By: Keri Anderson

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

  • Congratulations to Palmetto Promise Institute President Ellen Weaver on being elected as the chairwoman of the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee!

Success Stories

  • Payroll data obtained by the Freedom Foundation indicates that 26% of state agency employees represented by SEIU 503 — Oregon’s largest government union — were no longer paying union dues as of December. The decline comes after a comprehensive Freedom Foundation outreach campaign launched following the US Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME. That decision made dues payment optional for public employees.
  • The Mississippi Center for Public Policy and the Mississippi Justice Institute led an effort to defeat the return of administrative forfeiture in Mississippi. The forfeiture legislation did not even receive enough votes to move out of committee. In an op-ed for the National Review, MJI Director Aaron Rice writes how the false dichotomies of proponents did not work, and the public understands that we can strengthen constitutional rights and also support law enforcement. 
  • Thanks to the free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys, a police clerk in Minnesota and 30,000 civil servants in Ohio are the first to succeed in challenging the opt-out window mandates of government unions.

Research & Initiatives

  • The Alabama Policy Institute has released a two-part position paper on the gas tax — the issue expected to dominate Alabama’s upcoming legislative session. The paper outlines “three guiding imperatives” and a gas tax proposal that can be accomplished through two bills.
  • The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing three cutting-edge constitutional cases brought by the Freedom Center of Missouri: one case argues that the Fourth Amendment forbids law enforcement from stopping vehicles where there is no reason to suspect violation of the law. Another case argues that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits cities from requiring citizens to plant government-specified plants in their yards. And the third case contests the ruling that citizens can be forced to register and report to the government as lobbyists, even if they’re not being paid or giving legislators money.
  • This week, the Freedom Foundation in Washington state testified against proposed bills that would undermine the US Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME. The bills would make it easier for unions to initiate dues deductions from public employees’ wages while simultaneously making it harder for employees to cancel the deductions.
  • The Heartland Institute has launched a new project called “Stopping Socialism” featuring articles and videos that make the moral case against socialism.
  • The Institute for Free Speech is spearheading opposition to the speech-restricting provisions in the H.R. 1 bill, a bill Speaker Pelosi has dubbed the “For the People Act.” A more accurate label would be the “For the Politicians Act,” as it violates the privacy of advocacy groups and their supporters, stringently regulates political speech on the internet, compels speakers to include lengthy government-mandated messages in their communications, and forces taxpayers to subsidize politicians’ campaigns.
  • The Maine Heritage Policy Center released the second edition of its Maine Legislative Guidebook containing more than 100 public policy solutions for Maine policymakers to consider. Approximately 30 ideas from this edition of the guidebook have been sponsored by lawmakers for the current legislative session.
  • The Mackinac Center released a “what to watch for” guide to the Michigan governor’s “State of the State” address and followed up with its annual analysis, which tracks the number of proposed government expansions and limitations. This year, new Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced six expansions and one limitation, largely in line with past executives.
  • The Manhattan Institute has released a policy brief on the state of unions after the Janus decision. Their findings cover how union membership and finances have been impacted, as well as new laws and lawsuits prompted by the ruling.
  • The Nevada Policy Research Institute is suing CalPERS to identify retiree pensions with disability status. The lawsuit investigates assertions that retirees were avoiding income tax by filing injury claims before they retired.
  • The Policy Circle‘s latest policy brief takes a look at housing policy—particularly affordable housing in America. The brief is designed to help their members better understand various housing issues including homelessness, how housing impacts their communities, and ways to get engaged locally on these issues.
  • Despite Washington’s broad open-government laws and millions of taxpayer dollars at stake, Washington lawmakers have crafted an exemption that allows some of the most significant government negotiations to be secret. The Washington Policy Center released a new video to draw attention to this lack of transparency in public employee collective bargaining negotiations.
  • Attorneys at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a motion asking the federal district court to definitively rule on Northeast Wisconsin Technical College’s (NWTC) restrictive public assembly policy. The case argues that NWTC is violating the First Amendment by constraining free speech to a tiny area on campus. WILL filed the lawsuit in 2018 on behalf of NWTC student Polly Olsen after the school prevented her from handing out religiously-themed valentines.

