By: Camille Walsh

This weekly round-up shares the latest news about what the Network is doing to promote state-based solutions that will improve the lives of families, workers, and local communities. If you are an SPN member and have an update you’d like us to include in next week’s round-up, please email us at updates@spn.org (all submissions are subject to SPN approval).

Announcements

  • Florida’s Governor appointed Tarren Bragdon, president and CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, to the Florida Government Efficiency Task Force. The Task Force was created to develop recommendations for improving governmental operations and reducing costs.

Success Stories

  • Alaska’s Attorney General argued that Alaska is not complying with the Janus decision. The Alaska Policy Forum noted that any action taken by the governor could affect 12,200 state employees. The state will now oversee the process of negotiating union dues to make sure unions are complying with Janus. Alaska workers now have a choice when it comes to union membership—they are no longer forced to pay dues to support union interests and political causes they may not agree with.   

Research & Initiatives

  • The John Locke Foundation, in collaboration with the Reason Foundation, published research on North Carolina’s public education financing system, highlighting how the current system is broken and recommending student-centered solutions to allow every child to benefit. 
  • The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit against the State Bar of Michigan for violating the First Amendment right to freely associate and be free from compelled political speech. The state of Michigan mandates that practicing attorneys pay an annual bar association fee of $315 and maintain membership in the State Bar of Michigan, a state agency. A portion of the fees are to be spent on political speech and used to support policy positions that members may not approve of.
  • What states have the best highways? According to the Reason Foundation’s annual state highway study, North Dakota, Virginia, and Missouri have the best performing, most cost-efficient state highway systems, while New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Hawaii have the worst.

Think Tanks in the News

  • Alabama’s six cent gas tax increase goes into effect next week, an increase that will generate money for Rebuild Alabama—a campaign to improve the state’s highway system. The Alabama Policy Institute questioned whether the program will be effective.
  • Not you too, Nashville. Due to the city’s uncontrollable debt, Nashville is in serious danger of turning into the next Chicago or San Francisco, said the Beacon Center.
  • Is capitalism to blame for the high cost of insulin? Not if you look at the monopoly that insulin-making companies have, said the Bluegrass Institute. Three companies own more than 90 percent of the insulin market, and they abuse the patent process to get rid of competition. This is crony capitalism, not true capitalism.
  • In a piece for The Daily Caller, The Buckeye Institute’s Daniel Dew and Mackinac Center’s Jason Hayes called on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to end her misguided lawsuit to shut down Enbridge Energy’s Line 5. In bringing her lawsuit, Nessel has ignored economic and environmental concerns raised by neighboring states, industry and union leaders, and even members of her own party.
  • The Cascade Policy Institute made the case for school choice—pointing out how charter schools can help transient or at-risk students by giving them specialized attention. The CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Kyle Wingfield, considered the benefits of charter schools, debunking the common arguments against them. The Commonwealth Foundation also explained how school choice helps minorities and low-income families. Also new in state education? Thoughts from the Pioneer Institute—on ways to improve Massachusetts’ public-school performance. Money should be focused on low-income school districts, says Pioneer.
  • Union leaders say they’re in good shape after Janus, noting that membership has even ticked up a bit. The Commonwealth Foundation responded—arguing that membership hasn’t dropped because workers aren’t aware of their rights yet.
  • Most cities have bounced back after the Great Recession hit ten years ago. Unfortunately, as the Illinois Policy Institute pointed out, this is not true for Chicago and Illinois, who are being crushed by high property taxes and an ever worsening pension problem.
  • John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, was cited in a Chicago Tribune editorial, which featured a lawsuit he filed against Illinois and the state’s reckless borrowing habits. Kansas is another state dealing with spending problems, which is especially problematic as signs are pointing toward another recession, said the Kansas Policy Institute.
  • The John Locke Foundation argued transparency is essential to healthcare reform in the Carolina Journal.
  • A woman in Utah was criminally charged because her dog ran away. Why? City and county ordinances penalize many of their nuisance and zoning code violations as a class B misdemeanor by default. The Libertas Institute urged local governments to rethink the unnecessary criminalization of local ordinances.
  • After Bernie Sanders released his new “Work Place Democracy” plan, which would end right-to-work laws and give federal workers the right to strike, the Mackinac Center noted that this plan was considered too radical by the Democratic party just a few years ago. “Clearly the union nominations are key to the Democratic primary and we may be seeing that here,” said Vincent Vernuccio, senior fellow at Mackinac.
  • Maine’s Governor called a special session of the legislature to consider bonds to fix the state’s infrastructure. The Maine Heritage Policy Center criticized the proposal, noting taxpayers have already been asked to foot the bill for a total of $3.4 billion in borrowing since 1980. Also calling for a special session? Missouri’s Governor—who wants a special session to consider a cars sales tax. The Show-Me Institute debated the reasoning behind this.
  • After Maine ended their fiscal year with a surplus, the Maine Heritage Policy Center recommended the money be returned to taxpayers in the form of tax rate deductions.
  • After Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $572 million for contributing to the opioid crisis, the Pacific Research Center weighed in on the decision. PRC argued that doctors should take some responsibility for the crisis, and noted the correlation between state’s that expanded Medicaid and an increase in opioid use.
  • Lawmakers need to fix Kentucky’s overcrowded jails before inmates are released, said the Pegasus Institute. The Institute is preparing a study on this problem and noted that one solution is to steer drug offenders into addiction treatment rather than a jail cell.
  • Chuck DeVore, vice president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation went on Fox News to talk about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent comment that Texas is responsible for California’s homeless problem.
  • The Washington Policy Center considered other countries’ healthcare systems and whether or not they would work in the United States. Instead of looking to other countries, the US should let Americans have more control over their healthcare decisions and dollars, said WPC.