August 25, 2023
Week in Review: August 25, 2023
Alaska Policy Forum submitted testimony before the House State Affairs Committee in support of establishing safeguards that preserve and protect Alaskans’ right to keep and bear arms.
Beacon Center of Tennessee released a new report, Made of Money: Tennessee’s Tax Cuts, Growing Surplus, and Future Opportunities, which provides recommendations to policymakers on how to best utilize recent historic surpluses.
Recognized as a pioneer in increasing government transparency, The Buckeye Institute unveiled its updated public salary database, which includes salary information for state employees and government employees in Ohio’s public schools, Ohio’s public universities, and local governments in Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown.
California Policy Center launched a “Parental Rights Pledge”, a straightforward affirmation of the basic rights of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children, at its LIVE Parental Rights Virtual Open House event.
Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies announced a call for submissions of legal scholarship on legal theories that would protect the freedom to contract, to innovate, to earn a living, and to freely engage in mutually beneficial economic transactions.
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii’s Keli’I Akina called upon all to continue to focus on helping victims of the Maui wildfires.
Independent Institute’s Judy Shelton recognized the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act with an interview on Fox News where she pointed out that Americans can sense that the act is driving up government spending and inflation.
Indiana Policy Review Foundation announced the release of a new book, Rebuilding Social Capital. Written by members of the Foundation, economists Maryann O. Keating and Barry Keating, the book explores the role of social capital in our communities.
John Locke Foundation released its August Civitas Poll results. It highlighted that a little less than half of likely North Carolina voters (46.3%) would prefer to see someone other than the current President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump in the White House in 2024. Locke also highlighted the record-breaking number of vetoes overrides by the state legislature and broke down a few educations policy victories on which the Foundation has spent years researching and educating lawmakers.
Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s Douglas Carswell interviewed Calvin Robinson on the Center’s podcast discussing the COVID lockdowns and other topics.
Opportunity Arkansas published their first-of-many foster care interviews, sitting down with the Speer family. According to the family, the most traumatic day of their now-adopted child’s life was not anything that happened before foster care — it was the day she was taken into foster care.
Rio Grande Foundation examined the history of taxes in the U.S. with economic historian Dr. Brian Domitrovic on their podcast, Tipping Point New Mexico.
Freedom Foundation filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in its challenge against the Washington state capital gains tax, contending that it violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution (see also comments on the national significance of the case from the Washington Policy Center).
Institute for Reforming Government, represented by lawyers at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, filed a lawsuit in Waukesha County Circuit Court, demanding that the Secretary of State, Sarah Godlewski, fulfill a records request that has been pending for almost six months relating to the unusual circumstances surrounding her appointment.
Mackinac Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of groups, individuals, and lawmakers against the state treasurer. The lawsuit seeks to ensure Michigan follows the law by preserving the income tax cut that took effect this year.
New Hampshire: A bill was signed into law that eliminated a little-known, triple-license requirement for barbers and others in the beauty and grooming industry, serving as a perfect example of how license requirements can easily get out of hand (Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy).
North Carolina: Duke Energy announced its plans to replace one of the company’s coal-fired power plants with new small modular reactors at the Belews Creek Steam Station. This is the exact strategy Center of the American Experiment and the John Locke Foundation have suggested for North Carolina and Duke Energy over the last three years, and it is a major win for both organizations.
Ohio: The state is experiencing its strongest job market in state history, and workers are reaping the rewards of effective, pro-economic growth policies, including lower taxes and fewer regulations championed by The Buckeye Institute.
Cardinal Institute exposed the state of foster care in West Virginia in a new brief that finds that the Mountain State lacks enough families and community support to provide a loving home for these kids while they await reunification with their biological parents.
Foundation for Government Accountability released a new research paper tracking the results of six years’ worth of data after the Kansas Legislature enacted “unemployment indexing” in response to high state unemployment rate, showing that the state has a stronger workforce as a result of this policy.
John Locke Foundation’s Center for Effective Education laid out three revisions to improve the state’s content standards for Healthful Living, which encompass both Physical and Health Education.
Illinois Policy Institute’s Bryce Hill examined how AFCME’s new contract worsens Illinois’ pension crises, and how residents can expect continued tax increases to pay for these costs.
Independence Institute exposed the problems rife within the monopoly electric business model, chief among these being the regulatory capture that it invites.
Institute for Reforming Government, spurred on by Milwaukee Public Schools closures due to heat and lack of air conditioning, tracked and analyzed the Public Schools’ use of COVID-related funds.
MacIver Institute released parts one and two of briefs that illustrate how law-and-order in Wisconsin has far strayed from the founding fathers’ admonition to be a “government of laws, not of men.”
Mountains States Policy Center’s Sebastian Griffin released a brief examining the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence and how to pivot from a policy perspective.
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs’ Ray Carter dove into the data revealing that learning loss in Tulsa Public Schools is the worst in the state and among the worst in the nation, and he examined the policies that have led to these poor academic results.
Pelican Institute’s Jamie Tairov broke down the latest five-year budget projections for their state government, showing why Louisiana is faced with the temporary tax expiring in a few years, and forecasters are showing another fiscal cliff when it does.
Washington Policy Center’s Todd Myers linked the state’s latest CO2 permit auction to the “outrageous” gas prices that residents are paying, noting how the state’s permitting policies will continue to drive prices higher.
