Announcements
The Buckeye Institute called on lawmakers to protect The Buckeye Institute-championed mens rea reforms, which were the first and best of their kind in the country.
The Caesar Rodney Institute noted that Delaware’s budget woes stem from persistent state-driven spending growth and not federal actions.
The Freedom Foundation of Minnesota highlighted concerns over Governor Tim Walz’s energy policy, noting that rising electric bills could burden working families.
The Mackinac Center announced Patrick J. Wright will receive the Federalist Society’s prestigious Grano Award.
The Pelican Institute for Public Policy launched the Kevin Kane Center for Opportunity in 2021, aiming to create pathways to opportunity for Louisianans.
The Yankee Institute noted that during a special session Connecticut lawmakers will address critical issues, including housing and healthcare policy.
Success Stories
In a win for private property rights, an Arizona small-business owner can finally move forward with his boutique hotel thanks to the Goldwater Institute’s Permit Freedom Act.
Freedom through the Courts: The Latest Litigation Efforts across the Network
Mountain States Policy Center filed an amicus brief supporting Idaho’s Parental Choice Tax Credit.
Solutions from the States: This Week’s Policy Briefs
The Buckeye Institute outlined the best approach to help Ohio’s community health centers, which are struggling under the opaque federal 340B drug pricing program.
Cascade Policy Institute identified significant purchase risks associated with the PPS One North building in their latest news release.
The Commonwealth Foundation found that Governor Josh Shapiro has been the least productive governor in Pennsylvania—contradicting his ‘Get Sh*t Done’ slogan.
Recent analysis from Illinois Policy Institute noted that the Chicago Teachers Union’s Lobby Day event cost taxpayers approximately $19,300.
The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center Director Pam Bengino published a handbook on K-12 Policy Issues for Colorado School Board members.
The John Locke Foundation issued a report highlighting that North Carolina’s election audits could be improved by implementing hand-marked paper ballots.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy launched its Michigan Constitutional Archive, an online database that records every amendment ever proposed to Michigan’s constitution.
The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs noted that potential property-tax reforms could provide relief while safeguarding the state’s income-tax strategy.
The Palmetto Promise Institute highlighted that South Carolina’s public charter schools outperformed traditional schools in preparing students for college and careers.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation reported that the end of federal subsidies for electric vehicles has prompted a shift back to economic realities in the auto market.
The Pelican Institute for Public Policy highlighted that Louisiana ranks 31st in the nation for tax competitiveness.
Tracking Positive Reforms: Updates from Network Affiliates
The Missouri Governor proposed a plan to end the state income tax (Show-Me Institute).
The Texas Governor announced a multi-part plan to overhaul Texas’ property tax system with an eye toward affordability, ownership, sustainability, and local control (Texas Public Policy Foundation).
Jobs in the Network
Program Director — John W. Pope Foundation (North Carolina)
Coalitions Manager — Pacific Legal Foundation (Remote)
Policy News from the States
Topics:
K-12 Education
American Federation of Teachers place politics, leader priorities over members
Illinois Policy Institute
Scores down, absences up for Chicago low-income, minority students
Illinois Policy Institute
Over 2-in-5 Chicago teachers chronically absent
Illinois Policy Institute
The Outstater
Indiana Policy
School-produced illiteracy crisis gets Oklahoma lawmakers’ attention
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
School chaplains are not unconstitutional
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
DPI Rates 0 Districts 1 Star, Half of All Schools 4 or 5 Stars on New School Report Cards
Reforming Government
MLG’s “free” childcare program could harm children (from The Economist Magazine) – Errors of Enchantment
Rio Grande Foundation
What Isn’t a Charter School?
The Pelican Institute for Public Policy
Analysis: Wisconsin’s School Report Cards Show Persistent Gaps and Inflated Ratings
Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
Energy and Environment
Xcel to push batteries through PUC, doubletime
American Experiment
Survey shows little confidence in climate talks
John Locke Foundation
NJBIZ: OPINION: Why New Jersey should repeal its bag ban
New Jersey Policy Institute
There Is No Mystery Surcharge Driving Up California’s Gasoline Costs
Pacific Research Institute
Healthcare
Big, beautiful reform: Keep illegal aliens off Oklahoma’s welfare…
Foundation for Government Accountability
Evers Doubles Down on Food Stamps, Asks Congress to Condemn Clawback
MacIver Institute
Checking Medicaid’s Pulse
Show-Me Institute
Honoring Our Veterans: Thank You for Your Service
Show-Me Institute
WA Cares: An important detail for future family caregivers is still unclear
Washington Policy Center
Lamont’s Hospital Takeover Plan is a Gamble Connecticut Cannot Afford
Yankee Institute
Housing Affordability
Is Anchorage’s New Proposed “Short-Term Rental-Only” Tax Really the Answer?
