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Institute Updates May/June 2009


Published on Tuesday, June 09, 2009
ARTICLES

ALABAMA

The Alabama Policy Institute recently added API New Media (apinewmedia.com) to its list of resources. API New Media's goal is to produce concise educational videos and investigative reports that raise citizen awareness. In April the Institute presented a series of statewide Sound Science programs based on environmental policy. API president Gary Palmer, communications and science programs director David Sawyer, and Dr. John Hill, author of "An Alabama Citizen's Guide to the Environment," shared facts on global warming, proposed cap-and-trade legislation and the condition of Alabama's environment. Several Chambers of Commerce have invited API to attend meetings and share our sound science presentation. alabamapolicy.org

ALASKA

The Institute of the North is hosting an International Arctic Fisheries Symposium Oct. 19-21 in Anchorage. The three-day event is expected to draw 200-plus Arctic government officials, fisheries scientists, industry representatives and stakeholders. Changing global climate regimes, coupled with the possibility of expanded commercial fisheries due to the retreat of summer sea ice, make a focus on fisheries management systems even more critical. The symposium will identify current management regimes in the Arctic region and how relevant scientific fisheries data can be used to inform future management decisions. The gathering will identify gaps in existing management regimes and potential steps to address those gaps, as well as the need for improved scientific programs to support conservation and management of future Arctic fisheries. institutenorth.org

ARIZONA

Rock star teachers deserve rock star paychecks. But teachers get paid based on how long they've taught, not how well they've taught. So, where's the incentive to do better? The Goldwater Institute report, "New Millennium Schools: Delivering Six-Figure Teacher Salaries in Return for Outstanding Student Learning Gains," shows how top teachers can be identified and paid what they deserve, with no new funding required. Goldwater has also released a policy brief detailing the true per-student funding available to Arizona public schools. Not only did the brief arm legislators with reliable data, it helped provide cover for the looming K-12 budget cuts. The Goldwater Institute welcomes two new development team members, Lauren Pemberton and Joe DeMenna. To complement our selection as Arizona's "Best Capitol Watchdog," the Phoenix Business Journal recently named Goldwater President Darcy Olsen one of its Forty Under 40. goldwaterinstitute.org

ARKANSAS

Arkansas State Police Retirement System investment losses have led to a 2009 merger with the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, a proposal first made by the Murphy Commission, an Arkansas Policy Foundation project in 1998. The State Police Retirement System has lost 47 percent since mid-2007, according to published reports. The Foundation's 1998 report, "The Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System," estimated "a 20-to-25 percent savings in administrative expenses" by merging the state's five retirement systems. The report estimated savings of $28 million in a 10-year period. The Arkansas Teachers Retirement System, Judicial Retirement System and State Highway Employees Retirement System are also discussed in the report. The Arkansas Policy Foundation recommendations, made near the peak of a bull market, were designed to protect retirees - and Arkansas taxpayers - from a multi-year bear market. arkansaspolicyfoundation.org

CALIFORNIA

The Pacific Research Institute published John R. Graham's "Leviathan's Body Count: The Cost of FDA Delay in Approving New Medicines," which proposes Americans be allowed the freedom to use non-FDA-approved medicines so long as their non-approval is disclosed. The study also proposes the FDA be required to report regularly to Congress on the reasons for not approving new medicines. PRI also released Vicki Murray's "Citizen's Guide to California Public School Finance," which helps parents understand how much funding public schools in California are receiving. The study, with accompanying database, aims to provide school districts with more transparent information. To access the California School Finance database, visit schoolfinancecenter.org. Finally, PRI's Benjamin Rush Society hosted its inaugural debate on universal health care at Columbia University. The event was a great success, drawing an audience of over 200 medical students and professors. pacificresearch.org

COLORADO

 

Climate change has been the hot topic lately, as the Independence Institute welcomed two speakers to discuss this issue. Patrick J. Michaels from the Cato Institute dispelled the myth of the catastrophic impact of global warming.The Property and Environment Research Center's Terry Anderson spoke on "Cutting Through the Rhetoric of the Obama Administration's ‘Green' Policies." Research director David Kopel spoke recently on "Second Amendment Rights: A Collision Course Between the Obama Administration and the U.S. Supreme Court," and justice-policy director Mike Krause published an op-ed on sentencing reform."The Secret Sick Tax" in Colorado was fought by health-policy director Dr. Linda Gorman, and operations director Amy Oliver led the fight both for transparency in government and against HB 1299, which would have made Colorado a national popular-vote state. i2i.org

CONNECTICUT

The Yankee Institute is restructuring and adding staff. The new executive director is Fergus Cullen. Previously, Cullen was chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party (where he was the youngest state chairman in the country) and an editorial page columnist for the New Hampshire Union Leader. He has an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. The new policy director is Heath Fahle, who was executive director at Connecticut Republicans and is skilled in New Media. Lew Andrews stays with Yankee as senior policy analyst; he'll focus on education policy. The Institute had four interns this spring from Trinity College in Hartford. Yankee is working on projects on state taxation, citizen audit committees focused on municipal budgets and Connecticut's new publicly-financed campaigns law. yankeeinstitute.org

DELAWARE

The Caesar Rodney Institute obtained its first batch of financial data for fiscal years '06, '07 and '08 from the Delaware State Accounting Office to populate its new DelawareSpends website, which should go live in July. The data was provided on discs in a format utilized with the WinXnet platform with a minimum amount of manipulation. The Institute is inviting select community, business and political leaders to attend its quarterly board of director's meetings for a short PowerPoint presentation and social hour, followed by dinner. This is an effective way to allow high profile individuals the opportunity to meet CRI's leadership and support its mission. caesarrodney.org

Florida

Fueled by events, publications, committee testimony, policy summits and more, spring was a whirlwind at the Institute.March 17 marked a high point in James Madison Institute's legislative efforts with the unveiling of Florida's website for tracking state government spending. In April, Institute staff assisted "Step Up for Students" in hosting Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship recipients and parents at the Capitol as they visited legislators to advocate the expansion of school choice. During the April 16 launch of JMI's Civics Education Initiative, more than 150 attendees spanning three generations listened as Claremont Institute scholar Dr. Charles Kesler spoke on the life and influence of James Madison. JMI scholars have been busy as well: "Tax and Expenditure Policy in Uncertain Times," "Creating a Public/Private Partnership for Florida's Conservation Land Management" and "Restoring the Private Property-Insurance Market to Reduce Florida's Risk of Financial Insolvency." jamesmadison.org.