Think Tanks in the News

  • Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has released a balanced spending plan that includes no new taxes, a move the Alaska Policy Forum commends.
  • Analysis from the Badger Institute over the years confirms that tolling on Wisconsin’s interstate highways is a workable approach for rebuilding and widening the state’s aging Interstate system. 
  • Earlier this week the Ohio Senate announced its priorities for the 2019 legislative session this year. The Buckeye Institute applauds the fact that their priorities include criminal justice reform, especially solutions to sentencing for low-level drug offenses.
  • The California Policy Center reports that union membership in California dropped by 86,000 members according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report. That number is in addition to the 41,000 employees who stopped paying agency fees.
  • The Commonwealth Foundation appeared on talk radio to discuss the Pennsylvania governor’s proposed budget.
  • The Freedom Foundation of Minnesota highlights the failed broadband effort in Lake County, Minnesota as a clear example of why the government should not operate broadband networks.
  • In “Whither Socialist Communications Policy?” the Free State Foundation takes a look at what the Left’s rising infatuation with socialism implies for communications policy. The short answer: Treating the Internet as a public utility subjects it to much more government control.
  • The Goldwater Institute appeared on Fox Business News to discuss right-to-try and how trying experimental treatments is helping a former Navy pilot with ALS.
  • Donor privacy is a real concern — the Goldwater Institute shares stories of the people whose personal lives have been threatened because of their political views.
  • Maui’s taxi drivers are complaining about the disparity in regulation with ride-sharing services. The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii recommends lawmakers unshackle Maui’s taxi regulations to allow them to compete, rather than implementing more regulation on ride-sharing services.
  • The Idaho Freedom Foundation‘s Freedom Index was referenced during a Senate hearing about banning cellphone use while driving in Idaho. The Freedom Index scores bills and ranks Idaho lawmakers on their votes.
  • Newly elected Illinois governor, J.B. Pritzker has vowed to close the state’s longstanding deficits without hiking taxes in his first two years. The Illinois Policy Institute offers three cost drivers he should address to make that possible.
  • Maine Heritage Policy Center advocates for more fiscal restraint in Maine Governor Janet Mills’ proposed budget rather than risk potential tax increases if revenues fall below estimates.
  • According to the Nevada Policy Research Institute, 2019 could be a unique opportunity to implement civil-asset forfeiture reform.
  • The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs outlines why Medicaid expansion is the wrong policy choice for Oklahoma, but that opponents need to come up with alternatives to help the working poor gain access to affordable, quality health coverage.
  • In conjunction with the launch of their education reform campaign, Pelican Institute had a guest column in The Advocate highlighting some of the progress Louisiana has made recently in K–12 education and also offers proposals on how the state can make even greater strides. 
  • In 2017, Louisiana passed significant criminal justice reform legislation. The Pelican Institute released a policy paper calling on lawmakers to give the reforms time to work and laying out five principles for possible further changes.
  • The Rio Grande Foundation was on the local Albuquerque news discussing school funding after voters said no to property tax increases.
  • As the healthcare reform debate continues, more Americans are favoring a single-payer healthcare system. But Washington Policy Center‘s Healthcare Policy Analyst Dr. Roger Stark highlights the long wait-times associated with a single-payer system and warns that while a single-payer system can “insure” everyone, it in no way guarantees timely or adequate access to medical care.
  • The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty warns that a new bill aimed at limiting the amount individuals can donate to campaigns will result in limiting free speech and is, therefore, unconstitutional.
  • The Wyoming Liberty Group appeared on talk radio to discuss the hidden costs of a pending corporate income tax bill in Wyoming.