Announcements

  • The Pelican Institute, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the Georgia Center for Opportunity have created the Alliance for Opportunity, a three-state coalition to coordinate a powerful anti-poverty agenda for our states and that will serve as a model for the rest of the country.
  • The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed an emergency motion to bypass, asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to hear Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), a case to determine the legal status of absentee ballot drop boxes and ballot harvesting. The case is currently on appeal at the Court of Appeals, District IV, which issued a temporary stay of a Waukesha Circuit Court decision that will allow the use of absentee ballot drop boxes for the February 15 primary election.

This Week on SPN.org

State policy reforms that will improve lives and communities in 2022

America At Its Best – Live at LaunchPad 2021: Black Minds Matter

Success Stories 

  • The Oklahoma Legislature is considering a bill that creates Oklahoma Empowerment Accounts (OEAs). The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs noted that under the bill, parents can use taxpayer funds to choose any education option, including private schools, that best serve their child’s needs.
  • The Buckeye Institute won its case—Phillips v. OSHA—challenging the OSHA vaccine mandate with the Biden Administration conceding that Buckeye’s clients were ultimately likely to prevail in their legal challenge. The Biden Administration is not fighting the case any further and entirely withdrew its emergency temporary standard rule. 
  • The Commonwealth Foundation highlighted how the Pennsylvania Legislature advanced four bills that would empower workers and protect taxpayer resources.
  • The Georgia Center For Opportunity applauded the introduction of House Bill 999, the Georgia Educational Freedom Act. The legislation would create new Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) funded by the state in the amount of $6,000 for students for each school year.
  • The Mississippi Legislature is licensing reform bill that removes barriers to work for nurses, barbers, and social workers.
  • The Palmetto Promise Institute highlighted how the South Carolina Senate voted to repeal the state’s certificate-of-need statute.
  • A Nebraska lawmaker introduced a bill that would establish a regulatory sandbox for Nebraska startups. The Platte Institute noted this is an example of legislation that strengthens Blueprint Nebraska initiatives to make the state an economic leader among its peers.
  • The Washington Legislature is considering two major bipartisan tax relief bills. The Washington Policy Center noted the bills would help Washingtonians deal with the rising cost of living in the state.

Solutions from the states: This week’s policy briefs

Sustainable Ohio: How to Fund Ohio’s Cities in the 21st Century
In a new report, The Buckeye Institute offers a blueprint for how Ohio can move away from its outmoded local income tax system—that heavily relies on nonresident taxpayers—and towards a property or sales tax system that will fund city services in a much more sustainable way. 

2022 WV Certificate Of Need Polling Results 
The Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy released new public opinion polling on certificate-of-need (CON) laws.

Ineligible Medicaid Enrollees Are Costing Taxpayers Billions 
A new report by the Foundation for Government Accountability finds more than one in five dollars spent on Medicaid is improper.

N.C. Voters Overwhelmingly Support Parents Choosing Their Child’s School
According to a new Civitas Poll, 81.4% of respondents agreed that parents should have the ability to choose where their child attends school.

Transforming Mississippi Public Education
A new report by the Mississippi Center for Public Policy proposes a series of key reforms that are needed in order to give Mississippi students a better standard of education.

Modeling an Education Savings Account for Massachusetts
A new study by Pioneer Institute finds Massachusetts would benefit from adopting Education Savings Accounts.

Policy News From The States

Checking in on Legislative Sessions

API Adds Grocery Tax Repeal to Legislative Scorecard as Key ‘Yes’ Vote
Alabama Policy Institute

The legislature should provide full practice authority
Empower Mississippi

Senators Ponder Sales Tax on Services
Ethan Allen Institute

Minimum-wage bill is wrong tool for the job
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Governor’s tax-refund proposal ‘on the right track,’ institute says
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Lawmakers race through pricey proposals to advance Little’s agenda
Idaho Freedom Foundation

SB 347: The Mother of All Subsidies
Kansas Policy Institute

Assembly Republicans Vote to Get Tough on Crime
MacIver Institute

Testimony in Opposition to LD 555: ‘An Act To Expand the Rights of Public Sector Employees’
Maine Policy Institute

Agricultural Innovation Bill Introduced in the House of Representatives
Mississippi Center for Public Policy

2022 in View: Don’t Forget about Criminal Justice Reform
Palmetto Promise Institute

Best bills of New Mexico Legislature…so far
Rio Grande Foundation

Here are some early contenders for worst bills of the 2022 Legislature
Rio Grande Foundation