GEORGIA

The Georgia Public Policy Foundation's Climate Change Education Project officially launches this month with "Red Hot Lies," an event keynoted by Christopher C. Horner, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming. This campaign is critical to ensuring that common sense and sound science guide public policy in Georgia. The legislative session ended without funding legislation for transportation in Georgia - not a bad result, from the Foundation's standpoint. The Foundation's proposals for prioritizing projects and diverting through traffic statewide and away from metro Atlanta have, however, found a receptive audience and are being actively promoted by 2010 political candidates. gppf.org

HAWAII

Hawaii voters have a powerful new tool in HawaiiVotes.org, sponsored by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. GRIH recently held demos of the new site for legislators and staffers at the State Capitol. The Institute released its first policy paper on Climate Change, "Global Warming: Rethinking the CO2 and Temperature Relationship" by policy analyst Pearl Hahn. It has received great acclaim from leading national experts. GRIH was a major organizer and co-sponsor of the Honolulu Tax Day Tea Party, where 2,000 Hawaii residents protested and received widespread media coverage. Hundreds signed up to receive our updates. Keep your eyes open for a re-designed website. grassrootinstitute.org

IDAHO

The Idaho Freedom Foundation has had several high-profile successes increasing government transparency. For the first time in the state's history, a transparency bill made it to the floor of the House. While the bill didn't pass, lawmakers spent considerable time discussing it, and have agreed to provide Idaho's spending data to IFF for use on the Foundation's own website. Other cities and school districts have also provided the Foundation with detailed expenditure data. Largely through IFF's efforts to promote transparency at the local level, Canyon County and the cities of Nampa, Meridian and Eagle have agreed to post their line-by-line expenditures on online. idahofreedom.net

ILLINOIS

Shortly after the release of the Illinois Policy Institute Economic Reform Agenda - a four-point plan addressing the state's root problems - Gov. Pat Quinn announced his plan to hike the state income tax. In response the Institute revealed how the hike would target working and middle class families, the damaging long-term economic costs, the state's long-running spending problems and proactive budget reforms. As a result, the Institute was featured in six major television appearances, among them a debate with the governor; four major newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal and The Chicago Tribune; and 17 high-profile radio shows. The Institute was also featured at the Chicago Tax Day Party, successfully recruiting more than 350 new volunteers for its Liberty Leaders program. The Institute's next Liberty Speakers Series event, the latest featured Amity Shlaes, will host P.J. O'Rourke on June 17. illinoispolicyinstitute.org

INDIANA

To make statewide presentations about market-orientated economic policies to small and mid-sized city councils, the Indiana Policy Review Foundation has put together a team of Indiana experts on municipal government led by Dr. Sam Staley, urban affairs director for the Reason Foundation. The team, which includes both economists and veteran council members, will offer Indiana councils alternative models actually in place somewhere in the country. The project was first suggested to the foundation by city- and county-level office holders skeptical that the federal government's stimulus plan would improve job prospects for their constituencies. inpolicy.org

IOWA

The Public Interest Institute played a part in stopping the Iowa Legislature and Gov. Chet Culver from hiking taxes. Taxpayers are currently able to deduct their federal income tax payments on Iowa income tax returns. State legislators had proposed eliminating this federal deductibility, forcing Iowans to pay a tax on a tax.Institute research demonstrated that eliminating federal deductibility would force Iowans to pay an additional $500 to $600 million annually, and would increase taxes across all income levels.Institute president Dr. Don Racheter spoke against eliminating federal deductibility at a public hearing at the Legislature.While legislators did not have the votes to eliminate federal deductibility this year, PII will remain vigilant. limitedgovernment.org

KANSAS

As the Kansas Legislature began debating whether to close a $350 million budget shortfall by raising taxes or cutting K-12 spending, the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy's new investigative journalist, Paul Soutar, reported that local school districts had $1.36 billion in unencumbered cash balances scattered across 27 separate funds as of June 30, 2008. Most of the money is in restricted funds but the Legislature could change the rules and give schools the option of tapping into these excess funds to offset state funding cuts. On March 26 FHCPP hosted Burton Folsom, who spoke about the fallacies of government spending pulling the country of a recession, as detailed in his book FDR: New Deal or Raw Deal? FHCPP also co-sponsored legislative presentations on the pitfalls of decoupling from the federal tax code, private sector job losses caused by federal stimulus spending and "Rich States, Poor States." flinthills.org

KENTUCKY

To put a little fun into tax season, on April 18 the Bluegrass Institute celebrated its first ever Bluegrass Tax Liberation Day. This liberty fair drew a crowd of around 1,000 for the afternoon. Leland Conway, host of "The Pulse" on Lexington's WLAP-AM, was among the speakers who addressed the crowd on the virtues of liberty, economic freedom and limited government. Games included Big Government Corn Hole and Lexington Golf - where every putt is subsidized with your tax dollars. The event also offered a great opportunity to recruit citizen journalists for the Institute's wiki at FreedomKentucky.org. See the video montage at bipps.org. Recently, Tim Yessin took up a position on the BIPPS board. Yessin, an investment advisor at a Lexington bank, is active on the Institute's development committee.

LOUISIANA

The Pelican Institute for Public Policy recently contributed to the defeat of a proposed cigarette tax hike in Louisiana. "I happened to be reviewing an update from the Mackinac Center and noticed that they had done a study highlighting the impact of tax increases on cigarette smuggling" said Institute president Kevin Kane. "I contacted Michael LaFaive and he was able to do a calculation for Louisiana based on our current and proposed tax rates."Institute vice president Jeb Bruneau testified to the likelihood of increased smuggling in the legislative committee hearing, where the bill was defeated. The Institute is preparing to issue the first "Louisiana Pork Report," prepared in association with Citizens Against Government Waste. And the Institute is proud to announce the hiring of Steve Beatty, an investigative journalist with extensive experience reporting on fraud and waste in Louisiana. pelicaninstitute.org

MAINE

The government transparency site, MaineOpenGov.Org, launched last September by the Maine Heritage Policy Center, has received plenty of notice, including being the target of a censorship bill in the Maine Legislature. An ambitious leader was pressured by the state employees' unions to attempt to remove the employee-specific payroll data. The plan to censor this site earned a unanimous thumbs-down in the Judiciary Committee - affirming the public's right to know and MHPC's freedom of speech! Education and research efforts on the MHPC-written November ballot questions are a high priority. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights and a roll-back of Maine's high auto excise taxes are being explained in a new series of publications called "Path to Prosperity," and presentations throughout the state. MHPC's Center for Constitutional Law will be filing an interesting first case soon, to protect property owners' rights from an aggressive government project. mainepolicy.org

MARYLAND

Len Lazarick has joined the Free State Foundation as a visiting fellow. Lazarick will primarily focus on Maryland state government issues, including budget reform and fiscal accountability. Previously, he was the State House bureau chief for the former Baltimore Examiner and has covered state and local government and politics in Maryland for a variety of newspapers for more than three decades. Lazarick already has had a commentary published in the Baltimore Sun, "A Spending Problem," urging that the legislature cut spending and not raise taxes in the current legislative session. He also wrote "Curing Maryland's Structural Deficits: A Call for Mandates Reform," which explains the deleterious impact on Maryland's fiscal situation caused by unrestrained growth in mandates. The paper makes specific recommendations for achieving cost savings by curbing the mandates. freestatefoundation.org

On April 15 the Maryland Public Policy Institute launched the Tax Estimator. This new online tool educates Marylanders on the taxes that they pay and how policymakers spend them. The Estimator takes information entered by users such as income or federal, state and local income taxes, along with data the Institute has compiled on spending to estimate how much one pays in sales tax, property tax, other taxes and fees (including alcohol, gasoline, cigarette and telecommunication taxes), indirect taxes against employers, investment taxes and future tax liabilities. This transparent look at how Maryland's government collects and spends taxpayer dollars helps the MPPI make the case for limited government, free enterprise and lower taxes. Since its launch, the Tax Estimator has generated a great deal of attention from the media, policymakers and visitors to the site. mdpolicy.org

