Policy Briefs
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Texas’s Margins Tax: Principles for Reform
Publication -Policy Briefs -Texas’s franchise tax—better known as the “margins tax”—does not work as advertised. The tax has not achieved any of the goals its creators set out for it. -
Comments on Report to Congress on How to Modernize and Improve the System of Insurance Regulation in the United States
Publication -Policy Briefs -The Heartland Institute is a research and educational organization devoted to discovering, developing, and promoting free-market solutions to social and economic problems. -
The Case for Creating a Michigan Auto Insurance Fraud Prevention Agency
Publication -Policy Briefs -In February 2008, Pennsylvania resident Corey Middleton called the police and his insurance company to report a serious problem. Someone, he said, had stolen his car from a street parking space in Philadelphia. -
The ‘Parent Trigger’ in California: Some Lessons from the Experience So Far
Publication -Policy Briefs -INTRODUCTIONConceived in 2009 by liberal activists in Los Angeles as a way to work around school boards hostile to reform, California’s landmark parent empowerment law, also known as the Parent Trigger, was passed quickly by the state legislature in -
Five Things to Consider Before Raising Tobacco Taxes: A Review of the Research
Publication -Policy Briefs -Tobacco use poses well-known health risks. Smokers, on average, die earlier than nonsmokers. Estimates of lost life expectancy range from two or three years to 14 years; most researchers agree on six to eight years. -
You Call This Consensus?
Publication -Policy Briefs -Heartland Institute President Joseph Bast writes a 2011 paper examining the common sound bites surrounding the idea that there is a scientific "consensus" surrounding the idea that humans are the primary cause of catastrophic climate change. -
Corrections to Fiscal Note for Taxpayers’ Savings Grants Program
Publication -Policy Briefs -Texas Representative Sid Miller introduced HB 33, the Taxpayers’ Savings Grant (TSG) program, at the start of the legislature’s 2011 Special Session. The Texas Legislative Budget Board (LBB) released its fiscal note on the bill on June 6. -
The Indiana School Scholarship Act (House Bill 1003): Commentary and Analysis
Publication -Policy Briefs -CLICK BELOW FOR FULL-TEXT PDFThe Indiana School Scholarship Act (ISSA), signed into law by Gov. -
Solving the Flood/Wind Problem After Hurricane Losses:
Publication -Policy Briefs -In the aftermath of a hurricane landfall, there often isn’t enough data or experience relating to the losses to make known for certain whether a given loss resulted from wind or water. -
State Insurance Exchanges: The Case against Implementation
Publication -Policy Briefs -State policymakers face a complex task as they decide whether to implement President Barack Obama’s health care law. -
How Teachers in Texas Would Benefit from Expanding School Choice
Publication -Policy Briefs -Teacher unions often lead the opposition to legislation that would expand the ability of parents to choose the schools – whether public or private – their children attend. -
Budget Impact of the Texas Taxpayers’ Savings Grant Program
Publication -Policy Briefs -The Taxpayers’ Savings Grant Program (TSGP) is a very concise piece of legislation, apparently intended to address the state’s looming biannual budget deficit by reducing enrollment and associated costs in he state’s public K-12 schools at a time of -
How Teachers in Texas Would Benefit from Expanding School Choice
Publication -Policy Briefs -Teacher unions often lead the opposition to legislation that would expand the ability of parents to choose the schools – whether public or private – their children attend. -
Four Problems, Four Solutions: A Blueprint for Reforming Texas’s Insurance Environment
Publication -Policy Briefs -This report reviews four major problems with Texas’s insurance environment and proposes four categories of action that elected leaders should take in order to remedy them. -
Solutions to Restore Florida’s Property Insurance Marketplace to Protect Taxpayers and the Insured
Publication -Policy Briefs -The 2011 session of the Florida Legislature will convene in the midst of state budget worries, a lingering real estate crisis, and a still-sluggish national economy. -
Understanding Reinsurance in Florida
Publication -Policy Briefs -What is reinsurance? Why is it important in Florida? Reinsurance is insurance for insurance companies. Almost all insurance companies reinsure at least some of their risk. The reasons for purchasing reinsurance vary. -
Regulatory Issues Affecting Recycled Auto Parts
Publication -Policy Briefs -The use of alternative automobile parts – aftermarket parts made by firms other than automobile companies or recycled parts taken from damaged vehicles or vehicles that have reached the end of their useful lives – offers benefits to consumers -
Analysis: New International Survey of Climate Scientists
Publication -Policy Briefs -In a September 2010 Heartland Institute Policy Brief, Heartland President Joseph Bast examines an international survey of climate scientists conducted by German scientists Dennis Bray and Hans von Storch, and finds scientific opinion to be deeply divided. -
The Parent Trigger: A Model for Transforming Education
Publication -Policy Briefs -The Parent Trigger is an innovation in education reform recently passed into law in California. -
Why Regulate? New Applications of the ‘Johnston Test’
Publication -Policy Briefs -The following text is complete except for the omission of footnotes and two tables. -
22 Reasons Why Free-Market Think Tanks Are More Effective than Anyone Else in Changing Public Policy
Publication -Policy Briefs -Jeff Judson, past president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation and a senior fellow of The Heartland Institute, makes the case for free-market think tanks as the most effective drivers of public policy change. -
Credit Scoring in Washington State
Publication -Policy Briefs -Across the country, credit scores play an important role in many insurance companies’ ratemaking. -
Saving Science after ClimateGate
Publication -Policy Briefs -Billions of dollars are being spent each year on publicly funded scientific research in the U.S. -
The Financial Turmoil of 2007-XX: Sinners and Their Sins
Publication -Policy Briefs -The financial crisis that started in the summer of 2007 in the subprime mortgage market in the U.S.