Week in Review: November 1, 2024 (2024)

Week in Review: November 1, 2024 (1)
  • Announcements
  • Freedom through the Courts
  • Success Stories
  • This Week’s Policy Briefs
  • Tracking Positive Reforms
  • Policy News from the States
  • The Network in the News

Announcements

America First Policy Institute published a paperadvocating for a skills-based hiring approach and moving away from rigid degree requirements. This shift addresses both the preparedness gaps seen in recent college graduates and the growing frustrations of employers with the limitations of the traditional degree-based system. The paper also proposes steps for governors and state legislatures to prioritize skills in public sector hiring, helping to build a workforce equipped to meet modern demands.

Bluegrass Institute created a new dashboard designed to better inform citizens about spending, academic results and teachers’ pay in their local school districts.

Foundation for Government Accountability’s Center for Excellence in Polling released the polling results of its survey of likely voters in South Dakota on a range of issues from education to election integrity.

Mackinac Center released its 101 Recommendations to Revitalize Michigan, which includes a wide array of reform ideas aimed at reducing living costs, boosting quality of life, improving government services and making it easier to do business in Michigan.

Mountain States Policy Center released a new video, MCPC’s 2024 Election Preview.

Opportunity Arkansas released a groundbreaking research paper, Getting Back to Work: How Arkansas Can Lead the Nation in Medicaid Reform Once Again. This paper outlines key challenges within Arkansas’s Medicaid program, which, rather than being a safety net, has become a dependency trap, discouraging work and straining the state budget. The paper calls for decisive state action by which Arkansas can restore Medicaid as a safety net for the truly needy, set a national example, and become an economic powerhouse when coupled with phasing out the state income tax.

Philanthropy Roundtable published a new values-based giving story on school choice victories in the states. With voices from school choice leaders including Kate Baker Demers, executive director of Children’s Scholarship Fund in New Hampshire; Jenny Clark, founder and CEO of Love Your School in Arizona; and Garrett Ballengee, president and CEO of the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy; author David Basslays out how donors can keep the momentum going.

Reason Foundation released a new report, Public Schools without Boundaries 2024, which ranks the K-12 open enrollment laws of all 50 states, grading each state across seven critical areas.

Steamboat Institute launched a new campaign, the Campus Liberty Tour, to much success, including more than 1500 total in-person attendees and over 400,000 online views. The Institute also welcomed Hadley Heath Manning as its new Executive Vice President.

Sutherland Institute and the American Enterprise Institute announced that they will hold a joint event with state and national housingexperts on possible solutions to Utah’s housing crisis. The event will feature Gov. Spencer J. Cox, who will provide the keynote address.

Texas Public Policy Foundation compiled a database of Texas school districts that are attempting to raise property taxes in the state via the ballot box in the upcoming election — moves that would further erode property tax cuts state lawmakers passed in the last legislative assembly. The database also links to efficiency audits for each school district, calling into question that there might be budget solutions outside of raising taxes for these school districts.

Undivide Us, a documentary that challenges the idea that citizens who disagree are not capable of civil conversation and demonstrates the truth that the American experiment is still alive and well, was selected for an encore screening on Maryland Public Television on Sunday, November 3rd at 6:00 PM EST.

Washington Policy Center hosted its Annual Dinner in Bellevue, which was attended by over 1,000 guests who heard about the Center’s work and keynote speeches from Mollie Hemingway and General Jack Keane.

Back to Top

Freedom through the Courts: The Latest Litigation Efforts across the Network

The Buckeye Institutefiled anamicus briefinSpeech First v. Whitten, arguing that bias response teams on college campuses chill free speech, undermine free debate and open inquiry, and violate the U.S. Constitution.

Liberty Justice Center filed a motion for apreliminary injunctionin itslegal challengetoSenate Bill 3649(SB 3649), Illinois’ recently enacted employer speech ban. The Center also announced that the Technology & Manufacturing Association has joined the lawsuit on behalf of 1,000 members. In addition, the Liberty Justice Center filed anamicus briefinWoolard v. Thurmond, a case concerning parents’ right to direct the education and upbringing of their children according to their values.