MASSACHUSETTS

Spring has been busy for Pioneer Institute. Building on its work in education, Pioneer released "A Step Backwards: An Analysis of the 21st Century Skills Task Force Report." This policy brief highlighted the shortcomings and missteps the Task Force has made regarding standards-based education in Massachusetts. On April 6 Pioneer also hosted an event concerning the 19th century Know-Nothing Amendments. Kevin Chavous, co-founder of the Democrats for Education Reform and a national figure in school reform, presented keynote remarks at "The Know-Nothing Amendments: Barriers to School Choice." A white paper of the same name, authored by Cornelius Chapman of Burns and Levinson LLP, was released at the event. The paper and the forum touched on the prejudice and nativism that led to the passing of the Amendments, and the obstacles they create for parochial and private education. pioneerinstitute.org

MICHIGAN

Mackinac Center for Public Policy is finding webcasting an effective and successful tool for communicating the free-market message. More than 24,400 people watched recent speeches by senior economist David L. Littmann and president emeritus Lawrence W. Reed, including a combined 16,550 who watched live when the speakers appeared at Michigan State University and Central Michigan University, respectively. Isaac M. Morehouse, director of campus leadership and the Center's first director of Students for a Free Economy, has accepted a position with the Institute for Humane Studies. James M. Hohman, fiscal research assistant, has completed the Koch Associate Program. The Center in May awarded four $1,000 scholarships to high school students who attended the fall 2008 High School Debate Workshops and wrote essays from a free-market perspective on the national debate topic of federal assistance for alternative energy incentives. mackinac.org

MINNESOTA

Recent Center of the American Experiment publications have included a symposium featuring senior and research fellows Chuck Chalberg, Laurence Cooper, Tom Kelly and Peter Nelson on "When Will Americans and Minnesotans Get Serious about the Impending Entitlement Crisis?" It's the latest installment in the Center's multi-year project, "Stopping Boomer Health Care Budgets from Going Bust." Nelson also authored "Preparing for an Even More Demanding Future: American Experiment's 2010-11 Budget Recommendations." Containing 25 market-based proposals, it's part of the Center's "Policy in Detail" series. Also tied to the budget - Minnesota faces a nearly $5 billion biennial shortfall - is a critique by Center president Mitch Pearlstein of Democratic proposals to raise business taxes. Dr. Pearlstein also wrote a high-profile op-ed in the Star Tribune about vulgarity on Hennepin Avenue, home to Minneapolis' theater district. It was generally well-received, though one blogger did call him a "shriveled albino prune." americanexperiment.org

On May 9 the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota hosted its first Watchdog Training Seminar with over 30 participants representing 12 Minnesota counties. Co-sponsored with the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, participants received practical advice on their legal rights to obtain public data, proven research techniques, and what to do and how to analyze information they obtain. The purpose of these training sessions is to equip local citizens with the skill sets to become an additional set of eyes and ears in their local communities so they can provide even greater government transparency in Minnesota's 87 counties and 854 cities. A highlight of the day was the morning session led by Lee McGrath, founder of the Institute for Justice, Minnesota chapter who explained what is public data and what legal rights citizens have to obtain that information in a timely manner. freedomfoundationofminnesota.com

MISSISSIPPI

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy joined with the Institute for Justice, NFIB, Mississippi Farm Bureau and others to support the override of Gov. Haley Barbour's veto of a property rights bill to address issues arising out of the Kelo eminent domain case. MCPP is also leading a diverse coalition of local, state and national organizations to execute a legislative and public relations effort to enact an effective charter school law. MCPP president Forest Thigpen spoke at the Tax Day Tea Party at the State Capitol. MCPP has launched the first of its Regional Advisory Boards, with more than 40 businesses and community leaders attending the first breakfast in Hattiesburg. MCPP has obtained state spending data from the past five fiscal years and is designing a searchable, entertaining website to display it. mspolicy.org

MISSOURI

 

The Show-Me Institute is immeasurably proud and grateful to accept a Dorian and Antony Fisher Venture Grant this year from the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. The Institute is one of five organizations from around the world to receive this grant during 2009, and the only U.S. group. Atlas chose to fund the Institute's proposal to develop a new cooperative research model for free-market think tanks throughout the Midwest. Those working to change public policy within the same broad geographic region often face many of the same research issues and challenges, duplicate basic legwork and find themselves unable to undertake as many projects as they might otherwise have tackled if they had shared resources. Through extended research cooperation, think tanks can save money while expanding output and create a united front in combating the terrible economic ideas that are so prevalent today. showmeinstitute.org

MONTANA

Montana Policy Institute is rolling ahead with its post-legislature agenda by shifting its focus from lawmaking to citizen education.New investigative reporter Michael Noyes is hard at work tracking stimulus dollars, government abuses and otherwise doing the digging traditional media can't or won't. MPI's transparency focus is shifting to local and county levels by expanding SchoolsOpenMT.org, providing a series of Founding Principles seminars around the state, and expanding the message to more Montanans through increased outreach and networking programs.MPI's BigSkySearch.info media campaign was successful in pressuring the governor and legislature to support transparency legislation, but in the legislature's final days petty political maneuvering killed two similar bills. montanapolicy.org

NEBRASKA

In March the Platte Institute for Economic Research released "Nebraska's Spending Habits: Are We Frugal or Frivolous?" The study compared Nebraska to its bordering states and showed that if Nebraska had adjusted its spending to match that of its neighbors, overall savings would have been $1.97 billion - or $1,110 per capita. The release of the study included a State Capitol press conference that received more than $100,000 in earned media. In April, the Platte Institute released the report "A Case for Abolishing Nebraska's Commission of Industrial Relations." Also in April, Platte launched blog, Facebook and Twitter pages while also crossing the 1,000 subscriber mark for its weekly e-newsletter. platteinstitute.org

NEVADA

For months the Nevada Policy Research Institute has exposed waste and corruption at the taxpayer-funded Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Along with generating extensive media coverage, NPRI's findings have prompted the LVCVA to shorten its contract with the advertising giant R&R Partners from five years to three. R&R has been the largest beneficiary of LVCVA largesse. NPRI Fiscal policy analyst Geoffrey Lawrence gave a rousing speech to the 2,500 people gathered for Las Vegas' Tax Day Tea Party. NPRI produced a video of the event that was widely distributed and praised in the blogosphere. NPRI also led the way in reframing Nevada's budget debate. The state's largest newspapers used Institute budget research in a series of op-eds that called out legislators for dramatizing the budget situation as an excuse to raise taxes. Visit NPRI's blog, writeonnevada.com, and follow NPRI on Twitter, NevadaPolicyRI. npri.org

NEW MEXICO

 

 

 

During the Legislature's 2009 session, the Rio Grande Foundation achieved important victories, among them a $500 million budget reduction, defeated tax hikes and significantly improved legislative and budgetary transparency. The Foundation raised its profile in Albuquerque dramatically by broadcasting live from Albuquerque's Tax Day Tea Party for four hours on a local AM radio station. The Foundation is now focusing attention on educating Tea Party leaders on policy issues and organizing effectively to limit government. A new report by the Foundation's investigative journalist shed light on the state's wasteful and special interest-driven film subsidy program. Economic impact studies have been done by state agencies; to great media interest, the Foundation analyzed the merits of each study and determined that the $60 million annual program is not achieving a positive economic impact. riograndefoundation.org

