Week in Review: April 03, 2026

Announcements
Success Stories
Freedom Through the Courts
This Week’s Policy Briefs
Tracking Positive Reforms

Jobs in the Network
Tracking Positive Reforms
Policy News from the States
The Network in the News

Announcements

The Alabama Policy Institute argued that Alabama should not apologize for offering religious liberty to schoolchildren.

The American Experiment found that the average earner in Minnesota pays more state tax than those in 42 other states, highlighting tax reduction as key to improving affordability.

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii noted that despite the Legislature finding $150 million, taxpayers are still expected to shoulder the burden without meaningful tax relief.

The Illinois Policy Institute released a warning that Illinois is missing out on significant savings by not adopting a state spending cap to address its mounting fiscal crisis.

The James Madison Institute highlighted that price controls remain a persistent but ineffective policy, consistently failing to deliver positive economic results.

The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy found that New Hampshire’s rental housing stock is significantly older than owner-occupied units.

The Mountain States Policy Center found that citizens are fleeing bad policy as part of a broader Western rebalancing.

The Pacific Research Institute pointed out that the real profiteers in healthcare are not drugmakers, amid growing pressure on Congress to codify the “most favored nation.”

The Platte Institute highlighted Nebraska’s new First-Time Home Buyer Savings Accounts, created by LB 938, as a tool to address high property taxes and support homeownership.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation noted that rising utility fees in Austin act as hidden taxes, contributing significantly to the city’s worsening affordability crisis.

The Washington Policy Center highlighted that Governor Ferguson signed a new income tax on earnings over $1 million—worsening Washington’s spending problem.

Success Stories

Utah: Governor Spencer Cox signed H.B. 450 into law to protect Utahns’ home addresses and phone numbers from exposure in online campaign finance records (People United for Privacy Foundation).

West Virginia: In a life-affirming victory for rare disease patients, West Virginia became the 17th state to enact the Goldwater Institute’s Right to Try for Individualized Treatments .

Freedom through the Courts: The Latest Litigation Efforts across the Network

The Goldwater Institute filed a brief in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals urging judges to uphold the principle that businesses have free speech rights protected under the First Amendment.

The Liberty Justice Center has filed an amicus brief in American Sustainable Business Council v. Hegar, urging the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to rule that the government is not required to subsidize corporate activism.

Solutions from the States: This Week’s Policy Briefs

The Center for Practical Federalism released a policy brief showing how federal agencies use informal guidance to influence state policies and urged states to adopt transparency measures to counteract this weaponized guidance.

The Kansas Policy Institute released a proposal highlighting a simple solution to pass an assessment limit that protects taxpayers from unaffordable property tax increases.

The MacIver Institute highlighted Wisconsin’s recent SNAP reform, including restrictions on junk food purchases and increased funding for oversight.

The Mackinac Center released an analysis revealing that Michigan’s surplus was largely consumed by heavy spending, yielding minimal returns for taxpayers.

The Mountain States Policy Center highlighted how Idaho’s two-stairway requirement restricts housing supply by making many apartment projects financially or physically impossible.

The Pioneer Institute supported a ballot initiative to reduce Massachusetts’ state income tax rate from 5 to 4 percent, arguing it will spur job creation and stimulate economic growth.

The Pelican Institute for Public Policy issued a guide to Louisiana’s upcoming May 2026 constitutional amendments, explaining how proposed changes could centralize power.

The Yankee Institute highlighted how New York taxes thousands of Connecticut remote workers, costing Connecticut over $340 million a year.

Policy Watch

Idaho: The Idaho Legislature this week gave final approval on legislation that would end taxpayer support for teachers’ unions in Idaho (Freedom Foundation).

Louisiana: Lawmakers introduced over 20 bills addressing artificial intelligence regulation during the Regular Legislative Session (Pelican Institute for Public Policy).

Michigan: The Mackinac Center applauded lawmakers for advancing a bipartisan measure to preserve licenses for thousands of Michigan physicians.

New Hampshire: Republican lawmakers are seeking to expand the state’s Right to Try law (Goldwater Institute).

South Carolina: A bill advancing in the House would let out-of-state certified teachers skip re-certification to teach in SC (Palmetto Promise Institute).

Tennessee: Lawmakers passed HB 1971, which would require citizens to prove actual harm before challenging the constitutionality of a state law in court—now awaiting Governor Lee’s signature despite opposition from the Institute for Justice, Beacon Center, and Americans for Prosperity.

Wisconsin: Gov. Evers vetoed a bill joining a federal school choice tax-incentive program (Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty).

Jobs in the Network

Development Manager — The Future of Free Speech (Virtual)

Foundation Relations Officer — Pacific Legal Foundation (Virtual)

Development Associate — Sun Valley Policy Forum (Virtual)

SEE ALL JOBS

The Network in the News

In the Yellowhammer News, Alabama Policy Institute’s Stephanie Smith outlines why the CHOOSE Act is a win for Alabama parents.

In The Washington Times, the Free State Foundation’s Randolph May encourages Americans to revisit Hayek’s ‘Constitution of Liberty’ in this semiquincentennial year.

In the Dallas Morning News, the Independent Institute’s Benjamin Powell notes its time to abolish the TSA.

In his recent column, John Hood points out that in politics, common decency should still matter.

In a Letter to the Editor for The Wall Street Journal, the Liberty Justice Center’s Mark Janus explains how Florida’s recent union law protects the Janus rights of public-sector employees.

In The Hill, the Mackinac Center’s Naomi Lopez considers how states can reform drug pricing.

In the Tri-City Herald, the Mountain States Policy Center’s Dr. Roger Stark notes competition is the best way to contain exploding healthcare costs.

At Newsmax, the Pacific Research Institute‘s Sally Pipes notes that expanding health savings accounts is the surest way to put healthcare dollars back in patients’ hands.

In The Washington Post, the Pelican Institute‘s Sarah Harbison argues that Louisiana’s 500-hour licensing requirement for hair braiders kills entrepreneurship and should be replaced with a simple safety certification.

In the Huntington Herald Dispatch, People United for Privacy Foundation’s Heather Lauer applauds West Virginia’s recent privacy reforms to prevent doxing and political violence.

In the Tampa Bay Times, The James Madison Institute‘s Edward Longe notes that Floridians aren’t anti-technology—they’re pro-accountability, embracing tech they can control while resisting tech that controls them.

In a Letter to the Editor for The Wall Street Journal, the Thomas Jefferson Institute‘s Stephen Haner warns that Virginia’s real tax threat is a wave of new levies—including a payroll tax, a carbon tax, and data center tax hikes—totaling $6 billion.

At the DC Journal, the Washington Policy Center’s Donald Kimball argues that a data center moratorium wouldn’t slow AI—it would just hand China a competitive advantage.