Announcements
The Buckeye Institute testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government on the “use and abuse of ‘sue and settle’ tactics in litigation against the government.”
The Buckeye Institute filed public comments challenging the arbitrary and capricious rule that the Biden Administration has proposed that would make it easier to justify economically reckless regulations that encroach on freedoms enjoyed by Americans.
Empower Mississippi explained how it selected its three pillars of focus: education, work, and justice.
Ethan Allen Institute announced that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will speak at its upcoming Gen. John Stark Lecture and recapped the smashing success of its 30th Anniversary Dinner gala that was held on May 31, which included a tribute to John McClaughry for his public policy work in the service of Vermont.
Goldwater Institute released a new children’s book, A Is for the American Dream, which inspires kids to succeed.
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii provided testimony on adjusting property tax rates, increasing the property tax credit, and increasing amount for permit exemptions.
Mississippi Center for Public Policy outlined four policy changes that the state implemented in the past few years and unpacked these as reasons for optimism in a video. The Center also released a TikTok video of women’s sports activist Riley Gaines which went viral this week.
Mountain States Policy Center released a video introducing new members of their team.
Texas Public Policy Foundation announced a groundbreaking research effort in understanding immigration to the United States, the Mexican Migration Project.
Freedom through the Courts: The Latest Litigation Efforts across the Network
The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the rights of property owners from the government’s attempt to extort payments from its citizens to build roads in the county in return for granting permits for work wholly unrelated to road improvements.
Freedom Foundation made oral arguments in an Oregon appellate court against unionizing the state legislative staff.
Success Stories
Montana: The Legislature passed a bill that codifies the right to know as a constitutional right in the state with enough votes to override the Governor’s recent veto (Mountain States Policy Center).
Nebraska: Legislators established the state’s first insurance regulatory sandbox, which will allow businesses to develop and offer new products and services while receiving a temporary waiver of regulations inapplicable to their innovative ideas (Libertas Institute and Platte Institute).
New Hampshire: The New Hampshire Legislature passed legislation that expands and improves the state’s Education Freedom Accounts program (Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy).
New York: New legislation was passed this week which mandates that individual hospitals report the prices that they charge for various services. These reports will now provide the basic pricing information that consumers and policymakers need but which is normally hidden from public view (Empire Center).
Ohio: The Buckeye Institute secured victories for five of its clients in Darling v. AFSCME, with AFSCME and the Ohio Education Association acknowledging that money was illegally taken out of workers’ paychecks and given to government unions.
Virginia: The state’s Air Pollution Control Board voted Wednesday to remove Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, keeping the Governor’s promise to eliminate the related carbon tax (Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy).
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty won a preliminary injunction on behalf of several clients, challenging the Biden Administration’s racially discriminatory Minority Business Development Agency programming.
Solutions from the States: This Week’s Policy Briefs
Beacon Center of Tennessee published research that showed how the biggest factor limiting where and how many homes can be built, leading to higher housing costs, is zoning by local governments.
Bluegrass Institute analyzed the latest Kentucky state school assessment program results.
The Buckeye Institute released a new policy report, which was praised by Governor Mike DeWine and demonstrates how a well-designed state-based visa program for high-skilled, legal immigration would help fill current gaps in Ohio’s high-skilled job market.
Illinois Policy Institute published a brief which examined why Chicago students score lower, fewer graduate, and fewer go to college.
Institute for Reforming Government released a new report which analyzed details in lost revenue from Wisconsinites moving to no-income or low-income tax states.
Libertas Institute examined how the bureaucracy related with occupational licensing delays workforce entry and discourages new businesses in Wisconsin.
MacIver Institute explained why they are raising questions about the Milwaukee Bailout Bill and defended the words they have been using to describe it.
Pacific Research Institute published a brief which showed how transit planners need to start viewing buses and trains as transportation conveyances and not civil-rights and environmental instruments if they are serious about luring people onto those systems.
Pioneer Institute examined the data of a favorite pastime for residents of the Bay State: the MassLottery.
Platte Institute looked at the property tax paradox in Nebraska, showing how increased valuations impact homeowners.
Tracking Positive Reforms in the States: Updates from Network Affiliates
Ohio: The Ohio Senate unveiled its budget proposal that includes a Buckeye Institute-championed expansion of school choice and moves Ohio closer to a flat tax.
Policy News from the States
K-12 Education
Uneducating America: Student Test Scores on U.S. History and Civics Hit All-Time Lows
California Policy Center
NEA’s “Schools in Transition” Guide Instructs Teachers to Encourage Transgenderism in the Classroom
Freedom Foundation
Assisting Students in Economically Disadvantaged Schools
Commonwealth Foundation
On School Accountability Policies; It’s In with the New, Tension with the Old
Empire Center
Can Parents Really Parent When Public Schools Cut Them Out?
Goldwater Institute
New Study: AZ Students Learn More in Charter Schools Than Districts
Goldwater Institute
College Preparation Shouldn’t Exclude Religious Learning
Sutherland Institute
Healthcare
We Should all Get to See What Medicare Pays
Frontier Institute
Montana’s Healthcare Reforms Set National Example
Frontier Institute
Trenton’s Health Benefits “Solutions” Fail NJ Taxpayers
Garden State Initiative
Why Do We Have So Few Providers in Healthcare?
