February 14, 2025
Week in Review: February 14, 2025
Goldwater Institute announced an open invitation to attend a webinar related to the policy priority of Right to Try for Individualized Treatments, a reform that creates a pathway for Americans to access groundbreaking, individualized treatments that have not yet received approval from the FDA. The upcoming webinar will feature Elijah Stacy, who, diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is a powerful voice for patients seeking access to potentially life-saving treatments.
Center of the American Experiment announced that former Minnesota House Majority Leader Matt Dean has been hired as a Policy Fellow covering state healthcare policy.
Institute for Reforming Government’s Jacob Curtis was interviewed on WisconsinEye, discussing the impact of the Trump Administration’s policies on Wisconsin. In addition, the Institute announced the results of a poll of Black and Hispanic parents on the North and South Sides of Milwaukee, showing how parents are struggling to navigate a school system that is in crisis. Finally, the Institute also started releasing its Court Watch primers leading up to the Wisconsin Supreme Court election in April.
James Madison Institute welcomed a new board member: Stephanie Smith, Vice President of State and Regional Affairs at TECO for Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas.
Show-Me Institute celebrated its 20th anniversary with the release of a video recapping some of the organization’s key victories.
South Carolina Policy Council’s Michael Burris was interviewed on WCBD 2, giving insight on the latest results of the Council’s latest statewide poll.
Sutherland Institute announced an elevated focus on upward mobility policies, led by Nic Dunn in a new role as vice president of strategy and senior fellow.
Washington Policy Center released new data as a part of its Report Card for Washington’s Future series, which tracks progress from the past decade in key areas, including the state’s electric vehicles (EV) subsidy program, Washington’s tax and business climate, and environment and energy policy.
The Buckeye Institute took the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) to court…again…over the government union’s illegal wage theft. Swanner v. OAPSE was filed on behalf of Shannon Swanner, a licensed nurse with the Lorain County Board of Developmental Disabilities. In addition, Buckeye filed an amicus brief in Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to end the unlawful “Washington knows best” noncompete rule.
Liberty Justice Center sued the University of Illinois Chicago on behalf of a professor whose contract was terminated after he criticized the university’s racially discriminatory hiring programs. On behalf of the California Policy Center, the LJC partnered with the California Justice Center to file a federal lawsuit challenging an employer censorship law.
New York: January 2025 was the biggest month for union opt-outs in New York’s history. A staggering 215 public employees exercised their right to leave their union, shattering the previous high and marking a 117 percent increase from January 2024, when just 99 workers opted out. After years of coercion, misinformation and political spending that has nothing to do with representing them, union members are reclaiming control of their paychecks — and their voices (Freedom Foundation).
Tennessee: Governor Bill Lee signed legislation that brings universal school choice to the Volunteer State. A priority of Governor Lee and leadership in the legislature, the act gives students across the state $7,296 each to pay for education-related expenses, including private school tuition (Beacon Center).
Nationwide: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of property owners against the City of San Marcos, Texas, finding the city could not force a homeowner to retain a decorative object on their property — a major win for property owners across Texas and beyond (Texas Public Policy Foundation).
Illinois Policy Institute released a new brief, Illinois Forward 2026: How the State Can Spend Responsibly, showing how the state must implement structural financial reforms to stop overspending and align government expenses with what taxpayers can realistically afford.
Institute for Reforming Government issued a brief, Wisconsin’s Administrative Revolution: Lessons from the REINS Act, outlining how the Wisconsin REINS Act likely slowed the creation of new regulations in Wisconsin.
Mountain States Policy Center released briefs that question if unelected California regulators should call the shots for auto rules in Washington state and analyzes if getting rid of the US Department of Education would actually improve education.
People United for Privacy Foundation and National Taxpayers Union Foundation released a brief detailing threats to nonprofit donor privacy in the Corporate Transparency Act.
Texas Public Policy Foundation released a new brief, Texas Cyber Command: Strategically Positioning Texas for the Future of Warfare, which suggests steps the state might take to protect its critical infrastructure from hostile foreign adversaries.