Texas Public Policy Foundation filed an amicus brief supporting the State of Texas’s challenge to the Biden Administration’s backdoor attempt to impose universal background checks.

Back to Top

Success Stories

Florida: As college tuition rates skyrocket across the country, Florida is leveraging technology to provide a new option for parents and students to consider. With their new website,XploreFLEd, Florida’s top-tier education system is now accessible for the low cost of only $7,000 per year — the lowest-cost option for college in the country. Forstudents withPell Grants, tuition would be fully covered, meaning no cost to lower-income families — a trailblazing reform that, if widely implemented, could make the student loan industry unnecessary (Foundation for Government Accountability).

Wyoming: In a long-awaited victory for free speech, a Federal judge ruled that the Sheridan County School District violated the First Amendment by censoring criticism of a school official during a public meeting — a ruling which protects state residents from bureaucrats who would create rules to suppress dissent and evade accountability (Institute for Free Speech).

Back to Top

Solutions from the States: This Week’s Policy Briefs

Idaho Freedom Foundation posted briefs that show why ranked choice voting has been so disastrous in other states, analyze a proposed 43% pay raise for the state legislature, and expose how multiple welfare programs offered only to refugees are often more generous and robust than those offered to Idaho’s citizens.

Kansas Policy Institute published a brief with ananalysisof school district cash reserves, which indicates that school administrators used nearly $800 million of state and local taxes to increase their bank accounts over the years.

Mountain States Policy Center issued briefs that examine solutions to healthcare policies that currently isolate patients from the true cost of health care and limit the ability of patients to make their own health care decisions, prognosticate the future of election polling via artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and report on the updates to a lawsuit which defends the right of western states to have more control over unappropriated federal lands within their borders.

Platte Institute published a brief breaking down the tax burden in Nebraska over the last 24 years, showing how a lower tax burden can only be secured with greater taxpayer engagement and tighter controls on tax and spending growth.

Washington Policy Center released briefs which uncover why Washington ranks 31st in new “clean energy” jobs and reveal how farmers in the state can get back some of the money they have lost in taxes due to the state’s CO2 tax.

Back to Top

Tracking Positive Reforms: Updates from Network Affiliates

Hawaii: Gov. Green suspended a requirement that mandates that Hawaii’s four counties automatically adopt unamended state building codes as interim county building codes, a practice that often slows down the construction and increases the costs of new housing mid-project. Although the move is temporary, it signals to the legislature that a stalled 2024 housing reform bill should be re-addressed in the upcoming session (Grassroot Institute of Hawaii).

Missouri: Good news for men’s hair in the city of St. Louis —the St. Louis Board of Aldermenrepealed the regulation of barbershops in the city with a mandatory 6:30 closing time. While the bill does notrepeal statewide occupational licensingfor barbers, it is a significantstep in the rightdirection (Show-Me Institute).

Back to Top

Policy News from the States

Topics:

  • K-12 Education
  • Energy and Environment
  • Healthcare
  • Housing Affordability
  • Jobs and State Economies
  • State Budgets
  • Workplace Freedom
  • Other

K-12 Education

Delaware’s Next Governor Must Declare a State of Emergency in Education
Caesar Rodney Institute

Flaws in the Education System
Cardinal Institute

The Siren Song of Free School Meals
Cascade Policy Institute

What Do Public School Teachers Think of School Choice?
Center of the American Experiment

Illinois Schools See Small Academic Gains, But Still Need Improvement
Illinois Policy

Teacher Pay — ‘Guesswork with Footnotes’
Indiana Policy Review Foundation

Homeschooling Isn’t the Problem
Libertas Institute

Disruptive Children Deserve Support, Not Isolation
Libertas Institute

Increasing Number of Wisconsin High School Grads Need Remedial Education in College
MacIver Institute

What’s So Great about Performance Districts?
Show-Me Institute

The Scholarship That Wasn’t
Show-Me Institute

How Early Traditions Made School Open Enrollment Necessary
Sutherland Institute

Pat Curry, Business Leader and Activist
Texas Public Policy Foundation

School Choice
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty

Wyoming Education Departments Plans to Use AI in the Classroom – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Wyoming Liberty Group

