May 5, 2023
Week in Review: May 5, 2023
Center of the American Experiment announced that Corey DeAngelis, a leading authority on school choice, will give the keynote address at their May 10th event, Expanding Education Freedom in Minnesota.
The Ethan Allen Institute announced George Will as their keynote speaker at their 30th Anniversary Galan on May 31.
Freedom Foundation released a statement condemning the Oregon Legislature’s violation of Senate rules.
The Georgia Public Policy Foundation released a video which illustrates how Certificate of Need laws limit healthcare access in Georgia.
In Arizona, the Goldwater Institute sent the Tempe City Council a letter urging it not to adopt an illegal “prevailing wage” ordinance which would restrict qualified businesses from competing for taxpayer-funded public-works projects while hurting small businesses, minorities, younger workers, and all Tempe taxpayers.
Independence Institute released a short video highlighting how Colorado lawmakers are proposing over $600 million in new tax expenditures.
Mackinac Center released a memorial for Amy Green, who served the Center for decades and who passed after a yearlong struggle with cancer on May 1, 2023.
Maine Policy Institute provided testimonies opposing a state takeover of utilities, supporting acts which proposes to eliminate the personal property tax and reduce income tax, in support of establishing right-to-work in Maine, and more.
Nevada Policy Research Institute released a video that notes there is no correlation between spending and student performance.
Texas Public Policy Foundation celebrated the release of a new, 900-page guide to policy solutions that focuses on issues like energy, higher education, workforce development, national defense, and criminal justice.
The Buckeye Institute, and Ohio’s other leading school choice groups, recently hosted Martin Lueken, director of the Fiscal Research & Education Center at EdChoice, and Dr. Michael Q. McShane, director of national research at EdChoice, to discuss their newly published report entitled K-12 Without Borders: Public School Students, Families, and Teachers Shut in by Education Boundaries.
The Buckeye Institute will join a City Club of Cleveland panel to discuss Senate Bill 83, Ohio’s Higher Education Enhancement Act, which would strengthen First Amendment rights and reshape Ohio’s higher education system to meet the needs of the 21st century. The discussion will be live streamed at noon (ET) on Friday, March 12.
Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit in the US District Court against a Washington State Council of County and City Employees seeking an injunction to stop an alleged internal policy of “not accepting forms requesting to drop individuals’ dues payments from undisclosed or any third parties.”
Freedom Foundation also filed a lawsuit against three Los Angeles Unified School District employees who denied access to information about where and when new hires would be required to attend mandatory orientation sessions sure to include a high-pressure recruiting pitch from the union designated by the state to represent them.
Goldwater Institute filed an amicus brief urging the court to protect parental and First Amendment rights in a case heard this week by the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a lawsuit brought by the National Taxpayers Union, the Pelican Institute, and the Goldwater Institute against Louisiana’s sales tax laws which require businesses to calculate sales taxes for each given jurisdiction or parish.
This week the US Supreme Court decided to hear Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in this important case and called on the court to tell government bureaucrats they cannot force commercial fishermen to host, house, and feed federal government monitors on their vessels, nor can they force the fishermen to pay the government employees’ salaries.
Arizona: The Goldwater Institute secured a win for taxpayers, businesses, and employees against the City of Phoenix and its illegal “Prevailing Wage Ordinance for City Projects” law. City Council voted to repeal its ordinance days after Goldwater attorneys sent a letter expressing significant concerns with the law’s legality. Specifically, the Goldwater Institute called out the council for introducing the ordinance on short notice with almost no chance for public scrutiny and including burdensome new regulations that are likely preempted by state law.
Hawaii: The State Legislature approved a “pass-through entity” bill which would reduce taxation on Hawaii businesses at no cost to the state (Grassroot Institute of Hawaii).
Iowa: The Iowa Legislature passed a property tax reform measure this week. Upon becoming signed into law, the bill is estimated to deliver $100 million in direct tax relief, while providing additional transparency and enhanced taxpayer protections (Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation).
North Carolina: State Legislature passed a universal school choice bill with enough votes to override a Governor veto, meaning the state will become the seventh in the nation to make this move in the past two years.
Texas: The Legislature passed groundbreaking legislation that will independently assess the rules, minimum standards, and contract requirements that apply to licensed child welfare service providers (Texas Public Policy Foundation).
Alabama Policy Institute released a brief that provides convincing evidence in favor of a school choice bill that is scheduled to receive a public hearing in the Alabama House Education Policy Committee.
Center of the American Experiment pointed out in a recent brief that it is deceiving to compare new wind and solar costs to new coal, gas, and nuclear costs, and yet this comparison is frequently made by wind and solar advocates.
