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Education
More Common Core Promises Evaporate
Despite Common Core’s promise of providing equal, nationwide benchmarks for student learning in math and reading, a new study finds proficiency levels on Common Core tests vary widely, and almost all are below what the National Assessment of Educational Progress considers “basic.” Heartland Institute Research Fellow Joy Pullmann says in this issue of School Choice Weekly that new Common Core-aligned tests also appear to be inflating student proficiency. Read more
Constitutional Reform
Research & Commentary: Oklahoma Balanced Budget Amendment
Oklahoma is one of six states to file an application calling for a single-subject convention solely for the purpose for enacting a balanced budget amendment. Twenty-seven states have already enacted Article V resolutions. Oklahoma’s legislation would require the total of all estimated federal revenues in any fiscal year to be greater than or equal to the total of all federal appropriations made by Congress, in addition to any related and appropriate fiscal restraints. In this Research & Commentary, Kyle Maichle writes, “The states have an obligation to address the threat caused by the national government’s irresponsible spending practices. A balanced budget amendment would be a big step in the right direction, and the single-subject approach is a viable one that has been successful when utilized in other state legislatures.” Read more
Budget & Tax
Research & Commentary: Georgia Income Tax Reform
Since 2012, an increasing number of states have been looking into ways to reform their tax codes. The Tax Relief Act, a new proposal sponsored by Georgia state Sen. Judson Hill (R-Marietta), would cut the state income tax for individuals down to a flat rate of 5.4 percent, increase the personal exemption by $2,000 per person, eliminate the marriage penalty, and eliminate Georgia’s Corporate Net Worth Tax. In this Research & Commentary, Senior Policy Analyst Matthew Glans argues reducing the tax burden on individuals and businesses is good public policy. “States should lower and flatten their tax systems so there are as few tax brackets as possible. States can start lowering corporate taxes by eliminating corporate tax exemptions, subsidies, and credits, thereby creating a fairer, more stable fiscal system for state governments and promoting long-term growth for all industries.” Read more
Energy & Environment
Climate Policy and the Power of a Single Vote
The death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is a personal tragedy for his family and loved ones and a loss for any and all who love liberty. While Scalia’s time serving on the Supreme Court influenced a wide range of issues, H. Sterling Burnett, a research fellow for energy and environmental policy at The Heartland Institute, says Scalia’s critical analysis and carefully crafted majority and dissenting decisions on environmental issues had an outsized impact on environmental policy and law. The justice’s death, Burnett writes, “could result in a seismic shift for the worse in environmental law.” Read more
Health Care
Nebraska Lawmakers to Decide Medicaid Expansion a Fourth Time
Michael McGrady writes in this Heartlander article about Nebraska state Sen. John McCollister’s (R-Omaha) new bill that would, if passed, expand Medicaid in Nebraska by allowing many people above the federal poverty line to purchase private health insurance using federal dollars. McGrady reports numerous critics of the proposal argue Medicaid expansion is both unaffordable and unpredictable, and Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) says the new plan should be compared to the failing Medicaid program in Arkansas.Read more
From Our Free-Market Friends
The Education Debit Card II: What Arizona Parents Purchase with Education Savings Accounts
In this Friedman Foundation follow-up study, the Goldwater Institute’s Jonathan Butcher and The Heritage Foundation’s Lindsey Burke examine data from Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program, an education savings account (ESA) program. The program allows families to spend their education dollars on a variety of education options, including private tutoring, learning therapies, and more. “The Education Debit Card II: What Arizona Parents Purchase with Education Savings Accounts” reveals the most common expenditures families using ESAs pay now, and it examines how spending trends have changed since the publication of the Friedman Foundation’s previous report. Despite claims made by teachers unions and other education associations that ESAs are nothing more than vouchers, the data suggests otherwise. The report finds that as the program has matured, families have continued to use education savings accounts for more than just private school tuition. Read more
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