Research and Commentaries
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Research & Commentary: The Best, Most Recent Voucher Research
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In 2011, researcher Greg Forster examined all the highest-quality research available on voucher programs; he found 10 of 11 studies demonstrated vouchers benefit students, and the 11th showed participation made little difference to voucher students. -
Research & Commentary: Tax Increment Financing
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Tax increment financing has become a popular tool for encouraging economic development in municipalities across the country. -
Research & Commentary: Hydraulic Fracturing Ban in New York State
Publication -Research and Commentaries -As Gov. Andrew Cuomo prepares to decide whether to allow hydraulic fracturing in New York State, extreme environmental activist groups are pressuring him to ban the technique, which they say threatens the public health. -
Research & Commentary: Financial Transaction Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Since the 2007-2008 financial crisis, legislators in the United States and across the world have proposed new taxes on certain financial transactions, including securities trading and stock transactions. -
Research & Commentary: Race-Based School Discipline
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In July, President Barack Obama signed an executive order creating two federal panels to review public schools’ discipline policies and actions toward African-Americans, citing data that schools suspend black students more often than white students. -
Research & Commentary: Internet and Broadband Reclassification
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The Obama administration’s Federal Communications Commission has undertaken several efforts to increase its regulatory power over the Internet by reclassifying broadband access services from their current status as an informational service to a Title II -
Research & Commentary: Education Property Tax Reform
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Several states—including Florida, Iowa, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont—are currently discussing restructuring the property taxes that pay for education. -
Research & Commentary: Michigan Renewable Energy Portfolio Mandate
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A petition bearing more than 500,000 signatures has been turned in to state election officials to put the Michigan Energy Michigan Jobs initiative on the November ballot. -
Research & Commentary: Electronic Cigarettes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Nearly 50 million U.S. adults—more than a fifth of the total adult population—smoke cigarettes. -
Research & Commentary: Reconciliation and Obamacare
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding the individual mandate in President Barack Obama’s health care law, the conversation on Capitol Hill is focused on the parliamentary issue of reconciliation. -
Research & Commentary: Congestion Traffic Pricing
Publication -Research and Commentaries -According to a report by the Texas Transportation Institute, the cost of urban traffic congestion, converted to a dollar value, quintupled between 1982 and 2007. -
Research & Commentary: Parent Trigger Success in Adelanto
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A judge recently ruled that a Parent Trigger petition from parents in Adelanto, California is valid and their request to convert their children’s school to a charter must go into effect. -
Research & Commentary: Michigan Teacher Pension Reforms
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Michigan lawmakers are considering addressing the state’s debilitating $22 billion teacher pension deficit by switching incoming state teachers to a 401(k)-style plan instead of the traditional defined-benefit plan. Gov. -
Research & Commentary: Diverging Education Opportunities
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Recent research demonstrates a growing divide among America’s wealthier and poorer households. -
Research & Commentary: Unemployment Insurance Fraud and Overpayments
Publication -Research and Commentaries -With the nation’s economy still in the doldrums, unemployment compensation funds in many states have become insolvent. One reason is that waste and fraud plague the system. -
Research & Commentary: Carbon Tax Swaps
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Carbon taxes have regained traction with several prominent Republican lawmakers and political leaders publicly voicing support for a “revenue-neutral” carbon tax in exchange for tax cuts on capital or investments. -
Research & Commentary: Estate Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Few taxes imposed by state and local governments are more controversial than the estate tax, popularly referred to as the “death tax.” Estate taxes are levies on the net value of the estate of a deceased person before distribution to the heirs. -
Research & Commentary: Teacher Shortages
Publication -Research and Commentaries -North Dakota is reporting extreme teacher shortages as the state booms economically thanks in great part to oil extraction, but it’s not the only place where such shortages are occurring. -
Research & Commentary: Reforming Wisconsin’s Income Tax
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Wisconsin State Rep. Robin Vos recently called for a legislative council committee on state income tax reform to look at the state’s current, progressive, income tax structure. -
Research & Commentary: Public Pensions and the Assumed Rate of Return
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In states and municipalities across the country, the high cost of traditional defined-benefit public pensions has become a hot-button issue as unfunded liabilities have raced out of control. -
Research & Commentary: Gasoline Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -(An updated verison of this policy document can be found here)Motor fuel taxes affect everyone who uses any kind of transportation. -
Research & Commentary: Common Core Draft Science Standards
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A consortium of consultants and science educators has released a draft of what they plan will become national education standards for K-12 science. -
Research & Commentary: States Should Avoid Medicaid Expansion
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). While the individual mandate was upheld as a “tax,” the law’s Medicaid expansion has been partly rejected. -
Research & Commentary: Internet Privacy and Do Not Track Legislation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Internet privacy has become a hot issue as technology to track user movements online has become more widespread.
