Opinion
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Washington State Lawmakers Revive Effort to Hike Tobacco Minimum Purchasing Age
Opinion -Lawmakers in Washington State are debating a bill that would increase the legal age for tobacco purchases from 18 to 21. House Bill 2313, was introduced in January by state Rep. -
AllVid Deja-Vu: Google-YouTube’s Forcing Video to be Open to Piracy Again
Opinion -The FCC’s AllVid proposal is déjà vu. We have seen Google-YouTube’s piracy-as-negotiating-leverage MO in action before. -
More Than Half of ACA Health Insurance CO-OPs Fold, Senate Reports
Opinion -Twelve of the 23 nonprofit health insurers, which received a total of $1. -
Florida Lawmakers Reject Public Pension Worker Choice Bill
Opinion -A Florida Senate committee rejected a bill to reform the state’s public pension system by changing the default option for how new government employees’ entitlements are saved for later payment. -
California Coastal Commission Fires Director, Stirs Controversy
Opinion -In a controversial move, the California Coastal Commission (CCC), which controls development along 1,100 miles of the state’s coast, removed CCC Executive Director Charles Lester from his position in the government organization’s leadership. -
Myth-Busting New Hampshire’s Medicaid Expansion
Opinion -New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan signed into law on April 5 House Bill 1696 to modify and renew through 2018 the state’s Medicaid expansion program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which state lawmakers first adopted in 2014. -
Heartland Institute Experts Condemn Vergara v. California Appeals Court Ruling
Opinion -A California state appellate court has overturned a lower court ruling in Vergara v. California. -
Lawsuits Piling Up Against Obama EPA
Opinion -Lawsuits challenging various environmental regulations are piling up. On March 3, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts declined to halt an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule regulating mercury emissions from power plants. -
Green Energy Company’s Eminent Domain Buying Spree Concerns Illinois Lawmaker
Opinion -A plan by Clean Line Energy Partners to build electricity transmission lines across Illinois is being challenged by state Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon). -
Wyoming Exempts Direct Primary Care from Insurance Regulations
Opinion -Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) has signed into law Senate File 49, which will exempt direct primary care practices from state insurance code regulations. -
Medicaid Fraud Prevention Bill Receives Unanimous Support in U.S. House
Opinion -The US House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to reduce wasteful spending by prohibiting the federal government from compensating health care providers whose participation in Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health -
West Virginia Governor Moo-ves on Lawmaker’s Raw Milk Bill
Opinion -West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) signed a bill legalizing the consumption of raw milk, opening up a way for consumers to avoid the state’s economic restrictions on sales between farmers and foodies. -
Authors of Fracking Study Dismayed at Good News
Opinion -A new study published in Environment International indicates hydraulic fracturing, commonly called “fracking,” and the heavy truck traffic that is associated with it would have a negligible impact on air quality if fracking were to be used extensively in -
Exelon Again Threatens to Close Nuclear Plant, Unless Taxpayers Subsidize Operations
Opinion -Having failed to get cash-strapped Illinois to provide new state subsidies for three nuclear plants it claimed are losing money in 2015, Exelon, a utility with the largest fleet of nuclear plants in the United States, is once again seeking expanded -
Supreme Court Deadlocked on Landmark Forced-Unionism Case
Opinion -In a tie 4–4 vote, the nation’s top court effectively ruled in favor of government unions and denied a group of California government school teachers the right to decide whether to contribute to teachers unions. Deciding the case Friedrichs v. -
Delaware Lawmakers Talk ‘Temporary’ Gas Tax Hike
Opinion -Delaware legislators are preparing to unveil a bill that would temporarily increase the state’s excise tax on gasoline by 10 cents a gallon, to 33 cents, a 47 percent increase. -
Oregon Outlaws Coal
Opinion -Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed into law a controversial bill on March 11 that will ban the use of coal to generate electricity, beginning in 2030, making Oregon the first state in nation to outlaw using coal to produce electricity. -
Heartland Institute Experts Applaud Mississippi Legislature for Expanding Education Choice
Opinion -The Mississippi legislature is sending two education choice bills to Republican Gov. Phil Bryant this week. -
Maine Entitlement Reforms, Audits Cut ‘SNAP’ Fraud Rates
Opinion -Entitlement reforms in Maine have led to a decline in the amount of one type of program fraud occurring in the state, state officials report. -
Cruz, Trump Go on Record on Climate, Energy
Opinion -Climate Change Weekly #210 Subscribe to this.Just two of the five presidential candidates remaining in the Democratic and Republican primaries – billionaire developer Donald Trump and Sen. -
House Bill Offers Medicaid Reforms, Would Remove Lotto Winners from Program
Opinion -Taxpayers could save $30 billion if Congress approves a bill to make lottery jackpot winners ineligible for Medicaid, end enhanced Medicaid payments for prisoners, and eliminate an Affordable Care Act (ACA) fund once used to promote a sport called -
Insurers Are Abandoning Obamacare Exchanges
Opinion -Consumer Power Report #502 March 23 marked the sixth anniversary of passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), legislation that was promised to provide millions of Americans with affordable health insurance they otherwise couldn’t get while improving -
House Bills Tackle Federal Control of Western Lands
Opinion -Mounting tensions in the rural West, as evidenced by the 2014 armed standoff at the Cliven Bundy ranch in Nevada and the 41-day standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve in Oregon earlier in 2016,[HSB1] have triggered the introduction of two -
West Virginia Lawmakers Call for National Constitutional Convention
Opinion -Lawmakers in West Virginia approved a joint resolution calling for a national constitutional convention to draft and enact a federal balanced budget amendment sponsored by the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force, a nonprofit organization dedicated to