Back to Topics

Energy and Environment

Ways California Can Have Abundant Water
California Policy Center

Ways California Can Have Abundant Energy
California Policy Center

Ford Loses $1.2 billion on EVs in Q3
Center of the American Experiment

State Mandate for Wind Power Divides Rural County
Center of the American Experiment

More Problems for Manufacturer of Failed Turbine Blades in Nantucket
Center of the American Experiment

Data Centers Fueling Massive Growth in Electricity Demand
Center of the American Experiment

Incoming! Rate Hike for Minnesota Power Customers
Center of the American Experiment

Without Nuclear, a Carbon-Neutral Grid Needs an Unthinkable Amount of Solar
John Locke Foundation

Should Climate Change Be a Graduation Requirement?
Pacific Research Institute

Yankee Institute Calls for Lower Energy Costs
Yankee Institute

Back to Topics

Healthcare

Medicaid Money Grab
Empire Center

How to Reduce Medicare Fraud with Charles M. Silver and David Hyman
Show-Me Institute

Back to Topics

Housing Affordability

Grassroot Suggests Ways to Improve ‘Miscellaneous Uses’ Section of Bill 64
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Restoring Old Lahaina Won’t Be Possible Without Zoning Changes
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

‘Guest House’ Bill Accords with 2018 Update to Kauai General Plan
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Reduce Permit Reviews for SMA Areas That Do Not Warrant High Scrutiny
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Make Adaptive Reuse More Feasible
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Getting Started with Small-lot Starter Homes
Libertas Institute

Utah Cities Should Legalize Backyard Cottages
Libertas Institute

Legalizing Housing Will Do More for Denver Than a Tax Hike
Pacific Research Institute

Senior Citizen Property Tax Freezes in Stone and Webster Counties Are Not Sound Public Policy
Show-Me Institute

Back to Topics

Jobs and State Economies

New Study Ranks Minnesota Among Top 10 Strictest States for Childcare Regulations
Center of the American Experiment

Yet Another “Plan” to Revive Downtown Minneapolis
Center of the American Experiment

Gov. Walz Celebrates 36,000 New Jobs in Minnesota Over Last Year: 59% Were ‘Government’ Jobs
Center of the American Experiment

Florida Is Making Student Loans Obsolete
Foundation for Government Accountability

Frontier Institute Public Comment on Bolstering Data Center Growth
Frontier Institute

Here’s How Frivolous Lawsuits Against Truckers Hurt Everybody, Including You
Georgia Public Policy Foundation

10,000 Arizonans Free to Work Thanks to Goldwater’s Reform
Goldwater Institute

Unemployment High in 13 of 15 Illinois Metro Job Markets
Illinois Policy

Eliminate Laws That Stifle Innovation
Mackinac Center

Maine’s Childcare Regulations 10th Most Restrictive in Nation
Maine Policy Institute

Oklahoma Among Top States in Job Creation
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Report Finds Families Moving to Oklahoma
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Oklahoma Lawmakers Seek to Reduce State Regulations
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

California’s Ballot Measures Could Worsen Homelessness
Pacific Research Institute

Louisiana’s Labor Market Improves but More Work to Do
Pelican Institute

Good News for Men’s Hair in the City of St. Louis
Show-Me Institute

Back to Topics

State Budgets

California’s Unstoppable Taxation Machine
California Policy Center

Should Voters Approve New Taxes Without Seeing the Books?
California Policy Center

Report Finds St. Paul’s Budget Under Pressure from High Taxes, Business Loss, And Slower Growth
Center of the American Experiment

Georgia Has the Opportunity for Big-Ticket Tax Reform
Georgia Public Policy Foundation

Hawaii’s Historic Tax Cut Must Be Protected Not Because We Want It, But Because We Need It
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Johnson’s 2025 Chicago Budget Breaks Property Tax Promise
Illinois Policy

Iowa’s Tax Reforms Propel State to New Heights in Competitiveness Ranking
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation

Rerouting How Roads and Highways are Funded
John Locke Foundation

Gov. Mills Ranked Third Worst Governor in Country for Fiscal Responsibility
Maine Policy Institute

