Publications
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Property Tax Levies in Cook County, Illinois: An Analysis
Publication -Policy Briefs -IntroductionThe economic recession that began in 2007 exposed and aggravated a government fiscal crisis that had been brewing for many years at the national, state, and municipal levels of the U.S. -
Research & Commentary: Workers’ Compensation Reform in Illinois (Update)
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Illinois has the third-highest workers’ compensation insurance rates of any state in the United States. In Illinois, provision of workers’ comp is compulsory for all employers, and the state government does not provide insurance through a state fund. -
Backgrounder: Hydraulic Fracturing
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The recent discovery of vast deposits of oil and natural gas trapped in shale rock formations has revolutionized our nation’s short-term, mid-term, and long-term energy outlook. -
Research & Commentary: Loosening Teacher Tenure
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Several states, including Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Virginia, are considering making teacher tenure more difficult to obtain or replacing it with rolling contracts. -
Research & Commentary: Insurance Price Controls and California Proposition 103
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In the mid-1980s, high premium costs and a tidal wave of auto insurance litigation led to vast public outrage against auto insurers. -
Research & Commentary: Hydraulic Fracturing and Groundwater Contamination
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The Environmental Protection Agency’s release of its draft ”Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming” in December 2011 has brought much attention to alleged risks hydraulic fracturing poses to groundwater resources. -
The Information Technology Revolution and the Transformation of the Small Business Economy: A Collection of Essays
Publication -Books -A collection of essays related to the value of the Internet to small businesses. -
Research & Commentary: The Dangers of a Single-Payer Health System
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A common proposal for remedying the increasing cost of health care in the United States has been the call for a single-payer health care system. -
Sports Stadium Madness: Is Fan Ownership the Answer?
Publication -Policy Briefs -The Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank whose researchers have questioned government subsidies to sports stadiums since the mid 1980s, has released a new Policy Brief proposing fan ownership of teams as a solution to “sports stadium madness. -
Research & Commentary: National Catastrophe ‘Backstop’ Update
Publication -Research and Commentaries -For more than a decade, members of Congress have proposed various bills to establish a federal “backstop,” “catastrophe fund,” or “guarantee mechanism” for private losses in cases of disaster. -
Research & Commentary: Florida Parent Trigger
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Florida legislators have proposed an education reform that is garnering significant national attention: the Parent Trigger. The legislation, first passed in California, is currently being drafted in a dozen other states. -
Research & Commentary: Ohio Health Insurance Exchange
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Uncertainty over the future of the federal health care law has led many states, including Ohio, to avoid implementation of health insurance exchanges. Recently state Sen. -
Research & Commentary: National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been a political football in recent years, with Congress unwilling to commit to reform. -
Research & Commentary: Digital Textbooks
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The Obama administration has announced it wants every child in the nation to have an e-textbook by 2017. Several states, including California and Utah, already have made their way towards that goal. -
Research & Commentary: Louisiana Education Reforms
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In January 2012, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) proposed policies that would shift the state’s education system toward greater accountability, freedom, and choice. -
Research & Commentary: No-Fault Insurance and Personal Injury Protection Insurance Fraud
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Auto insurance fraud is a serious problem in Florida. -
Research & Commentary: Tobacco Harm Reduction
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Nearly 50 million American adults—more than a fifth of the nation’s adult population—smoke cigarettes. After vigorous efforts aimed at reducing that figure, the percentage of Americans who smoke has fallen by almost half in the past four decades. -
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. -
Research & Commentary: Idaho’s Tobacco Tax Advantage
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Idaho House Revenue and Taxation Committee Chairman Dennis Lake (R-Blackfoot) says he wants to increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1.25 per pack, to help curb smoking and raise revenue. -
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. -
Research & Commentary: Idaho’s Tobacco Tax Advantage
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Idaho House Revenue and Taxation Committee Chairman Dennis Lake (R-Blackfoot) says he wants to increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1.25 per pack, to help curb smoking and raise revenue. -
Research & Commentary: Ohio Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard
Publication -Research and Commentaries -On Wednesday, Ohio Senate Bill 216 will be up for consideration in the Senate Energy & Public Utilities committee. -
Research & Commentary: School Funding that Follows the Child
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The idea of education funding following the child has several names, such as weighted student funding, backpack funding, fair-student funding, student-based budgeting, and results-based budgeting. -
Heartland Institute Review & Commentary: Chemicals of Concern
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Executive Summary Following the passage of “Chemicals of Concern” legislation in Maine, Washington, and California, several states are considering adopting similar statutes.
