Recent Policy Briefs

Amicus Brief: Deseret Power Electric Cooperative

March 21, 2008

U.S. EPA issued a Clean Air Act permit last year to the Deseret Power Electric Cooperative, ending a three year process costing the utility millions of dollars.

Phase Out Sales Tax On Groceries

February 13, 2007

Freshman Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe in 2007 proposed a 50 percent reduction in the state sales tax on groceries. The tax cut, enacted by the General Assembly reduced the grocery tax from six to three cents. Gov. Beebe has proposed reducing the grocery tax from three to two cents when the legislature meets in session in 2009.

No Income Tax Increase. Reduce Top Rate to Highest Border State Rate.

July 13, 2004

Once upon a time many economists did not accept the idea that tax rates are a factor of economic development. The literature suggests that is no longer the case. Tax rates are a factor of economic development along with private property, the right of contract and the rule of law; infrastructure; a functional education system and skilled labor force; and a non-capricious regulatory policy. Rates are not the only factor, but entrepreneurs do take them into consideration when making decisions about employment.

Local PLAs bite the hand feeding the beast

Jim Waters
Prejudice at the lunch counter may have disappeared, but other types of discrimination remain alive and well in America – and have surprising supporters.

Study: 'Cap-And-Trade' Will Lead To 17,100 To 23,300 Fewer Jobs In Arkansas

(December 2009) Arkansas will see a reduction in job growth, with 17,100 to 23,300 fewer jobs in 2030 under a 'Cap-and-Trade' proposal, according to a new study by the Arkansas Policy Foundation and the American Council for Capital Formation.

Margo Thorning, Ph.D, and Pinar Cebi Wilber, Ph.D authored the study, which concludes:

Performance-Based Budgeting and Activities-Based Costing

Performance-based budgeting would require state government to develop quantifiable measures for all functions and then allocate tax dollars based on the effectiveness of meeting performance goals. Activities-based costing allocates tax dollars in a consistent and uniform manner. The Murphy Commission, a Policy Foundation project recommended both ideas in 1998.

Obamacare for CT to Bust Budget

Marc Kilmer

In 2009, the Connecticut General Assembly overrode a veto by Governor Jodi Rell and passed an ambitious health care proposal called SustiNet. The dramatic final vote came after a years long campaign funded by tens of millions of dollars by the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut. The bill created a state commission to develop a plan to expand government health care and report back to the legislature in 2011.

Policymakers Weighing Tax Changes Would Benefit From Dynamic Analysis

(October 12, 2009) State revenues from a 2008 severance tax hike are short of the official estimate due to deflation in the natural gas market. But a 30 percent cut in the state capital gains tax in 19991 led to revenues greater than the estimate due to increased economic activity.

Both episodes—a decade apart—underscore that policymakers weighing tax proposals would benefit from dynamic analysis, an attempt to measure the full effect of fiscal policy on revenue estimates.