Announcements

• The Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), and the UTLA president—citing personal injury against the children kept out of in-person school for more than a year. Several media outlets covered the case, including Fox News and the California Globe.
• The Mackinac Center asked the US Supreme Court to hear a union agency fee case, Rizzo-Rupon v. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The case seeks to extend First Amendment protections to employees who have been unionized under the Railway Labor Act, which covers railway and airline employees.

This week on SPN.org

• West Virginia passes the most expansive and inclusive school choice program in the nation
• Utah helps thousands of entrepreneurs and businesses by adopting a regulatory sandbox
• Certificate-of-need laws: Why they exist and who they hurt
• How states can expand education opportunities for families in the wake of uncertain school reopenings
• Jobs Spotlight: State lockdown pain evident in leisure and hospitality job losses
• States offer an alternative path to save American healthcare

Success stories

• In a timeline, The Buckeye Institute demonstrates how its leadership helped kill one of the worst examples of crony capitalism in Ohio’s history—the taxpayer-funded nuclear bailout included in House Bill 6 from the 133rd General Assembly. Ohio House Bill 6 epitomizes the problem of corporate tax handouts and serves as an example of why The Buckeye Institute remains opposed to all taxpayer-funded subsidies.
• Kentucky lawmakers overrode the Kentucky Governor’s veto of historic school choice legislation. The bill creates a $25 million tax credit ESA program and offers parents the opportunity to enroll their child in a public school in a district different than the one where they reside. The Bluegrass Institute celebrated the bill and praised lawmakers for recognizing that no child should be denied a better public education just because they don’t happen to live in the district where the school which would provide them that opportunity is located.
• The Kentucky Legislature also overrode the Kentucky Governor’s veto of pension reform legislation. The bill creates a new pension tier in the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) and is based on ideas from the Bluegrass Institute. Bluegrass recommended the state create a hybrid pension plan offering new teachers a generous defined benefit at retirement while protecting taxpayers from future unfunded liabilities by including defined-contribution components.  
• There’s going to be a school choice initiative on the California ballot in November 2022. The California Policy Center noted that while this is not an absolute certainty, the grassroots support for school choice is strong, and the infrastructure necessary to nurture a grassroots effort is now in place.
• Empower Mississippi celebrated the passage of a bill that will expand parole eligibility for a broader category of offenders. During the legislative battle, Empower organized a broad coalition of criminal justice reform supporters, including state and national conservative advocacy organizations and faith leaders.
• The Mississippi Governor recently signed legislation that will make Mississippi the first state in the south to provide universal licensing reciprocity. Empower Mississippi’s Grant Callen, Russ Latino, and Steven Randle and Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s Jameson Taylor were on hand for the signing ceremony. MCPP interviewed the law’s author, Rep. Becky Currie, about the importance of the legislation and the impact it will have on Mississippi.
• The Georgia Legislature advanced legislation that will expand the state’s special needs scholarship program. Senate Bill 47 allows more children with physical or learning disabilities to participate in the program. The American Federation for Children pointed out this will expand the number of children who qualify for the program by 50,000 or more. The Georgia Center for Opportunity noted this is an important way to serve Georgia families and the special-needs community, as many of these students have been left behind due to school closures, learning loss, and lack of access to crucial therapies. The Georgia Public Policy Foundation highlighted how this is a win for Georgia’s children.
• The Georgia Legislature approved the Learning Pods Protection Act, which ensures learning pods will be protected against overregulation. The Georgia Public Policy Foundation noted that by ensuring that this innovative, flexible approach will remain unregulated, lawmakers are ensuring Georgia’s families will have options when they need them most.
• The Kansas Governor signed legislation that provides property tax transparency in the Sunflower State. The Kansas Policy Institute explained how the legislation will work. If local officials want to increase the revenue-neutral mill levy, they must notify citizens of their intent, hold a public hearing to accept input, and then vote on the entire property tax increase they impose. Kansas is now the third state in the nation with property tax transparency.
• Nevada lawmakers are considering a bill that would require both the Legislature’s and the governor’s explicit authorization of any regulatory appropriation in excess of $10,000,000. The Nevada Policy Research Institute testified in support of the legislation and noted this bill will curb the rate at which the administrative state has grown in recent years and promote cost-efficient solutions.
• The Oklahoma Governor signed legislation that would reduce payments to schools for students they do not teach. Under current law, state funding for schools can be based on the highest enrollment figure from the current year or the prior two years. That allows districts with declining enrollment to continue receiving payments for departed students, a practice informally referred to as “ghost student” funding since the pupils do not exist in those districts. The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs has been raising awareness on this issue and pointed out the state’s school districts receive nearly $200 million for these “ghost students.”
• The Texas Public Policy Foundation celebrated how the proposed budgets from both the Texas House and Senate fall below TPPF’s original proposed totals for a “Conservative Texas Budget.”
• The Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a ruling in Fabick v. Evers that declared the Wisconsin Governor’s use of multiple, consecutive emergency declarations unlawful. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty sued the governor in August 2020 over his emergency declarations, but the case was stayed as a result of the Fabick original action. WILL noted this decision ensures that Wisconsin’s constitutional order cannot be suspended for unlimited periods of time as long as the executive branch can justify an emergency declaration.

