Announcements

• The Buckeye Institute challenged Ohio’s pandemic municipal tax rules to permit taxing people where they were neither working nor living. And now it’s won a case against Cleveland. Cleveland.com’s Today on Ohio podcast talks about what this means for Ohioans who paid taxes in their office cities while working at home during the pandemic. 

• Empire Center filed a FOIL request seeking information behind the leak of an unredacted list of donors to former Ambassador Nikki Haley’s non-profit organization, Stand for America. The documents appear to have originated from OAG, as they are marked with the official stamp of the attorney general.

• The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii asked that President Joe Bidenuse his authority to give Puerto Rico a one-year waiver from the Jones Act to assist in recovery efforts after Hurricane Fiona.

• Thanks to the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s redesigned Center for American Education website, Idaho parents and residents now have more resources at their disposal to help them better understand the state’s education system, the benefits of school choice, and the educational resources available to them and their children.

• A Michigan mom is suing the Chippewa Valley School Board for violating her First Amendment rights. Sandra Hernden, with the help of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, is taking legal action after facing retaliation from members of the school board. Hernden spoke out against the district’s COVID-19 policies, and district officials responded by reporting her to her employer and then to the Department of Justice.

• As West Coast cities face rising crime, soaring housing costs, sprawling homelessness and devastated downtowns, the Pacific Research Institute launched the “Free Cities Center,” an ambitious initiative cultivating innovative ideas to improve urban life based around freedom and property rights – not government.

• The Texas Public Policy Foundation released a proposal calling for states to enact “empowerment accounts” as an alternative to federal safety net programs. 

• The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed suit in Washington County Circuit Court on behalf of Wisconsin Right Now, a Wisconsin-based conservative news outlet that sought public records from the Wisconsin Parole Commission (WPC). Despite having months to fulfill the request, WPC failed to comply with the public records law and did not turn over the requested records.

Success stories

• The Buckeye Institute won Morsy v. Dumas, one of its five cases challenging Ohio’s pandemic-era municipal income tax system. The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas ruled in favor of Buckeye’s client, denying Cleveland’s motion to dismiss the case, ordering the city to issue a refund, and ordering the city to pay court costs.

• The Michigan Senate passed part of a bill package that would amend and improve Michigan’s emergency power laws. The Mackinac Center noted the eight bills passed address statutes in Michigan that give the governor or other state officials the authority to act unilaterally in case of emergency.

• The Show-Me Institute highlighted how the Missouri Legislature passed a $1 billion income tax cut plan.

• The James Madison Institute’s President & CEO, Dr. Bob McClure, was named one of the top 150 most influential people in politics by INFLUENCE Magazine.

This Week on SPN.org

New SPN Report Outlines How States Can Encourage Education Entrepreneurship

States are showing Washington how to relieve inflation

Solutions from the states: This week’s policy briefs

• The Badger Institute released four new reports as part of a Mandate for Madison crime and public safety package. The reports examine crime trends in Wisconsin, Wisconsin court backlogs, the Milwaukee Police Department’s attrition crisis, and technology and reforms that can improve public safety and produce cost savings for those under state supervision.

• The Caesar Rodney Institute published a report on Delaware’s workforce before and after COVID-19. 

• A new report released from Center of the American Experiment details how Minnesota’s government policy responses to COVID-19 cost each resident $1,866 in lost GDP by the end of the first quarter of 2021, or $7,464 for a family of four.

• The nation’s four largest government unions lost almost 219,000 members combined after the US Supreme Court ended forced unionism for government workers in Janus v. AFSCME, according to a new report released today by the Commonwealth Foundation.

• The number of educators receiving six-figure salaries has increased by 50% in the last ten years, according to salary data posted by the Empire Center.

• The Independence Institute released a report that uncovers a massive increase in special interest tax benefits promulgated under the Colorado Governor’s administration. This is after Governor Polis campaigned on reducing such tax benefits and using the new revenue to lower taxes for all. 

• In a new report, the Mountain States Policy Center considers how to make gas taxes more transparent.

• The James Madison Institute released an updated backgrounder examining the role of Puerto Rican voters in Florida elections.