NEW YORK

A new and innovative Empire Center for New York State Policy tool has been helping residents compare and evaluate per-capita spending and tax rates for counties, towns, cities and villages. Benchmarking New York, an online database, includes per-capita spending and tax totals for 16 categories as well as effective property tax rates and debt levels. The database includes information for 1,604 localities, excluding only New York City. The data is derived from 2007 local government finance reports compiled by the office of the state comptroller, and can be used to rank and compare spending, tax and debt measures for one or more local governments. By helping taxpayers ask better questions, this tool advances more-informed discussions about what causes high local taxes across the Empire State. empirecenter.org

NORTH CAROLINA

Thousands of people gathered outside North Carolina's Capitol for a Tax Day Tea Party. By the following morning, people could watch the entire event on the John Locke Foundation Carolina Journal website (carolinajournal.com), thanks to a recent redesign emphasizing video and audio content. Speaking of tea parties, JLF staffers spoke at 17 events in three days stretching from the mountains to the coast. JLF's N.C. History Project is highlighting the state constitution through a series of events, starting April 23 in Edenton, home of a famous pre-Revolutionary War Tea Party. Recent JLF research has targeted carbon dioxide regulation, state tax reform, back-to-basics budget writing, local government budgets and N.C. dropout prevention efforts. johnlocke.org

In March more than 60 activists and bloggers attended the John William Pope Civitas Institute investigative journalism training, which featured Texas Watchdog's editor-in-chief Trent Seibert and Carolina Journal's associate publisher Don Carrington. Tea Parties throughout North Carolina on, and around, April 15 were a great success. Institute staff traveled almost 2,000 cumulative miles to visit and speak with thousands gathered in 19 different cities across the state. Civitas was a co-sponsor of the North Carolina Coastal Conservative Conference in Wilmington held in May. As usual, the Institute continues to conduct its monthly statewide polls (nccivitas.org/media/poll-results), tracking voter sentiment regarding issues and politics. Civitas' 4th annual North Carolina Conservative Leadership Conference will be held September 11 and 12 in Raleigh and will feature national speakers, investigative journalism training and panels covering topics of interest to North Carolinians. nccivitas.org

OHIO

The Buckeye Institute recently released No Crime but Prejudice, a book by noted author Jon Entine that shines a light on the politics of prosecution: how and why the government targets individuals and corporations, sometimes recklessly, and the enormous human toll that results. No Crime but Prejudice outlines the egregious case of the federal prosecution of Cincinnati-based Fischer Homes and its founder and CEO, Henry Fischer. Buckeye also just released a study with Americans for Prosperity Ohio, in cooperation with Arduin, Laffer & Moore Economics, on the negative impact of the federal stimulus money; a public education campaign and legislative briefings are also underway. Finally, the Buckeye Institute is proud to welcome two new staff members: Lauren Kresge, development coordinator, and Lynn Walsh, investigative reporter. Kresge's communication background and Walsh's journalism/New Media background add valuable new dimensions to the Buckeye team. buckeyeinstitute.org

OREGON

Cascade Policy Institute, with the support of the Friedman Foundation Innovation Grant, successfully hosted the first annual Oregon School Choice Video Contest.More than 100 entries were submitted by K-12 parents and students. The 20 finalists received $250 awards and from this group one winner, Tyleur Kotzian-Upshaw, was selected for the $10,000 grand prize drawing. Tyleur will use this award to fund her education at Central Catholic High School in Portland. Cascade also scored a victory during the legislative session advocating for the passage of the HB 2500, a transparency bill that would create an online, searchable state revenue and expenditure database. The bill passed the House unanimously and is now in the Senate.The Oregon Open Books website would be administered by the state.In June Cascade will host Cato Institute senior fellow Dan Mitchell. cascadepolicy.org

PENNSYLVANIA

Allegheny Institute research into property assessment problems showed the base-year plan used in Allegheny County to be in violation of the state constitution. A lawsuit challenging the County's base-year system was upheld by the state Supreme Court, which ruled the County's base-year scheme to be unconstitutional. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission listened to the Institute's recommendation that it not add two new freshwater mussels to the threatened and endangered species list.Doing so would have put a halt to sand and gravel extraction on area rivers and created serious environmental and highway damage by forcing movement of aggregates on to the region's roadways. alleghenyinstitute.org

Ted, Tea Parties and Taxes.In April, legendary guitarist and Second Amendment advocate Ted Nugent helped launch the inaugural LiveFreePA event with a day of shooting, drinks and cigars (pictures at LiveFreePA.com).In early March, the Commonwealth Foundation gathered more than 1,200 citizens on the Capitol steps in the first Tea Party protest. Then, on Tax Day, more than 2,000 citizens braved the driving rain and just-above-freezing temperatures to deliver thousands of tea bags to Gov. Edward Rendell's office door as he held a news conference calling for another gun ban.Also in April, the Foundation hosted luncheons across the state to discuss "The Future of Free Enterprise" with Pat Toomey, former Club for Growth president and former Commonwealth Foundation board member.Through the summer the Foundation will be fighting tax increases as the state attempts to fill a multi-billion dollar budget deficit. commonwealthfoundation.org

On May 5, the REACH Foundation hosted its 8th Annual Educational Improvement Tax Credit Birthday Party at the State Capitol. The event attracted approximately 2,000 students, parents, teachers, administrators and citizens.Facing a huge state budget deficit and the possibility of funding cuts to the popular EITC program, REACH unveiled its "Cut our Cake, Not our Budget" initiative at the rally. Several key legislative leaders, representing both sides of the aisle, spoke about the success of the program within the commonwealth and how it has specifically impacted their constituents. REACH is also in the midst of its Visions of Choice campaign around the state, highlighting individual students and families for whom school choice is a reality. paschoolchoice.org

RHODE ISLAND

The Ocean State Policy Research Institute, like hundreds of thousands of people around the country, participated in a local Tax Day Tea Party. As several participants said, "we haven't seen a demonstration this large since the war protests of 1969." More than 3,000 angry taxpayers listened to 23 speakers explaining why they have "had enough" of unresponsive government and runaway taxation. The rally had a direct impact on the General Assembly as well. Standing on the stage, Representatives Joseph Trillo and John Loughlin and Sens. Frank Maher and Michael Pinga all signed a pledge that they would not raise taxes. To date, only Sen. Leonidas Raptakis had signed the Tax Pledge. Future plans include taking that power to the municipal level. As the primary sponsor, OSPRI was honored to nurture this grassroots movement. oceanstatepolicy.org

SOUTH CAROLINA

The mayor of South Carolina's capital city joined the South Carolina Policy Council April 6 to commit to placing all city financial records online for public review. Columbia Mayor Bob Coble referenced the city's well-publicized accounting shortcomings, including cost overruns in employee healthcare costs, as well as the failure to track other city expenses dating back several years. The mayor said openness and transparency are an essential part of regaining the public's trust. The Policy Councildrew attention to the lack of transparency in South Carolina government last year with itsreportshowing a dearth of recorded votes in the state legislature and a follow-up report showing how local governments trail the nation in terms of transparency. Since the release of that report multiple local governments have begun working with the Policy Council to provide online spending transparency. scpolicycouncil.com

