Budget & Tax Indiana Lawmakers Propose E-Cigarette Regulations, Taxes Matt Hurley writes in Heartlander about a proposal from a bipartisan group of Indiana lawmakers that would impose a tax increase on e-cigarette sales in the state, as well as increasing regulations on e-cigarette use. Read more
Energy & Environment Isaac Orr and Nathan Makla: Energy and Environment Road-trip Government Relations Department staff have been touring state capitols and meeting with legislators all across the country to explain what a pro-energy, pro-jobs, and pro-environment agenda looks like. In this episode of the Heartland Daily Podcast, Research Fellow Isaac Orr and Government Relations Manager Nathan Makla discuss how such meetings in Madison, Wisconsin and St. Paul, Minnesota went and what specifically they discussed. Read more
Education Ten Quick Reasons ‘Free Community College’ Is A Rotten Idea Heartland Research Fellow Joy Pullmann lays out 10 fact-based reasons the president’s “free community college” idea won’t work. Pullmann says there are far better ways to help young adults acquire skills and pursue fulfilling careers than proposing a new government program the nation cannot afford that promotes the acquisition of more inflated credentials the economy doesn’t need. Read more
Telecom FCC Hikes E-rate Telecom Taxes
Matt Hurley examines a recent vote by the Federal Communications Commission to hike fees on consumers’ wireless services to increase subsidies for Internet connectivity for schools and public libraries. This government subsidy, known as the e-rate program, receives $2.25 billion annually in U.S. consumers’ money through the Universal Service Fund, a line-item fee tacked on to consumers’ bills for the use of wireless devices. Critics of the tax hike, including the Tax Foundation, argue state wireless fees and taxes have increased three times more rapidly than any other tax on goods or services and that the increase is unnecessary. Read more
Health Care Research & Commentary: Idaho Medicaid Expansion The expansion of Medicaid programs in some Republican-controlled states, under the false mantle of a “free-market alternative” to Obamacare, has emboldened some Republican governors to reconsider their opposition to Medicaid expansion. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) has begun to show interest in a private option plan, especially one resembling the Healthy Utah plan. Like the Arkansas plan, Healthy Utah would, if approved by the Obama administration, assist residents within a certain income range by providing subsidies for health insurance in private markets. In this Research & Commentary, Matthew Glans argues the Healthy Utah approach presents several major problems. First, despite various private-market characteristics of the programs, they still represent an expansion of a failed Medicaid system, where the federal government dictates multiple aspects of an insurance plan and the beneficial aspects of real market competition are lost. Second, the funding for any expansion is by no means assured. Read more
From Our Free Market Friends Simplifying Nevada’s Taxes Framework Future On November 4, 2014, Nevada voters rejected a ballot initiative that would have established a two percent margin tax on businesses’ gross receipts. In a new Tax Foundation book, experts Liz Malm, Joseph Henchman, Jared Walczak, and Scott Drenkard discuss Nevada tax reform options and provide a framework upon which legislators and citizens can make educated decisions. Read more
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