Announcements

• The Frontier Institute released the Free Market Healthcare Hub, a new resource to help patients find verified Direct Patient Care (DPC) providers operating in Montana. The Hub also links to resources Montanans can use to shop for healthcare from providers that embrace price transparency and free market principles.
• The Goldwater Institute sued the city of Phoenix today on behalf of two Arizona taxpayers, challenging the city’s illegal $7 million subsidy of a residential high-rise in the heart of downtown Phoenix.
• The James Madison Institute congratulated Logan Elizabeth Padgett as she is promoted to Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs for the Institute.

This Week on SPN.org

Supreme Court Leak Further Undermines Americans’ Trust In Institutions

Arizona helps patients with new Right to Try legislation

Success Stories

• Tennessee passed the Investment in Student Achievement Act, or TISA. The Beacon Center noted TISA replaces what was possibly the nation’s most convoluted funding formula with a student-based approach. In short, going forward, Tennessee will begin to fund students, not systems. 
• Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin recently signed a bill into law that protects the privacy of nonprofit donor and member lists from demands by government agencies to collect this sensitive information. The passage of this law in Virginia marks the second victory for donor privacy in the states this year, following the passage of a similar bill in Kansas in mid-April.
• The Louisiana House of Representatives passed two bills to create education savings accounts (ESAs). The Pelican Institute noted the bills create education savings accounts for kids who have been bullied, sexually assaulted, or have special needs, so they can have access to an educational environment that is better suited to their needs.
• Thanks to the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a Wisconsin legislative committee suspended a rule that effectively banned pools and hot tubs at vacation homes. The rule required hot tubs and pools at homes rented on sites like AirBnb and VRBO to meet the commercial pool code—meant for waterparks and hotels—which is either impossible or cost prohibitive for homeowners to comply with.

Solutions from the states: This week’s policy briefs

The Citizens Guide to the Wisconsin Administrative State
A new report by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty provides an overview of the constitutional and statutory underpinnings of the administrative state, an overview of the rulemaking process, how the Legislature and the public at large are empowered to hold agencies accountable to the law, and what to do if an agency does not play by the rules. 

Cold and Dark?
Empire Center‘s latest report analyzes the immense energy deficit that could be created by the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. By shifting solely to renewables—which will be unable to provide New York with all the energy it needs when it needs it—the Climate Act puts New York at risk of dangerous winter blackouts.

Curriculum Transparency: A Must for Effective Parent-Teacher Relationships
A new report by the Independence Institute examines the issue of curriculum transparency in Colorado through several lenses, including how Colorado’s current laws and local policies could be strengthened to equip parents with the information they need to make good educational choices and act as full partners in their children’s education.

Policy News from the States

Criminal Justice Reform

DOJ Releases Report On State Prisons: What’s Next?
Empower Mississippi

Education

Kentucky’s Education Results: Claim Doesn’t Match Facts
Bluegrass Institute

Lift the Cap on Oregon Charter Schools
Cascade Policy Institute

Teachers Deserve Appreciation
Empower Mississippi

How To Reduce Politicization in U.S. Schools
Goldwater Institute

The School Choice Questions We Should Be Asking
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation

What’s Always Missing From the Discussion on Teacher Pay?
John Locke Foundation

Boxes Are Finally Getting Checked
Show-Me Institute

Energy and Environment

New Yorkers Deserve a Choice of Gas Heat or Electrification
Empire Center

Healthcare

Tennessee: Hare in Healthcare, Tortoise in Telemedicine
Beacon Center

Keep Telehealth Accessible For Rural Patients
Cardinal Institute

Governor Mcmaster: “CON Has Been Weaponized.”
Palmetto Promise Institute

Housing Affordability

Property Owners Express Concern Over “Shocking Increases” In Valuations
Center of the American Experiment

Time Is Running Out For Statewide Housing Reform This Year
Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy

Jobs And State Economies

Job Openings Hit Record High
Empower Mississippi

Does Occupational Licensing Protect The Public?
Empower Mississippi

Time To Let Hawaii Tourism Stand On Its Own
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Illinois’ State Policy Choices Boost Threat From Potential U.S. Recession
Illinois Policy Institute