Kentucky: A movement is afoot to get rid of the state’s bureaucratic requirements that healthcare providers get special permission from the government before adding or expanding services or facilities (Bluegrass Institute).
Topics:
RealClear Opinion Poll Shows 71% of Registered Voters Support School Choice
Cascade Policy Institute
Majority of Minnesota Students Aren’t Meeting Reading and Math Standards
Center of the American Experiment
Where are New York’s Test Results?
Empire Center
School Choice Facts
James Madison Institute
Latest Audit Report Excoriates State At-Risk Program at All Levels: “Little Appears to Have Changed”
Kansas Policy Institute
Kids Don’t Want Normal School
Libertas Institute
“Education Is Underfunded” – The Song and Dance that Doesn’t End
Mountains States Policy Center
Nevada’s Scholarship Lifeline: Temporary Relief, Long-Term Uncertainty
Nevada Policy Research Institute
With Tulsa Under Scrutiny, Superintendent Gist Resigns
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Los Angeles and Oakland Get “F” Grades for Charter Funding Gaps
Pacific Research Institute
A State at Risk: Education in Missouri
Show-Me Institute
History of Parent-Driven Education: Part 7 – Today’s Post-Pandemic Era to the Future of Parent-Driven Options
Sutherland Institute
City’s ‘Green Infrastructure’ Turns into Boulevards-Gone-Wild Eyesore
Center of the American Experiment
Micron vs. New York Energy Policy
Empire Center
The EV Flood Car Swap
Ethan Allen Institute
Maine Is Not Ready for Electric Vehicle Mandates
Maine Policy Institute
Banning Plastic Bags Is Not an Effective Environmental Policy
Mountains States Policy Center
Only One Army Showing Up in War Over Fossil Fuels
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Public Car Charging Users Not Happy
Yankee Institute
For the Ferry System It Isn’t Easy Being “Green”
Washington Policy Center
Migrants, Medicaid, and More: NY’s Widening Budget Gap
Empire Center
Managed Care Couldn’t Fix States’ Medicaid Budgets; A Switch Would Ignore Real Solutions in Idaho
Idaho Freedom Foundation
Medicaid Expansion Failing Rural Hospitals
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
The Beach Boom and Healthcare
Palmetto Promise Institute
Problems with Paperwork
Show-Me Institute
More Georgia’s Cities and Counties Set Property Tax Rates
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Landlord’s Foreseeable Duty: Who Is Liable When Crime Lands on the Doorstep?
Pioneer Institute
About Minnesota in Those Top States for Business Rankings…
Center of the American Experiment
Vermont Farm of the Year
Ethan Allen Institute
Enough About the So-Called “Welfare Cliff.” What About the Welfare Pit?
Foundation for Government Accountability
Return to Work? State Lags Behind Private Sector
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota
Gov. Mills’ Refurbished Corporate Welfare Program Won’t Help Maine’s Economy
Maine Policy Institute
Misusing ‘Externality’ Theories to Bolster Government Power
Pacific Research Institute
Louisiana Economic Situation—August 2023
Pelican Institute for Public Policy
These Issues Have to Be Addressed Before Adopting Any Mileage Tax
Mountains States Policy Center
They’re Coming for Your Tax Cut
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Virginia’s Balance Sheet Almost Embarrassingly Strong
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Around 1/3 of Minnesota Government Workers Have Said ‘No Thanks’ to Union Membership
Center of the American Experiment
3 Ways Chicago Mayor Johnson Is Likely to Repay Unions for Bankrolling Him
Illinois Policy Institute
“She Was So Old, I Thought I Could Take Advantage of Her”
MacIver Institute for Public Policy
‘Welcome Lafayette’: The Revolutionary War Hero’s 1824 Tour in Connecticut
Yankee Institute
In the Commonwealth Journal, the Bluegrass Institute’s Jim Waters points out more for taxpayers means more for government, too.
In the Centre Daily Times, the Commonwealth Foundation’s Jonathan McGee argues that legislators should fund college students, not administrators.
At RealClearEnergy, the Commonwealth Foundation’s Gordon Tomb examines Gov. Josh Shapiro’s wrong approach to grid reliability.
At Delaware Valley Journal, the Commonwealth Foundation’s Stephen Bloom exposes the performative and conflicting political antics on display by opponents of school choice in Pennsylvania.
At RealClearPolicy, the Georgia Center for Opportunity’s Josh Crawford considers how to reduce juvenile violence in Boston.
In The Center Square, Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation’s John Hendrickson highlights Iowa and the Foundation’s policy advances in recent years.
In The Daily Caller, The James Madison Institute’s Sal Nuzzo highlights the problems with the Credit Card Competition Act.
In his recent column, the John Locke Foundation’s John Hood encouraged lawmakers to require more SNAP recipients to work.
In the Washington Examiner, the Goldwater Institute’s Naomi Lopez highlights the problems with the Biden Administration’s attempts to regulate “misinformation” in healthcare.
In the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois Policy Institute’s Paul Vallas outlines five key ways TIFs should be reformed for Chicago’s benefit.
In The Wall Street Journal, the Independent Institute’s Judy Shelton writes that money should be an honest measure, not merely an instrument of government economic policy.
In The Atlantic, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s Douglas Carswell considers if Mississippi is as poor as Britain.
At Fox News Online, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Chuck DeVore highlights 3 critical China issues to watch out for in the Republican debate.