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Georgia’s CON Pits the Powerful Against Rural Healthcare Needs
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Energy and Environment
Intermittent Sources of Energy Create Cost and Reliability Risks For the Northwest
Mountain States Policy Center
John Stossel: Plastic Recycling Is a Dirty Lie
Center of the American Experiment
Why Does New York’s “Just Transition” Ignore Forced and Child Labor?
Empire Center
The Climate Conscious Transportation Game
Ethan Allen Institute
Towards A New Green Coalition
Frontier Institute
Michigan Advocates Admit Solar Still Can’t Compete
Mackinac Center
Natural Gas Ban and a Flameout of Five-Star Dining in California?
Pacific Research Institute
Jobs and State Economies
Idaho Celebrates Small Businesses
Mountain States Policy Center
The Biden Administration Kills the Proposed Northmet/Newrange Copper-Nickel Mine
Center of the American Experiment
Minneapolis Bans New Industrial Facilities and the Good-Paying Jobs that Come with Them in the Name of “Environmental Justice”
Center of the American Experiment
Whitmer Picks Wrong Strategy to Improve State Economy
Mackinac Center
Study: Immigrant Entrepreneurs Benefit N.E. Economy, Despite Facing Obstacles to Growth
Pioneer Institute
Connecticut Business Sickened by Bad Labor Bills
Yankee Institute
State Budgets
Whose Budget Numbers Are the “Right” Numbers?
Alaska Policy Forum
If You Live in St. Paul or One of These 37 Places, Look Out for Additional Sales Tax Hikes
Center of the American Experiment
Opposition Builds to Met Council’s Next Light Rail Line in North Minneapolis
Center of the American Experiment
After the Last Income Tax Hike, Growth in Minnesota’s State Tax Revenues Slumped
Center of the American Experiment
Chicago Households Making $100K Targeted by Brandon Johnson Allies
Illinois Policy Institute
Illinois Grocery Tax Returns July 1
Illinois Policy Institute
Nevada State Budget Includes Millions of Dollars for Culinary
Nevada Policy Research Institute
Stitt Defends Rule of Law from Tribal Tax Collectors
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Louisiana’s Budget Blowout. Time for Some Fiscal Responsibility.
Pelican Institute
Defending the Texas Governor’s Push to “Eliminate Property Taxes”
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Time to Hold Firm on Tax Cuts
Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Cost of Washington’s CO2 Tax Jumps to 45 Cents per Gallon
Washington Policy Center
Washington State Settles Lawsuit for Over $3,000,000 of Taxpayer Funds
Washington Policy Center
Washington State Overpaid Unemployment Benefits During the Pandemic and Tax Payers Are Footing the Bill
Washington Policy Center
Workplace Freedom
How the U.S. Postal Service Gave Your Personal Info to Big Labor Unions
Americans for Fair Treatment
Unionized SEIU Workers Announce Strike, Highlighting Union’s Hypocrisy
Americans for Fair Treatment
New Report Finds Inequity before Labor Boards
Americans for Fair Treatment
West Virginia in the Bottom Half of States for Freedom to Work
Cardinal Institute
Pols Craft More Handouts for Sinking Construction Unions
Empire Center
Oregon Legislative Staff Opposed to Forced Unionization Get Their Day in Court
Freedom Foundation
One-Third of SEIU Workers Reject Union Membership
Illinois Policy Institute
Other
The Oregon Senate Has Been Shut Down for a Month. Does Anyone Care?
Cascade Policy Institute
‘Tis the Season of Patriotism and Liberty
Indiana Policy Review
The Great Reset: An Attack on Freedom and Sovereignty
John Locke Foundation
Oklahoma University Fights Public Transparency
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Increased Housing Density Is Now a Reality, Most Residents Support It with Caveats
Washington Policy Center
The Network in the News
At MustReadAlaska, the Alaska Policy Forum outlined the highlights of Alaska’s 2023 legislative session.
At the Washington Post, Americans for Fair Treatment unpacks how a Conservative Supreme Court hands down a rare pro-union decision.
In her column for The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Commonwealth Foundation’s Jennifer Stefano notes “un-divorced” sums up the political purgatory many Republican voters find themselves in with Donald Trump.
In the Star Tribune, the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota highlights a new law that puts Minnesotans at risk of targeting and harassment for supporting nonprofit groups.
In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Georgia Center for Opportunity outlines a path that could reduce Atlanta’s juvenile crime.
In his column for The Denver Gazette, the Independence Institute’s Jon Caldara considers Colorado’s push for EVs.
In the Bangor Daily News, the Maine Policy Institute argues that it’s time to end home equity theft in its state.
In The Center Square, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy reviews a new book that shows how Mississippi switched to GOP control.
In the Washington Examiner, the Pacific Research Institute argues Medicaid work requirements should have been in the debt limit deal.
In The Daily Signal, the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity highlights the corruption of teachers unions.
In The Examiner, the Show-Me Institute highlighted a city in Missouri that is considering the privatization of its municipal electric utility.
In the Daily Caller, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Mandy Drogin urges legislators to get school choice over the finish line.
At Fox News Online, the Texas Public Policy Foundation notes the American birth rate is plummeting, but not in some states.
In The Republican Standard, the Thomas Jefferson Institute notes it’s time to hold firm on tax cuts.