Washington Policy Center posted briefs that warned that Washington state is in a race to the bottom in healthcare, broke down the concerning state medical debt bill, addressed the state’s abysmal standings in the NAEP test scores, exposed the return of a bill that would tax every smart device over $250, and analyzed a bill that would require farmers to track all cow emissions.
Idaho: The House passed legislation to end taxpayer funding for teachers unions. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration (Freedom Foundation). The House passed a bill which would provide a $5,000 tax credit to qualifying families for educational expenses including private school tuition. Special needs students could qualify for $7,500 tax credits. The bill now moves to Senate for consideration. The Senate adopted a resolution that would form a legislative interim committee on housing, which is tasked with examining the impact of local land use regulations, evaluating city comprehensive plans and zoning, and finally identifying opportunities to reduce building regulatory costs and wait times to meet Idaho’s growing development needs. In addition, legislators introduced a bill which would require all new licensures to be expressly authorized by statute, establishes universal licensing practices, and requests a report to the legislature that would outline needed changes to come into compliance (Mountain States Policy Center).
Minnesota: The House once again passed a bill that repeals the ban on nuclear energy out of committee (Center of the American Experiment).
Mississippi: A bill which would establish specialized academic programs for high school students in grades 9-12, focusing on high-demand fields such as aeronautics, geospatial studies, engineering, nursing, and technical skills for high-demand jobs has passed the House and heads to the Senate for consideration (Empower Mississippi).
Montana: Legislators set a hearing for a bill that would allow workers with a good standing professional license in another state to work in Montana for up to 21 days each year, without requiring any additional licensure red tape other than registration (Frontier Institute). Governor Gianforte reinforced his priority to cut taxes again in the current session, proposing to drop the state income tax from 5.9 to 4.9% (Mountain States Policy Center).
North Carolina: Representative Jackson introduced a bill that protects farmers from financial discrimination based on the of use of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices (John Locke Foundation).
Ohio: As work in Ohio’s General Assembly heats up, The Buckeye Institute’s team of experts offered committee testimony on a host of bills. Ohio House Bill 15, which adopts many Buckeye Institute recommendations, will help ensure a healthy supply of affordable, reliable energy to meet the state’s rising consumer demands. Buckeye offered the Ohio House Medicaid Committee several reforms to save taxpayer dollars and enhance Medicaid’s integrity. Ohio Senate Bill 1, which has already passed the Ohio Senate, will increase accountability and help address the systemic and cultural problems facing Ohio’s public universities.
Oklahoma: Bills that end state subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) and prohibit widespread pandemic business closures were approved by their respective Senate committees. In addition, committees in both the House and Senate advanced bills that would move school-board elections to the November ballot to dramatically increase voter participation (Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs).
Utah: Legislators introduced bills that would limit onerous licensing and regulation costs and clarify and strengthen the effectiveness of the state’s Utah Fits All Scholarship program (Libertas Institute).
Washington: Representative Conners introduced a bill that would streamline permitting applications to improve housing availability (Washington Policy Center). Newly elected Governor Ferguson indicated interest in enacting emergency powers reform, saying that he hopes to work with state legislators to adopt reasonable limits to the Governor’s emergency powers (Mountain States Policy Center).
Wisconsin: Legislators considered bills that could make healthcare both cheaper and more accessible via direct primary care (Badger Institute).
Wyoming: A group of 13 legislators proposed taking steps to prevent the state from ever becoming a regulatory leviathan by requiring the state legislature to approve key major agency rules changes (Mountain States Policy Center).
Topics:
Pleading the Fifth? MN Dept. of Ed. Refuses to Answer Questions at Feeding Our Future Hearing
Center of the American Experiment
Mississippi School Choice – The Latest
Empower Mississippi
HB 1433: What You Need to Know
Empower Mississippi
Promise Scholarships Become a Reality in 2025. Here’s What Families and Communities Need to Know.