Tennessee

In April, award-winning investigative journalist Clint Brewer joined the Tennessee Center for Policy Research as director of government accountability. A familiar name in Tennessee for his penetrating reporting style, Brewer was most recently executive editor for The City Paper in Nashville.Brewer is the immediate past president of the National Society of Professional Journalists. On June 15 Johnson v. Bredesen, a case brought by TCPR against the State of Tennessee, will be argued before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. TCPR initiated the case on behalf of Tennesseans in protest of the state's method of selecting Tennessee Supreme Court judges, which violates the state constitution and strips residents of their right to vote. tennesseepolicy.org

TEXAS

The Texas Public Policy Foundation led an initiative by several SPN members to document the federal stimulus package's harmful effects on state economies. Dr. Arthur Laffer's economic research firm produced the report, which concluded that the federal spending surge would cost1.7 million private sector jobs.The findings bolstered Gov. Rick Perry's rejection of the unemployment stimulus funds. The executive editor of a prominent Texas magazine wrote, the Foundation "made a real contribution to the debate over the stimulus package" with its March 26 Capitol event, during which three legislators debated these funds. The Austin American-Statesman selected David Guenthner, director of media and government relations, from 125 nominees to receive one of its inaugural Texas Social Media Awards.The judges praised his use of podcasting, Facebook and Twitter to "help keep Texans informed about what's going on with their government." texaspolicy.org

Utah

In April Sutherland Institute hosted a number of experts, including scientists, business leaders, elected officials and film-makers, who addressed topics ranging from the flawed "science" of global warming to the economic impacts that proposed federal legislation could have on Utah. As a part of "Earth Week 2009: The Future of Utah," John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel; John Christy, Alabama state climatologist; and Cascade Policy Institute CEO John Charles reinforced the message that global warming is not human-caused and that those who contend it is are ignoring scientific evidence to the contrary. Documentary film-maker Phelim McAleer previewed his upcoming film, Not Evil Just Wrong: The True Cost of Global Warming Hysteria, wherein he argues that if cap and trade were enacted millions of jobs would be lost, industry would be shut down, and civilization would be brought to its knees. sutherlandinstitute.org

VERMONT

 

Two Vermont governors, Democrat Thomas P. Salmon (1973-77) and Republican Jim Douglas (2003-present), were honored guests April 14 at the Ethan Allen Institute's 15th annual Jefferson Day event. Dr. Nicholas Muller, a well-known Vermont historian, developed the evening's topic: "Tom and Ethan: Together for the First Time." He observed that although the intellectual Virginia slaveholder and the brawling, blasphemous Vermont backwoodsman had strikingly different personalities, they shared three important characteristics: a passion for liberty, recognition that private property ought to be widely distributed and a commitment to free thought in matters of religion. On April 30 the Institute unveiled the beta version of Vermont Transparency, its long awaited website highlighting state and school district taxing and spending, plus information on funding how legislators voted. The site will go live in June.ethanallen.org

VIRGINIA

The Thomas Jefferson Institute put a new emphasis on the need for energy independence and off-shore oil and gas drilling for Virginia.The release of two new papers written by TJI senior fellow Dr. David Schnare sparked coverage in media outlets throughout the state, led by the capitol newspaper, The Richmond Times-Dispatch and National Public Radio.This was followed by a nation-wide radio podcast hosted by the American Petroleum Institute.The Institute's public policy e-zine, Bacon's Rebellion, is now distributed to more than 8,500 individuals every two weeks. Looking ahead, the Thomas Jefferson Institute will host a prospective school board candidates' "Campaign School," as part of its effort to place education reformers into key elective policy-making positions.The school will focus on the nitty-gritty of political campaigning - from creating an effective message to effective distribution of yard-signs, literature and bumper stickers. thomasjeffersoninst.org

On June 17 the Virginia Institute for Public Policy will host a dinner for Northern Virginia CEOs at the Ritz-Carlton in McLean. The featured speaker will be John Allison, chairman of BB&T Corporation, who will speak on "The Financial Crisis: Causes and Possible Cures." This is the first in a series of salon dinners to be held across Virginia. On April 15 Tax Day Tea Parties were held throughout Virginia. John Taylor was a featured speaker at rallies in both Charlottesville and Richmond. Nearly 7,000 people braved the cold and rain at these rallies, where Taylor unveiled Tertium Quids' newest campaign: "Raise My Taxes, Lose My Vote." In less than two weeks after the event, more than 3,500 people had signed pledges to withhold their support from politicians who vote for higher taxes. virginiainstitute.org

WASHINGTON

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation sponsored two Tax Day Tea Party - Push Back No Tax rallies, one in Olympia on the steps of the State Capitol with 5,000 attending, another in Spokane with over 3,000 attending.Officials at both venues said these were the largest crowds in memory at an event of this type.EFF takes pride in announcing that it is bringing Glenn Beck to Seattle Sept. 26. EFF looks forward to the May launch of its School Report Card, an evaluation of every Washington state public elementary school. Based upon Washington Assessment of Student Learning test scores analyzed by a program developed by the Fraser Institute of Vancouver, B.C., the SRC will assign a numerical grade to each school based upon five years of WASL results. effwa.org

Washington Policy Center sent a letter to state lawmakers signed by 32 state and national economists warning that tax increases will hurt the economy. WPC ran full-page advertisements with the letter in two large daily newspapers.Due in part to this, tax increase proposals polled poorly and diedin the last days of the legislative session.The state Attorney General appointed Carl Gipson and Dann Mead Smith to his regulatory reform task force.In April WPC hosted the 9th Annual Preserving the American Dream Conference in Bellevue.On Earth Day WPC showed Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney's new film, Not Evil Just Wrong: The True Cost of Global Warming Hysteria, at the local Rachel Carson Elementary School.Jason Mercier, WPC's government reform director, was appointed to the executive committee of ALEC's fiscal policy task force.Currently four WPC research directors serve on ALEC task forces. washingtonpolicy.org

WEST VIRGINIA

The Economist Club, a major initiative of the Public Policy Foundation of West Virginia, was launched in April. In conjunction with the Government Policy Research Center at West Liberty University, the Foundation hosts a monthly luncheon, open to the public, featuring renown economists. In March, PPFWV's inaugural event featured the John Locke Foundation's Dr. Roy Cordato. Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal was the April luncheon speaker. Both events were well attended and well received. Check out Moore's speech on YouTube, linked from westvirginiapolicy.com

WYOMING

Wyoming Liberty Group is honing in on the mechanics of communication with a series of 18 videotaped workshops.The aim is to enable innovative approaches to transparency, health care, political messaging, information accuracy and building trust in networks. The skillful presence of Charles Ware and Shane Scheid during the 2009 Legislative Session sparked a request from the bicameral Interim Revenue Committee for assistance from WLG economist Sven Larson as it produces a comprehensive analysis of government spending and taxes. wyliberty.org

NATIONAL

The global economic crisis has reopened the long running debate between those who advocate for a market economy and those who demand bigger government, trade protectionism and collectivist policy solutions. But fundamentally, this crisis is moral in nature. From the outset, the Acton Institute has been at the forefront of this important debate in the media and in public forums. Visit Acton's Economic Crisis Resource webpage to learn why free markets require a moral framework. As the threat of a crisis in our current health care system looms larger and health care spending continues to increase, the sustainability of our current employer-based health care system comes into question. How do we best reform health care? Is socialized medicine the answer? What is a Christian response to the health care system? Visit Acton's Health Care Resources Page to find answers. acton.org