The experts at the Empire Center for Public Policy provided insight on the 2023 New York State budget.
In hopes of showing how Idaho taxpayers can hope to curb the growth of government spending and reliance on the federal government, the Idaho Freedom Foundation shed light on the budget process in Idaho and on how the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee makes policy in the state.
Institute for Reforming Government circulated a memo that explains how Wisconsin can tackle the teacher shortage by opening the teaching profession to apprenticeships.
John Locke Foundation outlined five crucial reforms that the North Carolina Legislature should incorporate into its next budget.
Mackinac Center criticized the United Way’s report which stated that 39% of the residents of Michigan are on the verge of starvation and death.
Platte Institute analyzed Nebraska lawmakers’ ambitious goal of achieving historic property tax relief in 2023.
In a new policy memo, The Buckeye Institute outlined how—by expanding school choice—Ohio lawmakers can help parents tailor learning resources to meet their child’s educational needs. Buckeye offered lawmakers four specific recommendations to “make it easier for families to provide the best education for their children” and pointed out that Ohio’s record-breaking surplus gives the Senate a historic opportunity to expand school choice to every child in every family in every community.
A analysis by The Buckeye Institute found that even after the increases in the Ohio House budget, many working-class families would still be unable to take advantage of an EdChoice voucher. For example, a postal worker and nurse living in Lima with one child earn too much to qualify for EdChoice. So would a power-line installer and plumber with two children in Cleveland and a police officer and teacher in the Dayton area.
Connecticut: There are several “good” bills that survived the committee process and will now receive their day on the General Assembly floor, including a bill concerning telehealth, one that sets the maximum charge for certain occupational licenses, and one that would establish a task force to study stop-loss insurance (Yankee Institute).
Hawaii: The Legislature has passed a few pieces of the Governor’s “Green Affordability Plan,” which features a few measures that seek to provide tax relief in the state (Grassroot Institute of Hawaii).
Louisiana: The House Education Committee approved (paywall warning) two measures designed to open up school choice opportunities for families: one would also allow parents to enroll their children in the public school of their choice, and the other would create an education saving accounts for parents to use to send their child to a school of their choice (Pelican Institute).
North Carolina: Legislation that would require state university and two-year community college students to complete a course on America’s government and founding documents passed the House and is working its way through the Senate (Steamboat Institute).
South Carolina: A House Committee has developed amendments to existing bills which would, if signed into law, make the state’s 2023 CON reforms among the most significant in America (Palmetto Promise).
Wisconsin: Lawmakers introduced a plan which would require hospitals to keep a list on their website of 300 “shoppable services,” or nonemergency procedures they provide. The plan would ban hospitals from charging for the information or requiring people to set up user accounts to read it.
Ensure Kids Read by Nine: Instructional Materials, Summer Programs, and Read-At-Home Programs
Alaska Policy Forum
Critical Race Theory: Its Origins and Infiltration of California’s Public Schools
California Policy Center
Oakland Teachers’ Union Puts Districts’ Most Vulnerable Students Last
California Policy Center
Why K-12 School Choice Shouldn’t be Controversial
Center of the American Experiment
U.S. 8th Graders Struggle with U.S. History
Center of the American Experiment
Highlights from the History of North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program
John Locke Foundation
Educrats Could Use Some Humility
John Locke Foundation
Stop Measuring Your Kids
Libertas Institute
Education Beyond Stereotypes
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
More than $1 Billion Spent Outside of Funding Formula in Oklahoma State Department of Education
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
L.A. Charter Schools Receive Less Funding Than Regular Public Schools
Pacific Research Institute
What an Arizona Mom Learning about the Effects of Parental Involvement
Sutherland Institute
Georgia’s CON Laws Reduce Access to Healthcare
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Setting the Record Straight on Medicaid in Idaho
Idaho Freedom Foundation
Biden Administration Threatens Tulsa Hospital Over Candle
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
We Oppose Delaware Offshore Wind because it’s Expensive, Unreliable, and Threatens the Natural Environment
Cesar Rodney Institute
More on California’s Crazy Ban on Diesel Trucks
Center of the American Experiment
Ninth Circuit Ruling Keeps Flame on Gas Stoves – for Now
Empire Center for Public Policy
Sound Transit Looks to Make the State’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard Even More Wasteful and Ineffective
Washington Policy Center
Eminently Debatable: Judge Moses’s Reasoning on the Laurel Power Plant Shutdown
Frontier Institute
How Are We Going to Build New Transmission Lines for Renewable Energy Transition?