Solutions from the states: This week’s policy briefs

Policy Solutions for More Innovation: Build a Regulatory Sandbox for Financial Technology Innovators
The Buckeye Institute released a new policy brief that calls for Ohio to construct a regulatory sandbox, which would cut red tape that often keeps innovative technology from reaching users.

Policy Differences Across States Have Little Impact on Covid Misery Index
The John Locke Foundation released an analysis to understand how states were managing the tradeoff between jobs and lives in their policy responses to the pandemic.

Where Life is Written in Water: Why Water Issues Unite, Divide, and Matter So Much in Colorado
Nearly six million residents and 90 million people in 16 other states depend at least partly on Colorado’s water. Given Colorado’s limited water supply, Colorado’s water remains a contentious issue. A new paper from the Independence Institute discusses effective solutions to improve storage, supply, and quality of Colorado’s water.

Put Parents in Charge With a Universal ESA
A new paper by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs argues putting parents in charge of education through universal Education Savings Accounts is the best way to help schools cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis in a way that will actually deliver the best possible education.

The Graduated Income Tax Trap: A Retirement Tax on Small Business Owners
A new study by the Pioneer Institute warns the graduated income tax will harm many Massachusetts retirees.

Revenue Ratchet: Connecticut’s Income Tax At 30
In a new report, the Yankee Institute for Public Policy argues the 30^th anniversary of Connecticut’s personal income tax is an appropriate time to re-examine both the rationale behind its adoption and to measure how the tax has performed as a revenue source.

Policy news from the states

Checking in on legislative sessions

2021 Legislative Wrap Up
Bluegrass Institute

Testimony, HCR118 & HR94, Relating to Digital Currency
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Education

Beware the Four Day School Week
Cascade Policy Institute

Democrats, Teachers’ Unions, and Cold Hard Cash
John Locke Foundation

Rigorous Teacher Prep Programs and State Licensing Requirements Do Not Translate Into Higher Student Achievement.
Kansas Policy Institute

Pandemic Parenting: SC Charter, Independent, Home School Options Surge; Public Numbers Down Dramatically
Palmetto Promise Institute

Podcast: The Time for School Choice is Now.
Pegasus Institute

Energy and environment

If You Live A Modern Lifestyle, Thank Mining
Alaska Policy Forum

Pandemic Shutdown? Pay Up Anyway, Says Utility
Mackinac Center

Government accountability

2020 State Payroll Now Posted at SeeThroughNY
Empire Center for Public Policy

Audit Shows Improper Loan Forgiveness, Excessive Tax Credits by the Department of Economic and Community Development
Yankee Institute for Public Policy

Healthcare

Texas Fully Reopened Three Weeks Ago and Cases Did Not Surge
Center of the American Experiment

Medicaid Expansion Has Been a Disaster for Montana
Wyoming Liberty Group

Jobs and state economies

States Across The U.S. Seek To Follow Tennessee’s Lead In Becoming A True No-Income-Tax State
Beacon Center of Tennessee

Freeing Online Marketplaces From Protectionist Regulation
Beacon Center of Tennessee