Policy News from the States

Crime

Sheriff Cuts Patrols Due To Shortage Of Deputies
Center of the American Experiment

Education

Oregon Ranks 40th on Heritage Foundation’s “Education Freedom Report Card”
Cascade Policy Institute

A Look at Covid Learning Loss in NYC
Empire Center

Why Has Charter School Progress Been Slow?
Empower Mississippi

Empower Reacts To Charter Board Approving Only One New Charter
Empower Mississippi

Arizona Teachers Unions Apparently Fail to Overturn Universal School Choice Reform
Goldwater Institute

New K-12 Data Shows Schools Falling Further Behind
Institute for Reforming Government

Civic Education is Broken. Teachers Agree.
Libertas Institute

Oklahoma Testing Results Remain Well Below Pre-Pandemic Norm
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Louisiana Schools Need Leadership, Not Lower Expectations
Pelican Institute

Energy and the Environment

The Forest Management Strategy Helping To Save Montana Forests
Frontier Institute

Election Integrity

Who Should Be Allowed to Vote in Alaska Elections?
Alaska Policy Forum

Illinois Early Voting Starts As Vote-By-Mail Ballots Go Out
Illinois Policy Institute

Government Accountability

No Excuses: Government Meetings Should Be Live-Streamed
Mountain States Policy Center

State Agency Is Making Rules For Inslee’s Permanent Vaccine Mandate
Washington Policy Center

Healthcare

The State Puts A Pricey Condition On Its Approval Of A Heart Transplant Center
Empire Center

Let Healthcare Professionals Get To Work
Frontier Institute

Housing

Does Rent Control Advance Racial Equity? Evidence Says No
Center of the American Experiment

Fact check: Homeowners worse off under Pritzker
Illinois Policy Institute

Reminder: Rent Control Will Not Solve the Florida Housing Crisis
The James Madison Institute

Inflation

CBO: Poor Households Are Disproportionately Affected By Inflation
Center of the American Experiment

High Inflation Could Lead To Property Tax Hikes In Illinois
Illinois Policy Institute

North Carolina Businesses Cut Costs, Lay Off Workers Amid High Inflation
John Locke Foundation

Jobs And State Economies

America Needs Florida’s Secret to Success: Work
Foundation for Government Accountability

Stress Cracks In The Labor Market
Georgia Center for Opportunity

Nearly Half Of Illinois’ Metropolitan Areas Lost Jobs In August
Illinois Policy Institute

Is Florida Such A Tax-Friendly State?
The James Madison Institute

98 NC Counties Saw Increases in Unemployment in August
John Locke Foundation

Stagnation Continues In The Kansas Economy With Tax & Spend Mentality
Kansas Policy Institute

State Budgets and Spending

Will Tax Cuts Make Inflation Worse?
Center of the American Experiment

Mississippi Part Of Growing Flat Tax Trend
Empower Mississippi

Conservative Budgeting Continues to Pay Off for Iowa
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation

Giving Property Tax Protection “Teeth”
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation

Student Loan Cancellation

Lawsuit Filed To Stop Student Loan Cancellation
Empower Mississippi

Student Loan Forgiveness: Biden Wants More People Dependent on Government
John Locke Foundation

Other

Prop. 30 Splits California’s Ruling Elite
California Policy Center

Amendment 2: What You Need To Know
Cardinal Institute

Don’t Get Used to the Recent Drop in Gas Prices
Independence Institute

British Universities Show Why “More” Does Not Mean “Better”
Mississippi Center for Public Policy

ESG Targets Oklahoma Economy, Jobs
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

November Ballot Question Seeks To Set Term Limits For Baltimore City Elected Officials
Maryland Public Policy Institute

“We Will Succeed Because We Have To”
Washington Policy Center

Seattle City Council Bans Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers
Washington Policy Center

Think Tanks in the News

‘Refundable’ Tax Credits Wrong Policy For Boosting Signature Industries
Bluegrass Institute in the Richmond Register

Wind Turbine Lawsuit Ruling Could Mean Delays For Wind Farms
Caesar Rodney Institute cited in the Cape Gazette

Concerns Raised As Ørsted, U.S. Wind Projects Progress Off Coast Of Delmarva
Caesar Rodney Institute featured at WMDT Online

California’s Prop. 30 Will Not Save the Forests
California Policy Center in The Epoch Times

The Teacher Shortage Isn’t The Real Issue With Philly Schools
Commonwealth Foundation in The Philadelphia Inquirer

To Rein in Biden, Look to Florida’s Example
Foundation for Government Accountability at Newsweek

How Biden’s Election Takeover Scheme Is Being Carried Out
Foundation for Government Accountability in the Washington Times

It’s Past Time To Renovate Atlanta
Georgia Public Policy Foundation in the Dalton Daily Citizen

Jared Polis’ Magic Tricks Cost You
Independence Institute in The Gazette

Let’s Make Medicaid Expansion Work
John Locke Foundation in the Anson Record

Indiana Works With Right-To-Work
Mackinac Center in The County Press

Reading Past the Democrat and Media Spin on the Jackson Water Crisis
Mississippi Center for Public Policy at The Daily Signal

NM Must Push Back At Our State’s Acceptance Of Idleness
Rio Grande Foundation in the Albuquerque Journal

Connecticut Recession Debate Misses The Point
Yankee Institute in the CT Mirror

Events and Opportunities

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