Maybe you've heard that Yale's conservative newspaper often gets stolen, and Harvard's $28 billion endowment doesn't have room for a Great Books program. But did you know that economics is optional at the University of Georgia, or that a majority of students at Mizzou and Missouri State reported pressure to agree with professors' political views in order to get a good grade? Most people, including state policymakers, don't realize that the serious problems at the Ivies afflict state universities as well. That's why the American Council of Trustees and Alumni publishes state higher education report cards, now in partnership with SPN. They get results, already prompting the largest voluntary survey of the academic climate ever conducted, this one in the state of Georgia. If you want to reform higher education in your state, call ACTA. goacta.org

Are the cities in your state pushing light rail boondoggles, Smart Growth andother congestion-inducing, property rights infringing policies? The American Dream Coalition is your go-to source for urban issues like housing and transportation policy, property rights and eminent domain abuse, growth management and the environment. The ADC has dynamic speakers and important policy papers available to assist you. ADC exposes the central-planning doctrine called Smart Growth that is gaining ground and has advocates in every state capitol. The ADC promotes freedom, mobility and affordable homeownership, and is your in-house resource for fighting wasteful and ineffective government policies in metropolitan areas. americandreamcoalition.org

A new American Legislative Exchange Council report offers a roadmap to recovery based on economic performance trends from states over the last 10 years. "Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index" (2nd Ed.) shows how bailing out states may just encourage out-of-control lawmaker spending, without requiring them to impose tough but necessary budget restraints. Co-author and renowned economist Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore of The Wall Street Journal and Jonathan Williams, director of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force for ALEC, analyze how economic competitiveness drives income, population and job growth in the states. alec.org

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation announces the 2009 Templeton Freedom Awards. Institutes, apply by the May 31 deadline for the opportunity to win $10,000. Awards are presented in eight categories. Visit atlasnetwork.org for more details and the application form. Atlas has announced that syndicated talk show host Michael Reagan is serving as its first Templeton Leadership Fellow during 2009 and 2010. His goal: to bring more publicity to institutes connected to Atlas, particularly those that win prizes within the Templeton Freedom Awards Program. Atlas invites think tanks to present their ideas about how to utilize Michael Reagan in events or other programs during 2009 and 2010. For more information about the above opportunities contact Atlas's director of programs Yiqiao Xu at yiqiao.xu@atlasnetwork.org. atlasnetwork.org

Beacon Hill Institute executive director David G. Tuerck highlighted the consequences of extensive bailouts and bigger government at the tax-day Boston Tea Party protests. Along with a number of anti-tax activists, Tuerck called into question President Obama's long-term march to a planned economy radically at odds with the Founding Fathers' vision of limited government. More than 300 people attended the Boston event. Meanwhile, the Institute released a study critical of a planned 20 percent Massachusetts sales-tax hike. Using its trademark STAMP model, the Institute found that such an increase would result in the loss of 10,000 jobs and $41 million in business investment. Forecasts of new revenue would also fall short once consumers shift their spending to sales-tax-free New Hampshire. BHI expanded its research into the dubious economics of climate-change mitigation measures such as cap and trade. Communications director Frank Conte delivered remarks in April for the Sutherland Institute that underscored the excessive economic costs of the Western Climate Initiative. beaconhill.org

Once again, the Bill of Rights Institute will celebrate Constitution Day (Sept. 17, 2009) with free resources for teachers, students and the general public. This year the Institute will challenge students to harness the power of social networking, and connect with the great minds that established our form of government, by responding to Constitutional questions posed by our nation's Founders in a brand new web-based activity. Interactive online games and lessons that inform about constitutional principles and the history behind the writing of our Constitution continue the celebration at BillofRightsInstitute.org/ConstitutionDay. Also available is BRI's Celebrate the Constitution tabloid, which urges readers to think about how government impacts their lives, with a special focus on the First Amendment. billofrightsinstitute.org

Capital Research Center Education Watch director Phil Brand is writing a book based on his personal visits to two schools in each of 49 states (sorry, Alaska). Brand will describe how parental choice and local control really work in K-12 education. Read his blog at educationinamerica.org.Recent CRC newsletters on the nonprofit sector investigate labor union activism, the radical group ACORN, and grant-making by George Soros and the Democracy Alliance. A recent CRC conference on labor union activism is profiled in the May CRC Labor Watch newsletter. capitalresearch.org

The Cato Institute has added Jeffrey Miron and Mark Calabria to its policy staff. Miron, an economist at Harvard University, will assist Cato's economic team in promoting dynamic market capitalism and economic freedom through media appearances and policy analyses. Calabria, a veteran staff member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs, joins Cato as director of financial services regulation. On June 17 Cato will host a one-day conference in Washington, D.C. on the state and future of health care reform in America. Please join us for Cato University, the Institute's premier educational event, July 26-31 in San Diego. This annual program brings together outstanding faculty and participants from across the country who share a commitment to liberty and learning. cato.org

The Center for Education Reform has released "The Accountability Report: Charter School" (edreform.com/accountability), an analysis of all 40 states, and theDistrictof Columbia, that have charter laws, and the history of accountability over time to determine whether charter schools are reforming public education. What's clear from CER's analysis is that in states with strong charter school laws, and where good data is available to all parties, charters are making notable gains. Those that have not performed, especially in states whose laws ensure objective oversight from independent authorizers, have been closed. "Accountability lies at the heart of the charter school concept," says CER president Jeanne Allen. "The singular focus on student achievement challenges all public schools to raise the bar. Knowing how charter schools are held accountable is a guidepost for all engaged in educating our nation's youth." edreform.com

Citizens in Charge Foundation wants to make sure citizens know "in 24 states they can" use the ballot initiative and referendum process. In this effort the Foundation has embarked on an educational campaign, using tools like YouTube to spread the message (YouTube Channel: CitizenInCharge). The first video featuring a four year old explaining American history created a buzz with activists. Harnessing the growing interest about ballot measures, the Foundation has sent out a call for Citizen State Coordinators to volunteer in helping strengthen regional efforts. As a trans-partisan grassroots membership organization, Citizens in Charge strives to find common ground with groups on all sides of the political spectrum that believe in protecting citizen rights. In order to foster these types of relationships, the organization launched Citizens on Tap, an informal networking event. CitizensInCharge.org

Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute is welcoming summer interns to its Virginia Headquarters. Designed to help young women develop their leadership abilities and learn how to promote conservative principles on campus, the intern program teaches interns to coordinate special events, improve their writing and researching abilities, and learn how to succeed in a professional office environment. Training sessions also focus on sharpening their public-speaking skills to prepare them for television and radio interviews. Many students have the opportunity during their internship to meet and be mentored by conservative icons such as Phyllis Schlafly, Star Parker and Bay Buchanan. If you know of a young woman who would benefit from a semester working for the Luce Policy Institute, please visit cblpi.org.

