State education funding is designed to ensure a base amount of money is available to every student in Illinois. To that end, the state strives to send more money to poor districts and less money to districts with a healthy property tax base. But a bird’s eye view of Illinois education spending reveals that the state’s intention of sending dollars to poorer districts is blunted by the state’s obligation to pay local teachers’ pensions.

On Monday, the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota released an Accountability Alert that showed three Minnesota environmental non-profit advocacy groups received nearly half a million dollars in out-of-state funding to oppose the Keystone oil pipeline project. The funding, provided by a well-known liberal California foundation, is surprising, since Keystone’s proposed route does not include Minnesota.

The Pelican Institute made the case for improving the education system in Louisiana and increasing opportunities for students. Last week, the state approved legislation that established statewide vouchers and a new process for setting up charter schools.

Today, nearly 1 in 5 Pennsylvanians are enrolled in Medicaid, government insurance that provides terrible care with a huge price tag. Medicaid delivers episodic treatment, provides poor preventative care, offers sub-standard services to many beneficiaries and at times harms the poor.

The Goldwater Institute follows the case this week and gives us the daily break down of the oral arguments. Audio and transcripts from the daily arguments are also here.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is keeping a live blog of the SCOTUS arguments. TPPF has been heavily engaged in the health care debate during the last three years.  In 2009 and early 2010, they coordinated a multi-state effort among state-based think tanks to quantify the effects of the ObamaCare proposals at a state level and present a free-market health care reform alternative. 

The performance-based approach to budgeting, however, which Sandoval has whole-heartedly embraced, has been sorely needed for decades. Nevadans should not support any obstruction to this approach.

To date, 29 states (as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) require utility companies to deliver specified minimum amounts of electricity from “renewable” sources, including wind and solar power. In 2010, the average price of residential electricity in renewable portfolio standards (RPS) states was 31.9 percent higher than it was in non-RPS states.

This is the Illinois Policy Institute’s fourth annual alternative vision for Illinois. In this report, the Institute has charted a path that significantly reduces the state’s backlog of bills without borrowing and without new taxes, while meeting its pension liabilities. In addition, the state returns billions of dollars to taxpayers by repealing the January 2011 tax hikes. This plan allows for an Illinois that puts taxpayers first, restrains state spending and puts the state back on the path to fiscal solvency.

Will the internet remain free from public utility regulation? Find out at The Free State Foundation's 4th Annual Telecom Policy Conference on March 20!