Most people treat the income tax as a fact of life—something you grumble about, pay, and move on. But in Mississippi, two state think tanks changed that by taking on an old political third rail and putting income tax repeal on the table.
Beginning in 2021, Empower Mississippi and the Mississippi Center for Public Policy (MCPP) built the case that Mississippi could stop taxing work and become more competitive in the process. They published research and policy analysis, including MCPP’s Axe the Tax and Empower Mississippi’s Better Jobs Mississippi, to explain why income tax reform mattered and what it could look like in practice.
That groundwork helped drive a major 2022 reform that eliminated Mississippi’s income tax for lower-income filers and began phasing the rate down to 4% above those thresholds, saving Mississippians more than half a billion dollars. In 2025, they kept the momentum going with new research and public-facing tools like a tax calculator, as lawmakers passed HB1, which Governor Tate Reeves signed in March 2025, putting Mississippi on a path to eliminate the income tax altogether. Just two state think tanks helped turn a policy once thought untouchable into a real, lasting reform.
National politics can feel frozen in place. Big fights drag on for years, and even when Washington acts, change is slow and diffuse. In the states, it’s different. Policy can move fast, with consequences that hit families and employers immediately. Governors and agencies now make decisions that touch nearly every part of life: education, health care, licensing, business regulation, energy, and public safety. That dynamism is an opportunity when reform is on the table and a danger when power expands without scrutiny.
Either way, it’s exactly why every state needs an independent think tank to track what’s changing, explain what it means, and help citizens and lawmakers act before decisions become irreversible. State think tanks are the core of what we call Durable Freedom Infrastructure. They are independent 501(c)(3) organizations focused on research, policy design, and clear communication that helps states govern well. They work closely with in-state lawmakers by providing credible analysis, workable reforms, and the support leaders need to move policy. And they do not work alone. For more than 30 years, SPN has built a Network of state-based policy organizations so state leaders can share strategies, learn from each other, and move faster when policy shifts.
Think tanks do everything from long-range reform planning to real-time triage, explaining quickly and clearly what new laws and rules will do on the ground. When complex federal bills land without explanation, state think tanks are often the first to translate what it means for budgets, agencies, and taxpayers back home. The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ was a prime example. Its changes to SNAP and Medicaid threatened to upend state budgets. States administer these programs and are responsible for much of the cost and implementation. But where SPN affiliate think tanks were active, they broke down the details, educated lawmakers, and helped states respond strategically.
That is why every state needs a think tank. These institutions provide the research, strategy, and rapid analysis that make everything else possible. Litigation centers, investigative journalism units, voter research programs, and leadership academies all depend on think tanks for direction and leadership. Without that core, the people are left without a way to challenge government overreach.
Today’s state think tanks are not the ivory-tower white-paper factories of yesteryear. They’ve embraced a dynamic model that pairs rigorous research with modern communications, on-the-ground advocacy, and the ability to move quickly when a bill drops at midnight or an agency issues a rule that no one else has read.
Their impact is measurable across every front of public life. In Iowa, Iowans for Tax Relief launched the ITR Report Card, a public-facing data tool that exposed deep inefficiencies in school spending and armed local leaders with the facts to demand reform. “Just to have a respected resource like Iowans for Tax Relief that can help provide the data that can educate the legislators, that can be a partner in helping us really drive pro-growth opportunities, is so beneficial to have as part of the solution as well,” said Governor Kim Reynolds. “To have them there as a resource with data, with information, talking to legislators, helping sell the policy we’re trying to implement, and to have them be a partner and part of the team making that happen is invaluable,” she added.
In Arkansas, Opportunity Arkansas helped stop the so-called “Educational Rights Amendment,” a deceptively marketed ballot proposal pushed by teachers’ unions and other union-aligned groups that threatened education freedom. While billed as a common-sense effort to “level the playing field,” the amendment would have imposed sweeping new mandates on non-public schools that accept state funds and added billions in new government obligations without a funding plan. OA moved quickly with message testing, earned media, and public education that reached tens of thousands of Arkansans. In the end, the sponsors failed to qualify for the ballot.
In Ohio, The Buckeye Institute helped drive one of the most significant energy reform packages the state has passed in decades as rapid data center growth put new pressure on reliability and affordability. Buckeye supplied research and policy design to help lawmakers cut hidden subsidies and utility carve-outs that raise costs and slow new generation. The new law speeds permitting for new power plants, reduces taxes on new generation, requires competitive bidding so rates reflect market costs, and increases transparency in utility rate-setting. It’s a clear example of how a state think tank can spot a looming problem, translate complex policy, and help lawmakers act before costs hit families and employers.
And in Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor repeatedly renewed a state of emergency and claimed authority to extend it indefinitely, even after the state legislature said no. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy laid out the legal limits of emergency power, briefed lawmakers and the public on what the law allowed, and helped drive the accountability push that became a court challenge. Working hand in hand with litigation capacity, that challenge reached the Michigan Supreme Court, which ruled the governor’s actions unconstitutional. It’s a clear example of how a state think tank sits at the core of Durable Freedom Infrastructure by turning analysis into action when state power moves fast.
The alternative is easy to see. Not every state has a robust think tank infrastructure, and where their capacity is weak, oversight suffers. Governors face little resistance when stretching their authority. Massive federal bills go unexamined. Layer upon layer of regulation accumulates without challenge. Wherever institutional strength is thin, power rushes in to fill the gaps.
This is the problem SPN was created to solve. What began in 1986 as the Madison Group became a formal network in 1992, dedicated to building strong policy capacity in every state. From just 12 think tanks at the start to 64 organizations across all 50 states today, SPN has fulfilled our founding vision: freedom endures only when states have independent institutions capable of defending it. And even with that progress, we are only just getting started. The Network continues to deepen its capacities, strengthen its alliances, and build the tools states will need for the battles ahead.
That is why every state needs a think tank. They are the firewall against overreach, against secrecy, and against the quiet accumulation of power. They prepare states not just for the next crisis but for the next generation. Long-term freedom doesn’t happen automatically. It has to be built. And the think tank is where that work begins. As Governor Reynolds said of the think tanks in our Network, “They’re so important in really providing us the resources and the backup to do the big and bold things each of us are trying to do in our states.”