On April 7 the Claremont Institute's Golden State Center published a new report analyzing six measures on California's May 19 special election ballot. The fiscal implications of these complicated propositions is in the billions, and they come at a time when the state is facing the largest budget crisis in its 159-year history. How voters respond to these measures will influence not only how California corrects its $42 billion structural deficit, but how other states respond to similar difficulties. Authored by Tom Karako, "Grading the Propositions" analyzes their political, fiscal and constitutional effects. The report concludes that these measures fall far short of the reforms needed to restore the Golden State to either political or fiscal normalcy. claremont.org

The Fraser Institute offers a note of caution in its latest "Waiting Your Turn" report, which details the unresponsive nature of the single-payer system in Canada, where waiting lists can reach almost 18 weeks. The report is available at fraseramerica.org.On the environmental front, Fraser launched the first in a series of videos on YouTube to debunk alarmist claims about global warming (youtube.com/user/QuestionTheHype). Using viral marketing to maximize online reach, the series is targeted at high school students, many of whom are heavily exposed to environmental misinformation. In addition, Fraser researchers have published timely pieces on protectionism, AmeriCorps, energy exploration and the recent NATO summit.

As the April 15 Tax Day Tea Parties drew to a close, requests for a national tea party or march on Washington began to pour in from around the country. Eager to maintain the energy, passion and "no taxes and spending" message of the Tea Party movement, FreedomWorks reached out to allies old and new to form a broad coalition of free-market groups to organize a Sept. 12 national Taxpayer March on D.C. So far, this growing group includes other Beltway non-profits, state think tanks, brand-new Tea Party organizations and a host of bloggers to help spread the word. RSVP's at 912dc.org are compounding day by day. People are booking flights and hotels. And the national march so many began to clamor for months ago will soon be a reality. If you would like to be a part of 912DC, please contact FreedomWorks and watch the website for details. freedomworks.org

Over 200 supporters of The Fund for American Studies gathered in Washington, D.C. April 16-17 for its annual conference.Tom Donlan, editorial page editor of Barron's National Business and Financial Weekly, provided keynote remarks on the financial crisis. TFAS awarded the 2009 Outstanding Professor Award to Richard Benedetto, USA Today founding member and White House correspondent, and The David R. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award to Kenneth Tomlinson, former chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors. Other speakers included political columnist Ron Hart, The Wall Street Journal's Steve Moore and Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett. On April 24 Fox News senior producer Chad Pergram provided keynote remarks for the Spring Capital Semester commencement. Pergram challenged 47 public policy and journalism students to "take the dome off Congress" and explain to families and friends how Washington works. tfas.org

The Galen Institute is working to "Put Patients First" in the health reform debate. The Institute has taken the lead in disseminating a new statement from the Health Policy Consensus Group on health reform initiatives. The group includes health policy experts who understand the importance of free-market, patient-centered health care. Galen distributed the statement, which warns against reforms that would harm patients, on Capitol Hill and online. And Galen developed a "Do No Harm Petition," which is active online at DoNoHarmPetition.org, based upon the Consensus Group's principles. You're invited to sign the petition urging politicians to "First, Do No Harm" and "Put Patients First." Galen also is running a video contest, seeking submissions that debunk popular myths about government-run health care. To see winning videos, please visit galen.org. Follow Galen's activities on Twitter @galeninstitute and @aemenefee.

As the Obama administration and Congress consider global warming legislation that would cost consumers hundreds of billions of dollars a year, scientists and economists met in Washington, D.C. to say such legislation is unnecessary at the Third International Conference on Climate Change hosted by the Heartland Institute. The theme of the June 2 conference was "Climate Change: Scientific Debate and Economic Analysis." Heartland president Joseph Bast said, "The theme of conference reflects the fact that the scientific debate is not over about climate change and global warming, and that economic analysis is more important than ever, now that legislation is being seriously considered." The conference attendees included Members of Congress, congressional staff, policy makers, opinion leaders and journalists. heartland.org

The Heritage Foundation produced the first booklet in a series, The Economy Hits Home, to explain basic economic principles with common sense language. Heritage's Center for Data Analysis is producing timely research on the potential economic impacts of a proposed energy tax via cap and trade. Heritage's new Manufacturing Vulnerability Index demonstrates the areas of the country most susceptible to economic damage from energy taxes. Heritage's health care team is writing on the dangers of the proposed public plan and national health board to the quality of health care in the U.S. Also, Heritage analyst Ron Utt produced research on the efforts by the Obama administration to force the implementation of smart growth policies on local governments. Finally, Heritage hosted more than 600 participants representing 340 organizations and 40 countries at its 32nd annual Resource Bank in Los Angeles. heritage.org

As President Obama closed the chapter on his first 100 days in office, Independent Institute senior fellow Ivan Eland assessed his performance in the San Francisco Chronicle, reminding all of us that the new President still has 1,300 days to follow. We would be well advised not to underestimate what may be yet to come even though his actions to date to greatly expand federal power and spending are bad enough. As author of the new Institute book, Recarving Rushmore, Dr. Eland suggests that while President Obama is still polling positively in terms of personality, charm cannot outweigh the more important metrics of peace, prosperity and liberty. Speaking on this same topic, Dr. Eland was recently interviewed by former presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul on C-SPAN's "After Words" program on the need to radically reduce presidential power. independent.org

Free speech victories! The Institute for Justice had a Tennessee judge dismiss a defamation lawsuitbrought against property rights activists and had a federal appeals court block a speech ban imposed on Texas interior designers. With the Institute's assistance, Long Beach activists launched the North Long Beach Citizens Against Eminent Domain Abuse. In the past few weeks, IJ attorneys and cases have appeared in numerous media outlets, including the ABA Journal, Air America, Marketplace, National Review, The New York Times, Volokh Conspiracy and The Wall Street Journal. IJ is proud to welcome Lancee Kurcab, Mary McPherson and Britany Skipper to its team. IJ looks forward to having TCPR vice president Shaka Mitchell back in June for the "Lawyers Have Heart" dinner and 10k race. (Shaka thinks he can beat IJ's running legend, Luke "Pre" Preus, but that's probably not going to happen.) ij.org

The Institute for Policy Innovation hosted its signature World Intellectual Property Day forum April 30 in Washington, D.C. The sold-out event shed light on intellectual property's role in the global recovery and featured a dynamic line-up of key insiders advocating the protection of innovation worldwide, including Rep. Marsha Blackburn, DC Comics' Dan DiDio, TechAmerica president Phil Bond and U.S. Trade Representative's Chief IP Negotiator Kira Alvarez. On Tax Day, IPI president Tom Giovanetti and resident scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews championed fiscal responsibility and lower taxes before thousands at North Texas tea parties in Denton and Dallas. Additionally, IPI's Peter Ferrara appeared on the Fox Business Network warning of the damaging effects new EPA regulations have in store for the economy. Join the Institute online through Facebook and Twitter. ipi.org

The Jesse Helms Center Foundation held its first Helms Foreign Policy School this year on the campus of Liberty University on March 21. Over 30 Liberty students heard from former Helms staffers, Deborah DeMoss Fonseca and Robert Wilkie, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs. Students learned how Senator Helms applied conservative principles to foreign policy issues and how to effectively communicate those principles with communication training conducted by Beverly Hallberg, executive director of District Media Group. On March 19 the Helms Center hosted BB&T chairman John Allison as part of its acclaimed Lecture Series. Also this spring, the Helms Center received essays from 17 states and one foreign country for its annual Laws of Life Essay Contest, a character education-based writing competition for middle and high school students, originally developed by the John Templeton Foundation. jessehelmscenter.org