Tax Credit Bills are Lurking in the Legislative Session
Show-Me Institute

TPPF Announces Top Ten Legislative Priorities for the 88th Texas Legislative Session 
Texas Public Policy Foundation

House Bill 1076, the ‘Bounty Hunter’ bill will make George Orwell turn in his grave
Washington Policy Center

WPC emergency powers reform testimony
Washington Policy Center

Education

The compass parents owe kids
Badger Institute

Why Kentucky Needs School Choice #1 – High Charter School Enrollment States and Grade 4 Reading
Bluegrass Institute

Why Kentucky Needs School Choice #2 – High Charter School Enrollment States and Grade 4 Math
Bluegrass Institute

National School Choice Week Celebrates Options and Opportunities in K-12 Education
Cascade Policy Institute

NY State Public School Enrollment Falls Five Percent Since Covid 
Empire Center for Public Policy

Something We (Almost) All Can Support: Teaching the Success Sequence in School
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota

School Choice Week and the ‘Year of Educational Freedom’
Georgia Public Policy Foundation

Video: We can keep radical politics out of the classroom with the Sunlight in Learning Act
Goldwater Institute

Ed Choice Myth No. 4: There is Inadequate Ov ersight of Education Choice Programs
Idaho Freedom Foundation

N.C. Voters Overwhelmingly Support Parents Choosing Their Child’s School
John Locke Foundation

Public Schools in N.C. Lose Students to Private, Charter, Home Schools
John Locke Foundation

Why school choice is the most powerful education reform
Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy

Some State Schools Drop Out-of-State Tuition
Mackinac Center for Public Policy

School Choice Week Returns as Demand for Options Soars
Mackinac Center for Public Policy

School Choice: The Great Education Equalizer
Maine Policy Institute

Senate Leader Seeks School Choice for all Families
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Democrat Governor’s Teacher Plan Mirrors Stitt’s, Draws Praise from Education Groups
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Straight Talk on Education Scholarship Accounts
Palmetto Promise Institute

Will a Missouri Parents’ Bill of Rights Be Added to the State Constitution?
Show-Me Institute

Watch: Increasing Accountability in Education
Show-Me Institute

The key to evaluating curriculum transparency legislation
Sutherland Institute

National School Choice Week

From The Daily Signal: In Kentucky, Education Opportunity Accounts Can Give Students Chance to Overcome Hardship 
Bluegrass Institute

Current environment provides opportunity to advance school choice 
Bluegrass Institute

School Choice Story: How Hudson’s Life Was Transformed In A Matter Of Months 
Georgia Center for Opportunity

In honor of National School Choice Week, Empower Mississippi hit the road to visit some of the state’s best schools doing extraordinary things
Empower Mississippi

National School Choice Week 2022 Has Arrived. Here’s Why It Matters for Protecting Your Values. 
Goldwater Institute

The case for education choice in Idaho 
Idaho Freedom Foundation

#Choice4Me 
Maine Policy Institute

Children First 
Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty

A Choice School For Kenosha 
Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty

Energy And Environment

Build Back Badder: Biden cancels permits for proposed Twin Metals mine
Center of the American Experiment

Regulatory Barriers to Geothermal Energy
Frontier Institute

Election Integrity

Lt. Gov. Meyer: ‘Alaska Should Make It Easy To Vote, But Hard To Cheat’
Alaska Policy Forum

Free to Offend Episode 46: Can you fix politics by reforming the election system?
Nevada Policy Research Institute

‘One Person, One Vote’
Nevada Policy Research Institute

Government Accountability

Support for Facial Recognition Restrictions Grows
Frontier Institute

McKeee Must Remake RI DOH in a New Image
Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity

A Culture of Corruption
Maryland Public Policy Institute

Healthcare

The NC Threat-Free Index and Immunity Update for the Week Ending January 24
John Locke Foundation

Three Legislative Reforms so Physicians Can Open Hospitals
Pacific Research Institute

Housing Affordability

Maine becomes newest battleground in the Left’s assault on the suburbs 
Maine Policy Institute

Jobs And State Economies

Delaware’s 40-year experiment: pro-growth vs. anti-growth policies
Caesar Rodney Institute

The return of the ‘Misery Index’ 
Center of the American Experiment

Minnesota’s unemployment rate fell to 3.1% last month 
Center of the American Experiment

NY was still far from jobs recovery at end of 2021 
Empire Center for Public Policy

Let’s Encourage Lemonade Stands, And Entrepreneurs 
Empower Mississippi

Let’s make it legal for barbers to come to you 
Empower Mississippi

How Mississippi Kicked its Economic Comeback into Overdrive by Ending Expanded Unemployment Benefits
Foundation for Government Accountability

