The Leaflet: You’ve Got the Problems, We’ve Got the Solutions

Published January 12, 2018

Most state lawmakers are once again heading back to their state capitols to tackle the many important issues facing their communities, and The Heartland Institute is here to help. Heartland’s second edition of Ten State Solutions to Emerging Issues was recently released and is now available for free online. Federal and state elected officials will receive a complimentary hard copy of the booklet in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout!

The new edition of Ten State Solutions explores solutions to 10 of the top public policy issues facing the states in 2018 and beyond in the areas of budget and tax, education, energy and environment, health care, and constitutional reform. The solutions identified are proven reform ideas gaining momentum among the states and with legislators.

The solutions include:

  1. Make Welfare Work
  2. Create a Sustainable Pension System
  3. REIN in Regulations
  4. Expand Private Education Choice Options
  5. Prepare Students for Careers, Not Just College
  6. Repeal Costly Electricity Mandates
  7. Unleash Domestic Energy Production
  8. Don’t Wait for Obamacare Repeal, Reform Medicaid Now
  9. Remove Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Care
  10. Reassert Constitutional Limits on the National Government

In addition to providing solutions, the booklet also includes contact information for the leading experts on these issues, case studies, and talking points lawmakers can use when discussing important policy issues with their colleagues and constituents. The booklet offers a proven, free-market agenda for incumbent office holders, as well as a platform for candidates for public office.

Please let us know how Heartland’s full-time government relations team can help you with any of these issues or topic areas. Many of the booklet’s coauthors and contributors are available to answer your questions, provide additional research, testify before your committees, or even speak to your constituents!

Also, if you like the work Heartland does and would like on-demand help, travel scholarships to our events, and more, we hope you will consider joining our Legislative Forum. A membership is just $99 for two years or $179 for a lifetime membership. Sign up today!

The Heartland Institute is happy to provide additional free copies of Ten State Solutions to Emerging Issues, send an expert to your state to testify or brief your caucus, help organize an event, or provide additional research on these issues. If you have any questions or comments, please contact John Nothdurft, director of government relations, by email at [email protected] or by phone at 312/377-4000.

 

What We’re Working On

Education
Mississippians Eager for Universal Expansion of ESA Program
In this Research & Commentary, Policy Analyst Tim Benson discusses a new survey from Empower Mississippi showing 65 percent of Mississippians support expanding the state’s education savings account (ESA) program for students with special needs into a universal program that would be available to every student in the state. Further, 62 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a political candidate who supports the expansion of the ESA program.

Energy & Environment
Daring to Doubt: Climate Change Policies Are the Threat, Not Climate Change Reality
This is a reprint of a speech made by the Honorable Tony Abbott, the former prime minister of Australia, to the Global Warming Policy Foundation in London on October 9, 2017. In it, Abbott talks about Australia’s history of dealing with the climate change issue, the harm doomsday predictions and the policies based on them have done to the continent’s inhabitants, and his government’s efforts to fix the problems caused by these policies. Abbott calls for a return to rational inquiry, as well as for policies that make economic growth a priority.

Health Care
Heartland Daily Podcast: Fixing American Health Care in 2018
​Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D., a former congressman and current president of The Heartland Institute, joins Heartland Research Fellow Bette Grande to talk about the current political climate. Huelskamp discusses numerous topics, including Medicaid reform, Obamacare, and the need for a consumer-driven health care system. He also outlines how Heartland is fighting to restore consumer rights in health care.

Budget & Tax
Eliminating Prevailing Wage Mandates Would Lower the Cost of Ohio Public Projects
In this Research & Commentary, Senior Policy Analyst Matthew Glans examines a proposed constitutional amendment in Ohio that would repeal the state’s prevailing wage requirement, a mandate forcing taxpayers to pay artificially inflated wages not based on market forces. “Government projects are often criticized for exceeding their allotted budget, and prevailing wage laws are an important contributing factor. They force contractors to establish labor costs without any consideration for the type of work or the skill of their employees. Prevailing wage laws increase the cost of construction projects, reduce competition, and encourage waste and cronyism,” wrote Glans.

From Our Free-Market Friends
Join Us at CPAC
The American Conservative Union will be hosting its highly anticipated annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) from February 21–24 in Washington, DC. Like past CPACs, this year’s conference is expected to have an all-star lineup of big-name political activists and politicians. The Heartland Institute will have two separate breakout sessions on the topics of health care and energy and environment. Heartland is well-known for its vigilance in debunking global warming myths and exposing the radicalism of the eco-Left. It has also begun to also take a lead role in the health care debate, which has heated up in recent months because of the Trump administration’s interest in bringing about much-needed free-market reforms. 

 

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