Pacific Research Institute
Refusing to Pay Your Debts is Not “Bill Relief”
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Dominion Changes Course on Natural Gas, SMR Nukes
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Data Show that Minnesota’s Employment Has Declined Most Among 20 to 24-Year-Olds – Fifth Biggest Fall in the U.S.
Center of the American Experiment
While Small Business Gets Squeezed, Big Business Gets Bailed Out
Center of the American Experiment
Second Big Investment Firm May Leave Chicago for Miami
Illinois Policy Institute
North Carolina’s March Local Jobs Report Explained
John Locke Foundation
No New Taxes? That’s Not How It’s Going to Feel in Washington State
Washington Policy Center
Examining an Alaska Pension Reform Counterfactual
Alaska Policy Forum
How Minnesota Taxes Compare: A 2023 Update
Center of the American Experiment
When is a Tax Cut Not a Tax Cut? When it Doesn’t Cut Taxes
Center of the American Experiment
Albany’s Belated Budget Binge
Empire Center for Public Policy
Hawaii Legislature on Track to Violate State’s Legal Spending Limit
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ways to Counter Property Tax Increases in Hawaii
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Cook County Pension ‘Fix’ Could Cost Illinois Billions, Fail to Fund Retirements
Illinois Policy Institute
Illinois Politicians Want Extra $25M for Democratic National Convention Security in Chicago
Illinois Policy Institute
April Revenues Setting up Iowa’s Next Fiscal Year for Success
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation
North Carolina’s Wake County Proposes Another Tax Increase
John Locke Foundation
Many States Do Not Fund PBS
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
‘Induced Demand’ a Poor Excuse Not to Build Highways
Pacific Research Institute
California State Budget Update: Lawmakers Propose ‘Old Fashioned Tax and Spend Budget’
Pacific Research Institute
Two Birds, One Stone: Could an Income Tax Cut Help Missouri Reverse Two Declines?
Show-Me Institute
Governor Carney ‘Fiscal’ Success Isn’t
Caesar Rodney Institute
Congressional Hearing Features Union-Backed Politicians
Americans for Fair Treatment
PA Labor Unions Push to Expand Power at Hearing
Americans for Fair Treatment
Union Membership Declines in New York, Other States
Americans for Fair Treatment
Radical Union Leader Power Grab Passed in the PA House
Commonwealth Foundation
Disgruntled CSEA Members Turn Up the Heat this Spring
Freedom Foundation
Two Bills Passed By WA Legislature Expose Union Hypocrisy On Public Employee Privacy
Freedom Foundation
April Brings a Shower of Opt-Outs
Freedom Foundation
Federal Vaccine Mandate on Employees in Ending; Washington State’s Remains
Washington Policy Center
Pennsylvania Unions Push Misleading Labor Amendment Modeled After Illinois’ Amendment 1
Illinois Policy Institute
Meat Production Doesn’t Have to be Cruel
Washington Policy Center
New IRS Data Show Number of Minnesotans Fleeing to Florida Increased By 47% in Most Recent Year
Center of the American Experiment
The Top Two Reforms to Restore Federal Fiscal Sanity
Foundation for Government Accountability
Government Regulations a Costly Barrier to Home Construction
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
How to Feed a Culture of Dependency
John Locke Foundation
Fact-Checking the Feud on Government Funded (Or Not) Entities
MacIver Institute
Increasingly Restrictive Laws Won’t Fix Nevada Housing
Nevada Policy Research Institute
In her recent column for The Philadelphia Inquirer (paywall warning), the Commonwealth Foundation’s Jennifer Stefano notes juvenile justice reform is broadly supported by voters from both parties in Pennsylvania.
In The Daily Caller, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy outlined three steps America can take to save your dollar’s value and status.
In The Spokesman-Review, the Washington Policy Center argues it is time to delist gray wolves in Eastern Washington.
In The Tennessean , the Georgia Center for Opportunity outlines how to reduce juvenile crime in Memphis.
At National Review, the Commonwealth Foundation considers Pennsylvania’s energy policy.
In the Alpena News, the Mackinac Center considers the cost of Michigan’s transit services.
In The Advocate, the Pelican Institute encouraged Louisiana lawmakers to approve a responsible budget, fully fund the Rainy Day Fund, and ensure taxpayers get much-needed tax relief.
In The American Spectator, SPN’s Erin Norman highlights how the Biden Administration continues to put politics ahead of student learning.
At National Review, the Mackinac Center examines how Democrats are fast becoming the party of handouts to the rich.
