Recent Research & Commentary

Research & Commentary: Medicaid and State Budgets

Benjamin Domenech
Benjamin Domenech
February 3, 2011

As many legislators are now learning, perhaps the greatest impact President Barack Obama’s health care regime will have on state budgets comes from the dramatic expansion of Medicaid to cover milli

Are Oklahoma's Noncompliant School Districts Violating Civil Rights Laws?

Stacy martin and Patrick B. McGuigan
January 3, 2011

Oklahoma public schools that violate the civil rights of students risk losing federal education funds, U.S. Department of Education official Jim Bradshaw told CapitolBeatOK recently.

That information may be of particular interest to advocates of, and families with, special-needs schoolchildren—the beneficiaries of a new state law intended to improve their educational options. While state money is involved in the new statute, federal civil rights provisions could still apply.

The Blob That Ate the Schools

Greg Foster
January 3, 2011

Here’s an eye-opening school statistic for you: Only half of Oklahoma’s public education employees are teachers. The bureaucracy is now so big, it takes up half the system. It’s the blob that ate the schools.

Teachers’ unions, and the lousy teachers they protect, have become the central villain in the epic drama of education reform. And well they deserve the role—teachers’ unions exist to fatten themselves by destroying children’s lives.

Research & Commentary: Idaho’s Tobacco Tax Advantage

John Nothdurft
December 20, 2010

Idaho is expected to face a budget deficit in fiscal year 2012 of approximately $350 million.

TN should say no to ObamaCare

Justin Owen
December 15, 2010

Nine months ago, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, ushering in the largest-ever government intrusion into American’s health-care decisions.

Research & Commentary: Georgia's Tobacco Tax Advantage

John Nothdurft
December 8, 2010

Georgia state Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) wants to raise the state’s cigarette tax by a dollar per pack in order to help close the state’s $1.5 billion budget deficit.