The Lucy Burns Institute continues to build an encyclopedia of state sunshine law-related material in the WikiFOIA portal of Sunshine Review. The encyclopedia now includes topical inform ation, including transparency headline news from each of the 50 states and a centralized Sunshine Calendar for 2009 that lists all sunshine-related events from around the country. wikifoia.org

Health care reform is a Manhattan Institute top priority. In May, it released a paper by Douglas Holtz-Eakin that lays out the priorities and principles policymakers should focus on for sustainable health care based on the principles of limited government, market-based innovation and patient-centered care to expand coverage incrementally in a fiscally responsible manner. The Institute's webzine, MedicalProgressToday.com, launched "Innovative Ideas," a series of podcast interviews with doctors, scientists, health economists and policy experts about how to reform our system so it promotes innovation, competition and more affordable insurance options. How might New York successfully overcome Wall Street's meltdown and be competitive in the 21st century? To address this question, City Journal has commissioned a special issue, "New York's Tomorrow," which covers three main components of reform: political economy, social order and fixing schools. It'll be released at a July conference in New York City and available on city-journal.org. manhattaninstitute.com

On May 5 in Washington, D.C the Mercatus Center at George Mason University released its annual "Performance Report Scorecard Report: Which Agencies Best Inform the Public?" For the tenth consecutive year, the study ranked the 24 largest federal agencies on how well they supply citizens and elected leaders with the information needed to make informed funding and policy decisions. U.S. Senator Mark Warner from Virginia joined Mercatus scholars Dr. Jerry Ellig and Maurice McTigue to discuss the findings, the evolution of best practices and specific improvements in transparent disclosure that agencies have made in the past decade that may make oversight easier. Additionally, in response to the growing number of state legislatures proposing spending-transparency websites, the Mercatus Center recently released a paper, "The Cost of State Online Spending Transparency Initiatives." Author Jerry Brito looked at 10 recently established state-spending sites to address the most common argument against these efforts: the potential high cost of such websites. Mr. Brito's research concluded: initial cost estimates often overestimated the final cost. The cost of the surveyed sites range from $30,000 to $300,000, and there is little correlation between the amount spent and the quality of the website. mercatus.org

The Moving Picture Institute is pleased to introduce The Cartel, a feature-length documentary film exposing the corruption, waste and intimidation in our nation's public schools. Showing how America's public school system wastes billions of dollars each year while children learn less and less, The Cartel argues for immediate reform centered on school choice. Incorporating interviews with former Alliance for School Choice president Clint Bolick, the Fordham Foundation's Chester Finn, Black Alliance for Educational Options' Gerard Robinson and more, The Cartel is a humane and accessible film that can do for education reform what no op-ed, policy analysis or white paper can do. To learn how to bring the film to your area, please contact rob@thempi.org. MPI is accepting applications for internships; the ideal candidate has an informed appreciation of American liberty and a demonstrable interest in film production. thempi.org

National Center for Policy Analysis president John C. Goodman, distinguished fellows Terry Neese and Bob McTeer, and Devon Herrick testified before several Congressional committees to advocate free-market reforms. McTeer was named a contributor to CNBC and continues to be a leading figure in public policy debate about the nation's banking and financial crises. Both Pulitzer-prize winning nationally syndicated columnist George Will and Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator for The Financial Times of London, offered analysis and solutions for the current U.S. economic and financial crisis and its global implications at this year's first NCPA/Hatton W. Sumners Foundation Distinguished Lectures. John Stossel told a capacity crowd at Rivercrest Country Club in Fort Worth that the current financial crisis need not lead to government intervention in financial markets. ncpa.org

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed itself and ruled to uphold a Utah statute prohibiting union officials from using payroll deduction to divert teachers' and other government workers' money into union political action committees. National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, in a joint amici brief with the Utah-based Sutherland Institute and others, successfully argued in Utah Education Association et al. v. Mark Shurtleff - just as they did in the U.S. Supreme Court victory in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association at al. - that union officials have no constitutional right to use government resources to deduct monies from workers' paychecks. However, there is a much cleaner, more effective way to address such union abuses: Legislatures in Right to Work states, including Utah, should simply ban all payroll deductions for government unions. nrtw.org

The National Taxpayers Union released its 2008 Rating of Congress, a scorecard based on every roll call vote affecting fiscal policy. Only 48 lawmakers scored high enough to merit "A" grades and a Taxpayers' Friend Award, down from 52 in the 2007 Rating. A record 267 Senators and Representatives captured the title of Big Spender for posting "F" grades. NTU's 11th annual Tax Complexity Study found that individuals and corporations spend nearly $300 billion on tax compliance. Taxpayers this year spent an average of 26.4 hours and $209 completing their returns. NTU hosts a weekly podcast, "The Taxpayer's Turn," every Thursday on RedCounty.com. Join NTU's grassroots mobile membership by texting "FIGHT" to 67292 and fight big government with your mobile phone! Follow NTU on Twitter, @ntu. ntu.org

When members of Students for a Democratic Society protested against former U.S. congressman Tom Tancredo's speech on immigration at the University of N. Carolina-Chapel Hill, Pope Center for Higher Education senior writer Jay Schalin and outreach coordinator Jenna Robinson were on the scene. Schalin and Robinson recounted the turmoil, which prevented Tancredo from finishing his speech and led to the arrest of a student, as eyewitnesses on WPTF radio in Raleigh and in an article in Human Events. A week later, Schalin covered a speech by former congressman Virgil Goode on "Multiculturalism, Hate Speech, and Free Speech" - where six protesters were arrested. That article appeared in The American Thinker. Both Goode and Tancredo had been invited to speak by the UNC-Chapel Hill chapter of Youth for Western Civilization, a new student group. popecenter.org

The latest issue of Privatization Watch, focused on bailouts and the recession, is available on Reason Foundation's new and improved website. The Weighted Student Formula Yearbook, which creates best practices based on analysis of 15 school districts pioneering the practice, is online. Reason Magazine's May feature story explains how states' fiscal irresponsibility caused the current budget crises. Reason's Michael C. Moynihan has made multiple appearances on the Glenn Beck Program in recent weeks, and CNBC featured Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie in an auto bailout debate. Reason.tv continues to follow the trial surrounding California medical marijuana dispensary owner Charlie Lynch, whose sentencing date has been delayed to June 11. For Reason.tv's complete coverage of the Lynch saga, go to reason.tv/video/show/760.html. View all of Reason.tv's videos at youtube.com/reasontv. reason.org

After the success of the 2nd Annual Sammies Awards, the Sam Adams Alliance was able to capture the growing interest in New Media and citizen activism at SamSphere-Chicago. This one day forum, held in May, brought together bloggers and New Media activists as well as individuals who wanted to start learning about online activism. The turnout could only be described as inspiring, as liberty-minded thinkers came together in the heartland of corruption to learn from New Media experts, discuss ideas and network, sending a clear message that even in a state that has produced two indicted governor's in the same decade, "real" hope and change can be found. For more information call Emily Zanotti at 312-920-0080. samadamsalliance.org

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