Reparations – in California or Nationally – Will Bring Unnecessary Chaos
Pacific Research Institute

Nebraska Tax Sources: The Complete Tax Picture Over 24 Years
Platte Institute

K.C. Subsidies Stop Making Sense
Show-Me Institute

St. Louis Has Better Options Than Buying Nine New Mustangs for the City’s Fleet
Show-Me Institute

A Blank Check
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Which ISDs (and Lone City) are Pushing VATREs?
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Bigger in Texas
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Baltimore’s Red Line: Insane or Idiotic?
The Maryland Public Policy Institute

Back to Topics

Workplace Freedom

First Amendment: Why Teachers Can Request Refund of PAC Money
Center of the American Experiment

Union Political Spending Doesn’t Represent All Their Members
Commonwealth Foundation

Public Employee Unions Enduring Death by 1,000 Emails
Freedom Foundation

Back to Topics

Other

We Can’t Rely on FEMA, Nor Should We Try
Beacon Center of Tennessee

Utah Leads Lawsuit Challenging Federal Control of Third of Its Lands
Center of the American Experiment

Lucien Smith: Prognostications and Punditry
Empower Mississippi

The Senselessness of Identity Politics
Goldwater Institute

A Political Strategy that Works
Indiana Policy Review Foundation

America Must Protect and Restore Confidence in Elections
James Madison Institute

Election Reflections from a Visit to Hurricane-Ravaged Western North Carolina
John Locke Foundation

10-28 Data Dump: Will the Republican Early Voting Advantage Hold?
John Locke Foundation

Gen Z’s New Path: Skip College
Libertas Institute

Wisconsin Elections Commission: Non-citizen Driver’s Licenses Can Be Used to Vote
MacIver Institute

Biden Followed FDR’s Lead in Tampering with SCOTUS
Mackinac Center

Politics Without a Legacy Is Pointless
Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Jeffrey Meyers on Edgar Allan Poe, Gothic Horror, & Halloween
Pioneer Institute

Civics Refresher: How to Vote in Utah
Sutherland Institute

Fast Facts: Voter ID Laws
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Why the Founders Established an Electoral College & Why We Must Keep It
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Back to Topics | Back to Top

The Network in the News

In the City Journal, the California Policy Center’s Edward Ring examines the policies that have given rise the mass exodus of business from the Golden State.

In RealClear Energy, the Commonwealth Foundation’s André Béliveau points out that affordable energy could greatly alleviate Pennsylvanians’ economic anxieties.

In Discourse, the Goldwater Institute’s Jon Riches examines the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to curb the union practice of “release time.”

In Chicago Business, Illinois Policy’s Micky Horstman questions why other cities seem to have adapted to post-pandemic public transit while Chicago’s continues to languish.

In Florida Politics, The James Madison Institute’s Edward Longe notes that Florida is at a digital crossroads, especially as it related to regulating artificial intelligence (AI).

Lee Sands, local government policy analyst atLibertas Institute, in an op-ed forDeseret Newslater picked up by Yahoo Life says ‘Utah cities should legalize backyard cottages.’

In theChicago Tribuneand a live interview withAwake Illinois, Liberty Justice Center Senior Counsel Dean McGee discusses why members of the Chicago Teachers Union are suing their own union.

Daniel Oliver, director ofPacific Research Institute, in anop-edfor American Greatness says the election boils down to a choice between regional conflict and World War III.

Daniel Buck, senior visiting fellow atWisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, in an op-ed forThe Hilllater picked up by AOL says teachers shouldn’t cover the election.

Back to Top

Categories: News

Organization: State Policy Network

Week in Review: November 1, 2024 (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Tyson Zemlak

Last Updated:

Views: 6201

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (63 voted)

Reviews: 86% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Tyson Zemlak

Birthday: 1992-03-17

Address: Apt. 662 96191 Quigley Dam, Kubview, MA 42013

Phone: +441678032891

Job: Community-Services Orchestrator

Hobby: Coffee roasting, Calligraphy, Metalworking, Fashion, Vehicle restoration, Shopping, Photography

Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.