The State of the State: Illinois leaders partly responsible for a sluggish recovery
Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois Still Missing 251,900 Jobs Since The Pandemic Began 
Illinois Policy Institute

Addressing the Skills Gap: A Market-Based Approach for Colorado
Independence Institute

IRG Applauds Welfare Reform Legislation to Bolster Wisconsin Workforce
Institute for Reforming Government

Breaking Government Dependency by Empowering Citizens 
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation

December 2021 Jobs Report: Less Labor Participation, More Subsidies 
Kansas Policy Institute

Policy Corner: CT jobs recovery has a ways to go
Yankee Institute

State Budgets And Spending

Tax Cuts for Main Street or Subsidies for Hollywood?
Garden State Initiative

Iowa gets singled out for ‘bold’ tax relief while Idahoans make do with high rates
Idaho Freedom Foundation

Governor’s Tax Plan by the Numbers
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation

A Better California Doesn’t Require a Big-Government Budget
Pacific Research Institute

Forcing California to Open Its Hidden Finances
Pacific Research Institute

Pioneer Supports Legal Challenge to Misleading Tax Ballot Language, Releases Video
Pioneer Institute

Using Missouri’s Fiscal Relief and Infrastructure Funds to Grow the Economy, Not Government 
Show-Me Institute

Connecticut flush with cash? Not so fast, says municipal organizations 
Yankee Institute

Workplace Freedom

Quick-to-strike leaders need to be replaced, Chicago teachers union members say
Illinois Policy Institute

Teacher starts group for Connecticut educators who want to drop their union
Yankee Institute

Other

Color Us United’s Kenny Xu responds to Supreme Court taking up UNC, Harvard admissions cases
John Locke Foundation

Civics of the Utah Legislature, part 1: Rule by consensus
Sutherland Institute

Supreme Court’s active exercise of judicial review has fluctuated over the decades
Sutherland Institute

Think Tanks In The News

Go Big Or Go Home: The Best Kind Of School Choice Policy?
Bluegrass Institute in The Times Leader

Sacramento’s Mythical Budget Surplus
California Policy Center in The Orange County Register

Pa.’S Out-Of-Control Spending Is Driving Away Residents
Commonwealth Foundation in thePittsiburgh Tribune-Review

Free Speech Suit against Teacher’s Union Could Boost Labor Reform
Commonwealth Foundation in the Delaware Valley Journal

Excessive Occupational Licensing Laws Holding Mississippi Back
Empower Mississippi in the Daily Journal

Population Moves Tell A Story
Empower Mississippi in the Delta Democrat-Times

Governor Scott’s Diamond Mine
Ethan Allen Institute in Vermont Biz

Biden’s ‘Voting Rights’ Failure Is Election Integrity Opportunity For States
Foundation for Government Accountability in The Washington Times

Build Back Better? Fix Medicaid First 
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board features the Foundation for Government Accountability’s new Medicaid study

Teacher Union Tantrums Now Count as Sick Days in California
Freedom Foundation in the California Globe

Left Barely Masks Its Contempt for Parents’ Involvement in Education
Freedom Foundation at The Daily Signal

The Maryland General Assembly should adopt Hogan’s tax plan
Free State Foundation in The Washington Post

Basic Income Is The Wrong Solution For Atlanta’s Poor
Georgia Center for Opportunity and Texas Public Policy Foundation at RealClearPolicy

Fixing Pensions Is Key To Strong Business Future
Illinois Policy Institute in the Daily Herald

Why Polis Could Lose Re-Election
Independence Institute in The Denver Gazette

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Tax Reform Ideas Are Pro-Growth
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation in the Des Moines Register

Political Issues Rarely Ever Black And White
John Locke Foundation in The Daily Advance

Occupational Licensing Can Make The Labor Shortage Worse
Libertas Institute in the Deseret News

How Should Policymakers React To Headlines About Business Decisions?
Mackinac Center for Public Policy in The Alpena News

Biden Deserves No Credit For COVID-19 Test Website
Pacific Research Institute in the Washington Examiner

Texans Are Still Waiting For Property Tax Relief
Texas Public Policy Foundation in The Dallas Morning News

Lawmaker Introduces Bills Protecting Workplace Freedom
Thomas Jefferson Institute in The Republican Standard

It’s Time To Eliminate Social Security Tax In New Mexico\
Rio Grande Foundation in the Farmington Daily Times

The Best Summary of the 2020 Election
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board cites WILL

Events and Opportunities

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