Universal Occupational Licensing Recognition Promotes Worker Freedom
Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy

Research Shows That Higher Corporate Income Taxes Increase Income Inequality
Center of the American Experiment

Regulatory Reform Can Take Mississippi to Mars
Empower Mississippi

Should Hawaii Raise Taxes on the Rich?
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Keep Taxes Low
Frontier Institute

COVID Impact on NJ’s Economy Shown in GDP Reports
Garden State Initiative

35% of Illinois’ Small Businesses Are Closed a Year Into COVID-19 Restrictions
Illinois Policy Institute

Two Ways to Decide Whether Right to Work is Right for New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy

Principles for Broadband Expansion with the American Rescue Plan of 2021
Pelican Institute for Public Policy

National Data Show Nebraska’s Economic Resilience in 2020
Platte Institute

State budgets and spending

Oregon May Vote to Constantly Increase Infrastructure Spending
Cascade Policy Institute

CBO: Income Tax Hikes More Damaging Than Others
Center of the American Experiment

Lawmakers Mull Medicaid Proposals That Would Speed New York Toward a Fiscal Cliff
Empire Center for Public Policy

Just Say No to the Biden – Buttigieg Mileage Tax Scheme
John Locke Foundation

(Big) Solutions (Mini) Summit(s) Tax Reform Recap
Pelican Institute for Public Policy

Opportunity to Improve Roads Without Tax Increases Coming This Session
Pelican Institute for Public Policy

Podcast: How to Inform Nebraskans About Property Taxes
Platte Institute

How the Ocean State Should Spend Its Federal COVID Relief Funds
Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity

Beware of Tax Rate Complacency
Tax Education Foundation of Iowa

Other

Is Randi Weingarten a Real-Life Version of Marla Grayson?
Nevada Policy Research Institute

Are Property Rights Dead In California?
Pacific Research Institute

Christina Qi Goes From Welfare to Wall Street 
Pioneer Institute

Think tanks in the news

Professional Employees’ Empowerment Act Would Help Teachers, Other Public Employees
Beacon Center in the Jackson Sun

Tax-Hiking Zealots Have a Plan B — Sneaky Legislative Gimmick to Raise Gas Tax
Bluegrass Institute in Kentucky Forward

Adding the Words ‘Unfair Practice’ to Consumer Fraud Act: Necessary, or Not?
Caesar Rodney Institute in the Bay to Bay News

Voters Can Limit the Power of the Governor on May 18
Commonwealth Foundation in the Patriot-News

The Addiction Cuomo Can’t Quit: The Governor Keeps Giving the State’s Hospitals What They Want
Empire Center in The New York Daily News

Why is Welfare the Enemy of Middle-Class Mobility? The Case of ‘Leia’ Explains in a Nutshell
Foundation for Government Accountability at CNS News

We Didn’t Need Rescuing. But We Will Now, Thanks to the Biden Spending Bill.
Foundation for Government Accountability in Townhall

Government’s Heavy Hand Will Never Protect Conservatives
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota in the Star Tribune

Protect Our Lower Wage New Jersey Workers and Their Jobs
Garden State Initiative in USA Today

A Win for Georgia’s Children
Georgia Public Policy Foundation in the Daily Citizen-News

Ben Shapiro and Douglas Carswell Discuss American Greatness
Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Sometimes the Most Powerful Special Interest is the Government Itself
Nevada Policy Research Institute in The Nevada Independent

What These Fortune 500 Companies are Doing Right on Health Care
Pacific Research Institute in InsideSources

Conservatives Have Healthcare Ideas, Too
Pacific Research Institute in Forbes  

New Mexico Session Another Missed Opportunity
Rio Grande Foundation in Las Cruces Sun News

States Offer an Alternative Path to Save American Health Care
State Policy Network in US News & World Report

Iowa, Beware of Tax Rate Complacency
Tax Education Foundation of Iowa and Texas Public Policy Foundation in The Iowa Torch

Biden’s 2030 Carbon Goal Will Fail—and Bankrupt America
Texas Public Policy Foundation in The Epoch Times

Spokane’s Ballooning City Council Budget Worrisome for Taxpayers
Washington Policy Center in The Spokesman-Review

Events & Opportunities

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