Publications
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Block Grants for All: Liberating the Poor and Taxpayers Alike
Publication -Policy Briefs -The remarkable success of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 – better known simply as “welfare reform” – is well known. Poverty among female-headed households fell by one-third, meaning nearly 4. -
Research & Commentary: Occupational Licensing
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Government regulation of occupations comes in the form of registration, certification permits, and licensure. A license gives an individual a “right to practice” legally. Occupational licensing has grown dramatically in the past 60 years. -
Research & Commentary: Severance Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Severance taxes are levied when landowners sell nonrenewable resources such as oil, natural gas, iron, copper, and other natural resources for extraction. -
Research & Commentary: The Good and Bad of the Kasich Tax Plan
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Ohio Gov. John Kasich in March began a renewed push for tax reform in 2014, following up on the state’s 2013 tax reforms, which lowered income taxes while increasing sales taxes. Kasich is proposing to lower income taxes across all brackets by 8. -
Research & Commentary: What the Australian Carbon Tax Means for the United States
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Anti-fossil-fuel activists have long advocated federal and state governments should impose carbon taxes. -
Research & Commentary: The Future of High Frequency Trading
Publication -Research and Commentaries -High frequency trading has come under increased scrutiny since the “Flash Crash” of May 6, 2010. Reports showed high frequency trades were not the primary cause of the crash, and the causes of the Flash Crash have yet to be fully determined. -
Research & Commentary: Rideshare Regulation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Over the past several years, the popularity of “ridesharing” services has grown exponentially across the country. -
Research & Commentary: Illinois’ Unfair “Fair Tax”
Publication -Research and Commentaries -While its neighbors have undertaken positive tax reforms, lowering rates for businesses and individual taxpayers, Illinois has been moving in the opposite direction and is now considering moving from a flat-rate income tax to a progressive tax. -
Research & Commentary: Regulation of Online Gambling
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The debate over the expansion of online gambling in the states continues to move forward while Congress considers the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, which would reverse a 2011 interpretation by the U.S. -
Research & Commentary: Taxing and Regulating E-Cigarettes in New Jersey
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Over the past five years, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have emerged as a popular alternative for smokers looking to quit or substantially reduce their cigarette use. -
Research & Commentary: Solar Power in Maine
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The State of Maine is considering two proposals to provide greater incentives for solar power. -
Research & Commentary: Tennessee Parent Trigger
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Tennessee legislators are considering an education reform that has garnered significant national attention: the Parent Trigger. The legislation, first passed in California, has been considered in approximately 20 other states. -
Research & Commentary: Michigan Minimum Wage Increase
Publication -Research and Commentaries -There are currently several legislative proposals in Michigan that would significantly increase the state’s minimum wage to as high as $9.50 per hour. Each would significantly reduce the state’s employment rates and economic development. -
Research & Commentary: Ending Internet Access Taxes for Good
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The current national moratorium on state and local taxation of Internet access is set to expire in 2014, but two proposals being considered in Congress would permanently ban discriminatory taxes on broadband Internet access. -
Research & Commentary: Taxing and Regulating E-Cigarettes in Vermont
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Over the past five years, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have emerged as a popular alternative for smokers looking to quit or substantially reduce their cigarette use. -
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Publication -Books -The newest volume in the Climate Change Reconsidered series, released on April 9, is Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts. One more volume in the CCR-II series, subtitled Human Welfare, Energy, and Policies, is due out in June. -
Research & Commentary: Latest Research on Government Preschool Programs
Publication -Research and Commentaries -More and more states are adding or expanding government preschool programs, in spite of research that continues to show these programs have little or no long-term effects on needy children. -
Research & Commentary: Energy Inducement Prizes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Under the pretext of climate change mitigation, energy portfolio diversification, and energy independence, the federal government and many state governments have implemented costly subsidies and mandate programs that benefit selected energy companies and -
Research & Commentary: State Carbon Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Legislators in many states have blamed high-profile regional weather events on anthropogenic global warming and are proposing carbon taxes as a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and thereby—they hope—to mitigate severe weather. -
Research & Commentary: Taxpayer Funding of Sports Facilities
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In the early days of professional sports, nearly all new sports facilities were privately financed. In recent years, by contrast, the trend in stadium financing has moved toward taxpayer subsidies for new stadium construction or renovation. -
Climate Change, Energy Policy, and National Power
Publication -Policy Briefs -Global warming alarmism threatens U.S. national power and national security, say Admiral Thomas B. Hayward, Vice Admiral Edward S. Briggs, and Captain Donald K. Forbes. -
Research & Commentary: Medicaid Expansion and Marketplace Virginia
Publication -Research and Commentaries -State legislators in Virginia are now considering legislation that would expand the state’s Medicaid program, the most prominent of which is Marketplace Virginia. -
Research & Commentary: Maryland Estate Tax Reform
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 property transferred from a deceased person’s estate to relatives or other parties. -
Research & Commentary: Tennessee Hall Tax
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Tennessee is often identified as one of the nine U.S. states without an income tax. Although it is true Tennessee does not tax income derived from wages, it does levy a tax on income from investments—known as the “Hall Tax.