Georgia Center for Opportunity
Empowering Educational Opportunity in North Carolina
John Locke Foundation
Universal EFAs’ Cost from New Private & Homeschool Students Likely Less Than $20 Million in Years 1 & 2
Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy
Private Schools Continue to Outperform Public Schools on State Assessments
Kansas Policy Institute
Latest MPS SRO Offer: Schools Want to Pay 33% of Costs
MacIver Institute
State Stiffs Online Charter Students
Mackinac Center
Mississippi Momentum – It Really Is a Thing
Mississippi Center for Public Policy
Oklahoma Lawmakers Oppose Schools Teaching on Evils of Communism
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
The California Classroom Collapse Hits the Middle Class
Pacific Research Institute
South Carolina’s New School Choice Bill Lags Behind Tennessee and Texas
Palmetto Promise Institute
Solving the Teacher Shortage: Strategic Policy Solutions for Expanding Teaching & Learning
Palmetto Promise Institute
Curious Mike’s Visit to Rain Lily Microschool
Pioneer Institute
Steven Wilson on the Lost Decade: Returning to the Fight for Better Schools in America
Pioneer Institute
New Mexico remains DEAD-LAST in “Nation’s Report Card” NAEP results
Rio Grande Foundation
School Choice as a Driver of Economic Development with Patrick Tuohey
Show-Me Institute
Former Secretary of Education: “Shut Down the Department of Education”
Show-Me Institute
Smart Devices in Texas Schools
Texas Public Policy Foundation
All Wyoming Families Should Have School Choice
Wyoming Liberty Group
California Fires Don’t Justify an Energy Industry Shakedown
California Policy Center
Conditions to Put on Federal Relief Funds
California Policy Center
Edward Ring Testifies Before Congress on the California Fires and the Consequences of Overregulation
California Policy Center
Solar Farms Are Killing NC’s Farmland – Nuclear Can Save It
John Locke Foundation
Sen. Wimberger Again Asks Gov. Evers for Clarification on PFAS Protections
MacIver Institute
The Mysterious Poisoning of Texas Farmlands and Livestock
Texas Public Policy Foundation
How Wind and Solar Variability Drives Up Texas Electricity Prices
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Trump Official Asked to Stop Dominion Wind Construction: Why the Thomas Jefferson Institute Didn’t Join the Request
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Nuclear Risks: A Conversation with Dr. Gordon Edward
Wyoming Liberty Group
Lawmakers Table Nuclear Waste Storage but Idea Isn’t Dead – Flurry of Nuclear Activity in Wyoming and Elsewhere
Wyoming Liberty Group
Wisconsinites’ Health Is Deteriorating: Madison Needs to Wake Up
Badger Institute
Hammond Warns Against ‘Unsustainable’ Medicaid Spending
Empire Center
Testimony of Bill Hammond on the Health and Medicaid Budget for FY 2026
Empire Center
Medicaid’s Missing Million
Empire Center
Frontier Institute Statement in Support of HB 414
Frontier Institute
Dental Therapists Provide Much-Needed Access to Dental Care
James Madison Institute
Georgia School Districts Prepare to Block Property Tax Relief While Holding Billions in Reserves
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
The House Call – Accessory Dwelling Units are Officially Legal Statewide in Massachusetts
Pioneer Institute
State Demographer Outlines Consequences of Minnesota’s Ongoing Loss of Young People
Center of the American Experiment
Greater Chicago Hit Hard as Illinois Sees 2,342 Mass Layoffs in January
Illinois Policy
Build it and They Will Come — Maybe
Indiana Policy Review Foundation
Tariffs Are a Bad Idea
Mackinac Center
Sick Leave Mandate Will Hurt Michigan Charities
Mackinac Center
New Reports Find South Carolina Leads in Economic Freedom & Federalism
Palmetto Promise Institute
Study Finds Bump in State Population Due to Changes in Census Bureau Methodology
Pioneer Institute
The Super Bowl Is a Bad Bet for New Orleans
Show-Me Institute
Land-Rich and House-Poor
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Testimony on H.B. 6831: An Act Concerning Transit-Oriented Communities
Yankee Institute
Alabama Legislature May Take Up Gaming Again, Conservative Think Tank Says It’s a Bad Bet
Alabama Policy Institute
Time to Bring California Out of the Municipal Reporting Stone Age
California Policy Center
Minnesota’s Budget Deficit: Poll Shows Minnesotans Want Lower Taxes
Center of the American Experiment
Which Retired NYPD Cops Are Collecting $600K?
