maintaining, and disposing of solar panels and wind turbines.
Mountain States Policy Center’s Chris Cargill penned a brief examining the gas tax levied by each state across the nation.
Washington Policy Center’s Live Finne responded to the state’s Office of Public Instruction’s statement that COVID-19 shutdown policies did not put students behind with data showing the real effect of these policies.
Tracking Positive Reforms in the States: Updates from Network Affiliates
Nevada: Lawmakers in the state’s Interim Finance Committee conducted a hearing on Opportunity Scholarships, a program which provides some school choice options to Nevada students. The hearing provides a potential opportunity to increase funding for the program in the next legislative session (Nevada Policy).
Texas: Gov. Abbott signed a bill into law that establishes a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advisory Council to evaluate how AI is being used by the state of Texas, to ensure the use of automated decision systems do not infringe on Texans’ constitutional rights and finally to determine the need for a state code of ethics for AI systems in state government (Texas Public Policy Foundation).
Wyoming: The Joint Education Committee of the Wyoming Legislature met to consider a series of proposals aimed at improving education outcomes (Mountain States Policy Center).
Policy News from the States
Topics:
K-12 Education
Rochester Dumps Anything Goes Experimental Grading System
Center of the American Experiment
Record-Breaking $15K Per-Kid Spending in AZ Public Schools—Amid ESA Growth
Goldwater Institute
Air Conditioning — The Cause of All Our Woes
Indiana Policy Review Foundation
‘The Power of These Policies Is to Individualize Education for Children’
Mackinac Center
Effort to Improve Tulsa Schools Draws Threats from Officials
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Pluralism in Education with Ashley Berner
Show-Me Institute
Colossal Academy’s Shiren Rattigan on Microschools and School Choice
Pioneer Institute
Energy and Environment
Let Oregon Voters Reconsider Nuclear Power
Cascade Policy Institute
A New Study on Columbia Basin Salmon Is Interesting, But May Distract from the Larger Picture
Washington Policy Center
The 2003 Northeast Blackout and How Today’s Blackout Risks Differ
Center of the American Experiment
NY Energy Policy: Blackout Danger Returns 20 Years Later
Empire Center
Peculiar Response to the Valley Flooding Problem
Ethan Allen Institute
Here’s Another Reason Why Electric Cars Will Cost You More: Repair Costs
Pacific Research Institute
New Jersey Democrats Tacking Away from Wind Turbines, So Should Virginia
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Healthcare
Alaska Is a Leader in Medicaid Waste—Here’s How We Change That
Alaska Policy Forum
Beware of Medicaid’s Spending Swings
Empire Center
340B Advocates Strike Back
Pacific Research Institute
Housing Affordability
Some Georgians Still Have Time to Stop Higher Property Taxes
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
So, What Exactly Should Missouri Do About Property Taxes and Assessments? Part Two
Show-Me Institute
Jobs and State Economies
Median Household Incomes in Minnesota Have Grown More Slowly Than Nationally in Six of the Last Seven Years
Center of the American Experiment
On Homelessness, Sacramento is “City of Problems”
Pacific Research Institute
Louisiana Economic Report: August 2023
Pelican Institute for Public Policy
Paying People to Strike Makes No Sense
Yankee Institute
State Budgets
No Cause for Panic: Wisconsin Surplus Safe from Federal Clawback
Badger Institute
Janitors, Email Scams, and Interest-Free Loans Took Georgia Taxpayers to the Cleaners
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Montana’s Fiscal Process – An Interview with the Office of Budget and Program Planning
Mountain States Policy Center
Despite Lavish Spending, TPS Performance Goes From Bad to Worse
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
ESG and CalPERS Sub-par Investment Returns
Pacific Research Institute
Workplace Freedom
National Employee Freedom Week: Informing Public Employees about Their Restored Rights Regarding Union Membership
Center of the American Experiment
Illinois: SEIU Healthcare Members Empowered to Drop Union
Freedom Foundation
Pritzker Signs Charter Neutrality Bill, Chicago Teachers Union Fights to Weaken Charter Schools
Illinois Policy Institute
Other
Bypass the Meat Counter in Favor of Your Area Fair
Washington Policy Center
In Politics, Losing Isn’t Winning
Indiana Policy Review Foundation
Local Elections Are More Important Than You Think
Libertas Institute
Six Things Every American Needs to Know About Their Country
Mississippi Center for Public Policy
Policy and AI “Deepfake” Technology
Texas Public Policy Foundation
The Network in the News
In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Commonwealth Foundation’s Nathan Benefield considers why people are leaving Pennsylvania.
In her column for The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Commonwealth Foundation’s Jennifer Stefano notes criticism of Kamala Harris isn’t racist or sexist—it’s equality.
In the Vermont Daily Chronicle, the Ethan Allen Institute’s John McClaughry highlights San Francisco’s homelessness crisis.
In Vermont Business, the Ethan Allen Institute’s John McClaughry considers the new book “Small Farm Republic: Why Conservatives Must Embrace Local Agriculture, Reject Climate Alarmism, and Lead an Environmental Revival.”
In the Washington Examiner, the Free State Foundation’s Randolph May and Seth Cooper contend that the FCC should not adopt a burdensome, needless pro-regulatory ‘disparate impact’ standard.
In his recent column, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation‘s Kyle Wingfield considers Georgia’s property taxes.
In The Wall Street Journal, Idaho Freedom Foundation‘s Anna Miller highlights Florida’s new education standards.
In The New York Post, the Illinois Policy Institute’s Paul Vallas notes ending cash bail in Illinois won’t solve crime.
In his recent column for The Denver Gazette, the Independence Institute’s Jon Caldara highlights how Colorado is number one for ‘restaurant inflation.’
In the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Independence Institute‘s Ben Murray highlights Colorado’s Proposition HH—the Property Tax Changes and Revenue Change Measure.
In The American Spectator, the Independence Institute’s Williamson Evers warns of the trojan horse of “Community Schools”.
In the Lincoln Times-News, the John Locke Foundation‘s Mitch Kokai highlights a COVID-19 vaccine mandate lawsuit in North Carolina.
In the Deseret News, the Libertas Institute’s Lee Sands highlights the problems with Utah’s California-style zoning laws.
In The Wall Street Journal, the Mackinac Center‘s Holly Wetzel highlights Mackinac’s lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s student loan forgiveness program.
In The Atlantic, Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s Douglas Carswell asks if Mississippi is really as poor as Britain—not the other way around.
In the Washington Examiner, the Pacific Research Institute’s Sally Pipes notes fixing the doctor shortage requires less government, not more.
In the Los Angeles Daily News, the Pacific Research Institute’s Steve Smith considers police use of Automated License Plate Readers, or LPRs.
In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Show-Me Institute‘s Susan Pendergrass notes cherry-picked data can’t hide the truth about Missouri’s workforce.
In the Deseret News, Sutherland Institute‘s Derek Monson and Brad Wilcox consider how to strengthen the ‘success sequence’ in Utah.
