Publications
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Research & Commentary: What A Smoking Ban Would Mean for Michigan
Publication -Research and Commentaries -People often support smoking bans in order to be protected from the nuisance of smoking environments in restaurants, bars, casinos, and other businesses. -
Kansas Can’t Afford A Cigarette Tax Hike
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The Kansas Health Policy Authority’s recommendation to use a 75-cent cigarette tax increase to pay for health costs should be worrisome—not only to smokers, but also to non-smokers and fiscally responsible legislators as well. -
Community Reinvestment Act: The Risk of Unintended Consequences
Publication -Research and Commentaries -As policymakers consider ways to address the current mortgage crisis, it is important to evaluate new proposals with an eye toward their future effects on the economy. -
Defined Contribution vs. Defined Benefit Pensions
Publication -Research and Commentaries -According to the Pew Center on the States, state government employee pension plans nationwide have racked up nearly $360 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. -
Raising New Hampshire’s Cigarette Tax Is Bad Tax Policy
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A 25 percent increase in New Hampshire's cigarette tax, scheduled to go into effect today, has been put on hold until audits can be completed to determine just how much revenue the tax has raised so far this year. -
Utah Cigarette Tax Is More than Meets the Eye
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In an effort to vilify the legal act of smoking, anti-tobacco groups in Utah are pushing a $2 per pack cigarette tax, with the help of very provocative and misleading statistics on health care costs. Utah smokers in 2007 paid $73. -
Smoking Bans and Property Rights
Publication -Research and Commentaries -As President Calvin Coolidge once said, "Ultimately property rights and personal rights are the same thing. -
Massachusetts Bucking The Trend On State Employees — And Not In A Good Way
Publication -Research and Commentaries -With 29 states expected to face budget deficits next year, many governors are realizing their state payrolls have swelled well beyond their means. At least 10 states have begun freezing and/or cutting payrolls. Massachusetts Gov. -
No. 121 Housing Policy for the 21st Century
Publication -Policy Studies -In "Housing Policy for the 21st Century," William Higginson outlines several key policy recommendations he says "would have a dramatic effect on affordable housing. -
Future Deficits Inevitable Without Comprehensive Solution
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Washington's estimated $2.7 billion budget shortfall will force tough decisions to be made in the coming years, and without fiscal discipline these deficits will reoccur in larger form. -
No. 121 Housing Policy for the 21st Century
Publication -Policy Studies -In "Housing Policy for the 21st Century," William Higginson outlines several key policy recommendations he says "would have a dramatic effect on affordable housing. -
Reoccurring Budget Deficits Need Comprehensive Fix
Publication -Research and Commentaries -California is facing a $17 billion deficit along with the third-highest unemployment rate in the country. This has caused some elected officials to say the state has a revenue problem ... but the facts say otherwise. Since Gov. -
Research & Commentary: TABOR, The Taxpayers Bill of Rights
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Introduction by Steven Stanek Managing Editor Budget & Tax News The Heartland Institute The more government spends, the more it taxes. The more government taxes, the more it spends. -
Freight Rail Would Save Time and Fuel
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A study released July 1 by the Association of American Railroads, written by Heartland Institute Senior Fellow Wendell Cox, shows that expanding freight rail would dramatically reduce congestion, pollution, and fuel use in urban areas ... -
No. 119 Welfare Reform after Ten Years: A State-by-State Analysis
Publication -Policy Studies -Welfare Reform after Ten Years assigns grades to the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on how they implemented the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which gave states unprecedented flexibility -
No. 119 Welfare Reform after Ten Years: A State-by-State Analysis
Publication -Policy Studies -Welfare Reform after Ten Years assigns grades to the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on how they implemented the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which gave states unprecedented flexibility -
Short-term Effects of a Teenage Driver Cell Phone Restriction
Publication -Policy Studies -This academic study, conducted in 2008 by University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center Senior Research Scientist Robert D. -
Cigarette Tax Hikes: A Feeble Attempt to Cut Smoking Rates and Balance the Budget
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Last week, the Kentucky House of Representatives approved a 25 cent increase in the state's cigarette tax in an effort to help eliminate the state's budget deficit. The tax hike is part of a budget plan proposed by Gov. -
How to Privatize Airports … and Why
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Most Americans are not familiar with the phenomenon of airport privatization, but they may soon be. Chicago's Midway Airport could be the first major hub airport to divest public ownership to a private company through a lease or sale. -
Research & Commentary: The Flat Tax – Will it Be Coming to Your State?
Publication -Research and Commentaries -While millions of Americans wait for Congress to consider a national flat-rate income tax, an increasing number of proactive governors and legislators are "flattening" taxes at the state level. -
Why Is Science Being Ignored?
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The February issue of the British Medical Journal (http://heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22811) confirms what research has shown for years: smokeless tobacco is less harmful than traditional smoking. -
The Case for the Flat Tax
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A simpler, fairer, and flatter tax system would reduce or eliminate many of these problems and lead to more economic growth, many analysts believe. -
Federal Excise Tax on Tobacco
Publication -Research and Commentaries -What does children’s health insurance have to do with tobacco tax? That is the question some policymakers are asking as new revenue is sought for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). -
Excise Taxes – Focus on Michigan’s Liquor Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Alcohol, beer, tobacco, and other items have become big targets of tax-hiking lawmakers in recent years.