Empire Center
Don’t Tax Me, Bro
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Illinois Lawmakers Plan to Short Pensions by $5.1B in July
Illinois Policy
Felon Madigan Should Repay Taxpayers Nearly $600K for Public Pension
Illinois Policy
Iowa Shouldn’t Rush Tax Changes Amid Federal Uncertainty
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation
Time to Advance Constitutional Protections for Taxpayers
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation
Court Ruling a Warning for Oklahoma State Pensions
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Will There Ever Be Any Good News About the High-Speed Rail?
Pacific Research Institute
Higher Taxes Won’t Solve Alcohol’s Harms
Rio Grande Foundation
The Cost of Valentine’s Day | Fast Facts
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Was the Fatal Flaw for This Sensible Tax Bill Simply the Support from Youngkin?
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Trump’s Labor Secretary Pick Is a Union Favorite—and a Threat to Right-to-Work Laws
Commonwealth Foundation
Media Starting to Echo Freedom Foundation’s Warnings About Teachers Unions
Freedom Foundation
Where California Goes, So Does the Nation
Freedom Foundation
No Illinois Teacher Strikes in 2024, But Will Chicago Teachers Union Strike in 2025?
Illinois Policy
Prairie Fire, 50 Years Later
California Policy Center
Governor Haley Barbour: Leadership and Legacy
Empower Mississippi
Former Illinois House Speaker Madigan Guilty of Bribery, Conspiracy, Wire Fraud
Illinois Policy
Wisconsin Rep. Worries about possible Bird Flu Emergency Order
MacIver Institute
The Chevron Debate Comes to Missouri
Show-Me Institute
In The Los Angeles Daily News, the California Policy Center’s Marc Joffe highlights the setbacks to California’s high-speed rail project.
In the Courier Post, the Garden State Initiative’s Audrey Lane points out New Jersey needs a new energy plan.
In the Muskogee Politico, the Goldwater Institute’s Timothy K. Minellaargues Oklahoma must stop forcing students into DEI classes.
In the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois Policy Institute’s Paul Vallas considers what it would mean if the Department of Education were abolished.
In the Coolidge Review, the Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation’s John Hendrickson takes a historical look at the debate over tariffs and trade policy.
In the Carolina Journal, the John Locke Foundation’s Donald Bryson breaks down why protectionist policies won’t solve America’s economic challenges and how the focus should be on tackling government spending and debt.
In his column for The Detroit News, the Mackinac Center’s Mike Reitz criticizes Michigan State Representative Betsy Coffia for the disparity between her public statements and her voting record regarding corporate subsidies.
In The Telegraph, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s Douglas Carswell notes Trump should offer asylum to Britons fleeing high-tax, authoritarian Britain.
In The News Tribune, the Mountain States Policy Center’s Madi Clark makes the case for legislative control during emergencies in Washington.
In The Center Square, the Mountain States Policy Center’s Sam Cardwell argues Washington should stop relying on California regulators for auto rules.
In The American Spectator, the Pacific Research Institute’s Matthew Fleming argues Newsom’s battle against misinformation should be directed inward.
In her column for Newsmax, the Pacific Research Institute’s Sally Pipes notes the Drug-price Transparency for Consumers Act would only make drug prices more confusing for consumers.
In the Washington Examiner, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Robert Henneke highlights how the Trump Administration is embracing Texas’ efforts to secure the border.
In his recent column, John Hood considers the benefits of school choice.