How Patrick Mahomes’s Haircut Demonstrates the Ridiculousness of Occupational Licensing
Libertas Institute

Arizona Continues to Invite Innovation with Sandboxes
Libertas Institute

Don’t Let Companies Rewrite Corporate Welfare Rules
Mackinac Center

State Budgets and Spending

U.S. Gross Domestic Product Update
Georgia Center for Opportunity

Neighbor States Pursue Real Tax Reform As Pritzker Offers Election-Year Gimmicks
Illinois Policy Institute

How Does Your Property Tax Bill Compare?
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation

Moving Some Of The State Surplus To Pensions Would Save Taxpayers Money
Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy

Will Long-Term Kansas Tax Relief Please Stand Up?
Kansas Policy Institute

State Poised To Sue Over Misspent Funds
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Nebraska’s 2022 Tax Cuts: What’s Good & What’s Not   
Platte Institute

SCOTUS Leak/Roe v. Wade

SCOTUS Leak Jeopardizes the Court’s Integrity
John Locke Foundation

Roe Leak Will Do Lasting Damage to Court Independence
Mackinac Center

Potential ‘Roe’ Ruling No Reason to Pack Court
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Abortion In Wisconsin: What Happens If Roe V. Wade Is Overturned?
Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty

Workplace Freedom

Are Private Sector Unions Passé?
California Policy Center

Other

Wisconsinites Overwhelmingly Support Work Requirements, Police In Schools
Badger Institute

With Student Debt Cancellation, Biden Admin Is Preparing Vast Gifts To The Better Off
Center of the American Experiment

Embracing a Better Foster Care System in Kentucky
Pegasus Institute

Student Debt Cancellation: Paying For Your Neighbors’ College Education
Pioneer Institute

The Moral Problems with Student Loan Forgiveness
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Think Tanks in the News

When It Comes To Spending, Alabama Is “Bluer” Than New York And California
Alabama Policy Institute in Alabama Today

Kentucky’s Education Results: Claim Doesn’t Match Facts
Bluegrass Institute in The Times Leader

House Bill 235 Makes Hiring, Doing Business In Ohio More Expensive
The Buckeye Institute in The Lima News

World Of Witchcraft: California’s Anti-Business Campaign Clear In The War Against Activision
California Policy Center in The Orange County Register

Hair Technician License Would Improve Cosmetology Licensing
Center of the American Experiment in the Herald Review

Disconnected Politicians Lose Those Who ‘Vote Their Jobs’
Commonwealth Foundation in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Scapegoating Prevents A Return To Fiscal Sanity
Empower Mississippi at National Review

Where Are The Workers?
Foundation for Government Accountability at RealClearPolicy

It’s Time for States to Bury the ‘Death Tax’
Garden State Initiative at RealClearPolicy

Biden Administration New Public Charter Schools Proposal Should Be Rejected
Georgia Public Policy Foundation in the Dalton Daily Citizen

Jones Act Is ‘Pro-American’ Only If Failure Is The Policy Metric
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii in the Hawaii Reporter

Why the Leak of the Draft Decision on Roe v. Wade?
Independence in The Epoch Times

Some Missing Workers Are Really Lost
John Locke Foundation in the Richmond County Daily Journal

How Conservative States Are Cutting Taxes And Growing
Mississippi Center for Public Policy on the Ben Shapiro Show

Biden Must Not Kill Off Short-Term Health Plans
Pacific Research Institute in the Washington Examiner

Every Louisianan Should Have the Right to Earn a Living
Pelican Institute in The Advocate

It’s Time To Eliminate Social Security Tax In New Mexico
Rio Grande Foundation in the Farmington Daily Times

Government Shouldn’t Decide Which Churches ‘Deserve’ A Tax Exemption
Sutherland Institute in The Salt Lake Tribune

Elon Musk Faces Uphill Battle To Make Twitter More Free
The James Madison Institute in the Washington Examiner

The Problem That Supporters Of Roe V. Wade Could Never Solve: There Is No Right To Abortion In The Constitution.
Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Events and Opportunities

Please see SPN’s Network Calendar for a full list of events.