Alaska Policy Forum
Volunteering for Higher Taxes? Assessing Tennessee’s Uncapped Property Taxes
Beacon Center of Tennessee
You Don’t Make Housing More Affordable by Making It More Expensive
California Policy Center
How Many Complained about Alleged Rent Price-Fixing? Arizona’s AG Won’t Say
Goldwater Institute
‘We need to grow those voices’ that support building more homes
Grassroot Institute
American Dream tough for Millennials, Gen Z to reach
John Locke Foundation
Banks Township considers going back to how things once were
Mackinac Center
Six Years Later, Massachusetts Active Home Listings Remain 35% Below Pre-COVID Level
Pioneer Institute
Jobs and State Economies
Boring Company May Have a Viable Alternative for California Urban Transit
California Policy Center
Dr. Brad Wilcox: Get Married
Empower Mississippi
Kansas’s Tax Competitiveness Moment
Kansas Policy Institute
Those Dark Clouds are the Debt
Minnesota Policy
Beef purchase plan escalates concerns in ag country
Pacific Research Institute
Consumers Benefit When Mergers Create Stronger Competitors
Pacific Research Institute
State Budgets
TriMet Retreat Should Focus on Crisis, Not Expansion
Cascade Policy Institute
Despite Shapiro’s Failed Leadership, 2025-26 Budget Secures Key Permitting Wins, Ends Threat of RGGI
Commonwealth Foundation
The fantasy that cutting prison populations saves a lot of money
Georgia For Opportunity
Municipal Mismanagement or Malfeasance in Tucson?
Goldwater Institute
Iowa Depends on Washington—and That’s a Problem We Can Fix
ITR Foundation
Fitch Warns States to Prepare for Reduced Federal Support
ITR Foundation
Baldwin Refuses to “Go Along” With Deal to End Shutdown
MacIver Institute
Michigan lawmakers tackle a difficult problem
Mackinac Center
Shutdown Endgame: What the Deal Means for Maine and the Nation
Maine Policy Institute
New Mexico Democrats will ram more spending through another special session – Errors of Enchantment
Rio Grande Foundation
A look at New Mexico’s tax competitiveness rankings by Tax Foundation – Errors of Enchantment
Tax Foundation
A look at New Mexico’s tax competitiveness rankings by Tax Foundation – Errors of Enchantment
Tax Foundation
Democrats’ Shutdown Surrender A Gift To Trump And Congressional Republicans
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Workplace Freedom
Empowering Idaho’s self-employed workforce with portable benefits
Mountain States Policy Center
Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right
Show-Me Institute
Other
Minnesota Man of the Day: trigger warning
American Experiment
Trouble brewing in Mankato?
American Experiment
A Veterans Day Salute to Service and Liberty
Goldwater Institute
Flagged for being too efficient?
Grassroot Institute
Clark: Are you a ‘Christian Nationalist’?
Indiana Policy
Franke: Supreme Court Independence
Indiana Policy
Phil Weiser’s troubling taxpayer-funded obsession with Trump – Independence Institute
Independence Institute
Schoemann: Move Elections to November, Eliminate Drop Boxes, Close WEC
MacIver Institute
Ruling reaffirms state power to prosecute crimes within tribal…
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Clinton, Biden donors call for ‘open primaries’ in Oklahoma
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Partial Victory, Not Full Justice: What 2025 Lawsuit Reform Legislation Got Right—and What South Carolina Still Must Fix : Palmetto Promise Institute
Palmetto Promise Institute
UK Uni. of St Andrews’ Sir Hew Strachan on the First World War
Pioneer Institute
Rio Grande Foundation Soiree a Huge Success!
Rio Grande Foundation
Several Senate Democrats voted to end the shutdown and the “base” is NOT happy with them – Errors of Enchantment
Rio Grande Foundation
Tipping Point NM episode 759: Government Shutdown to End, Special Session of Legislature, Election Results, EV Sales and more – Errors of Enchantment
Rio Grande Foundation
To Resolve Biden’s Border Crisis, Red States Need To Require All Police To Help Deport Illegals
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Will light rail’s problems sink the I-5 Columbia River Bridge Replacement project?
Washington Policy
The Network in the News
In The Columbus Dispatch, The Buckeye Institute’s Greg R. Lawson describes how Ohio’s popular voucher programs benefit students.
In The Center Square, The Buckeye Institute urged lawmakers to modernize Ohio’s over-protective debt-settlement laws and give Ohioans struggling with debt more options to help them regain their financial footing.
In the San Diego-Union Tribune, the California Policy Center’s Marc Joffe considers if California is overinvesting in higher education.
Dave Kopel of the Independence Institute appeared on Colorado Inside Out.
In The Washington Post, the Independent Institute’s Williamson Evers notes parents and students come second in Randi Weingarten’s teachers union.
The Liberty Justice Center’s Reilly Stephens discussed college admission discrimination on The Washington Times’ Politically Unstable podcast.
In The Center Square, Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation’s John Hendrickson highlights the many problems with Iowa’s overreliance on federal funds and encourages lawmakers to pass the Iowa Fiscal Independence Act.
In the North State Journal, the John Locke Foundation’s Brian Balfour notes North Carolina should take strides in making it easier to get a job and earn a living.
In Emmerich Newspapers across Mississippi, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s Douglas Carswell highlights the magnitude of the US national debt and notes a debt crisis is on the horizon.
In the Courier Post, the Garden State Initiative’s Thomas J. Healey considers if Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill can navigate New Jersey’s looming fiscal cliff.
In the Washington Examiner, the Goldwater Institute’s Timothy K. Minella notes indoctrination is systemic in America’s universities.
In a Letter to the Editor for The Washington Post, State Policy Network’s Ray Nothstine pointed out that the contrast between New York’s and San Francisco’s mayors shows how federalism lets cities try different approaches to see what works.
