Recent Policy Briefs

The Municipal Government Debt Crisis

John Nothdurft, Sheila Weinberg
June 20, 2013

June 20, 2013 – The 518 taxing districts within Cook County have a combined “financial burden” of almost $34 billion - an average of $17,147 per Cook County household - according to a study release

Making Texas Public Education More Efficient: Taxpayer Savings Grant Program

Joseph Bast
March 8, 2013

This Policy Brief summarizes past research and presents new analysis showing how a proposal called the Taxpayer Savings Grant Program (TSGP) would enable the state of Texas to comply with

The Common Core: A Poor Choice For States

Joy Pullmann
January 22, 2013

Common Core State Standards for K-12 schools were adopted without debate by every state but Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia in 2010, part of the price of getting federal dollars under the Oba

Uranium Mining in Virginia: Environmental and Safety Considerations

Jay Lehr, Ph.D.
January 4, 2013

A new report written by one of the nation’s leading authorities on groundwater hydrology and nuclear energy says uranium mining in Virginia can take place safely and with minimal environmental impa

A Winning Plan for Entitlement Reform

Peter Ferrara
December 13, 2012

This essay is the first of a series of Heartland Policy Briefs by the author on entitlement reform.

Wisconsin’s Act 10: Saving Schools from the Fiscal Cliff

Maureen Martin
December 11, 2012

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 is working.

The Streetcar Fantasy

Randal O'Toole
November 28, 2012

Plans to build streetcar lines in San Antonio are based on several critical fallacies, including claims that streetcars are superior to buses in their ability to attract riders and that streetcars

Pricewaterhouse Coopers' 'Too Late' Report: Poor Science, No Practical Solutions

James M. Taylor, J.D., Taylor Smith
November 21, 2012

A new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), titled Too Late for Two Degrees?

The Parent Trigger: Justification and Design Guidelines

Joseph Bast, Joy Pullmann
November 1, 2012

Sometimes, it seems as though the debate over school reform takes place in an alternate universe where time passes but nothing really changes.

Seven Educational Reasons to Oppose San Antonio’s Pre-K Plan

Jill C. Thrift, Ph.D.
October 18, 2012

On November 6, San Antonio voters will decide whether to increase their sales tax by 1/8th cent to generate $280 million over a period of eight years.