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SPN State Fiscal Policy Exchange – Volume 4, Issue 28

Published on Monday, July 28, 2008
FISCAL POLICY

 

 

 

SPN State Fiscal Policy Exchange - Volume 4, Issue 28

 

Please send any suggestions or news updates (include web link) to Brian Zapotocky at bzapotocky@effwa.org.

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SPN 16^th Annual Meeting

Register today for the SPN 16^th Annual Meeting, September 11-12, 2008 in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is the premier event for the free market state think tank community. The agenda features expert panels, training workshops and strategy discussions on free market policy issues as well as unparalleled networking opportunities for the over 300 public policy professionals from 150+ organizations in attendance. Find more information at www.spn.org/events.

 

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Studies/Policy Updates

 

Budget and Tax Reform

• Allegheny Institute for Public Policy:
• County Executive's Comments Trigger Questions
• Plan to Toll I-80 Will Need Major Overhaul to Gain Approval

• Americans For Tax Reform:
• Don Young Betrays Taxpayers
• Rep. Kline Tells Congress: STOP THE PORK
• Taxpayers Reject Monkey Pork- or any other kind of pork, for that matter.
• Reid wants to force spending down taxpayers' throats - but Coburn says No!
• Investors driving oil prices higher? Politicians should re-take econ 101

• Arizona Free Enterprise Club: AZ Free Enterprise Club Files Amicus Brief Against TIME Initiative Lawsuit

• Blue Ridge Forum: Are Freddie and Fannie Trying to Shake Down Taxpayers?

• Cascade Policy Institute: First you borrow, then you beg...

• Citizens Against Government Waste:
• CAGW Names Rep. Mica Porker of the Month
• CCAGW Denounces Housing Bailout Bill

• Evergreen Freedom Foundation:
• More fun at Port of Seattle...bad news released on Friday afternoon
• Cost of Government Day finally comes to Washington
• New sales tax law harming small business
• Brown v. Owen (I-601 lawsuit) webpage

• FreedomWorks:
• New Petition Drive Against North Carolina Sin Taxes
• FreedomWorks Supports the Mobile Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2008 (S. 3249)
• Paulson Plan Rolls the Dice with Taxpayer Dollars

• Free State Foundation: The Dangerous World of "Deemed Granted"

• Georgia Public Policy Foundation: Fault Feds, not Atlanta, for Lanier's Woes

• Grassroot Institute of Hawaii: Mayor Hannemann's Hit Piece Disrespects Voice of Thousands of Hawaii's Citizens

• Heartland Institute:
• Reassessment Halt Will Show It's Spending that Drives Taxes Higher
• Future Deficits Inevitable Without Comprehensive Solution - by John Nothdurft

• Heritage Foundation:
• 'Roll back the tax cuts': An exercise in shady financing
• No Taxpayer Bailout for the Earmarked Highway Bill

• John Locke Foundation: N.C. voters reject high costs of global warming policies

• Mackinac Center for Public Policy: Savings from "Reform Government" Initiative: Four Pennies a Week

• National Taxpayers Union:
• An Open Letter to the United States Senate: Support Taxpayers and Oppose the "Coburn Omnibus"!
• Nation's Largest Taxpayer Group Awards Nine Grants to State, Local Activist Organizations
• An Open Letter to the United States Senate: Support the Mobile Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2008
• Who Pays Income Taxes? See Who Pays What
• Lawmakers' Bill-Writing Habits Stall Drive for Budget Discipline

• National Taxpayers Union Foundation: Study: Lawmakers' Bill-Writing Habits Stall Drive for Budget Discipline

• Nevada Policy Research Institute: Trade-offs: the hidden cost of safety regulation

• Texans for Fiscal Responsibility:
• Relish This
• When Times Are Tough, Tax-n-Spend Away
• That's Some Banjo Hall

• Washington Policy Center:
• Why your property taxes go up more than 1%
• State spending increases

Education

• Bluegrass Institute:
• Kentucky misses the ‘write' stuff
• Kentucky students suffer writing 'overdose'

• Buckeye Institute:
• BuckeyeVoices: Educational choices help kids
• Are Children "Creatures of the State?"

• Cato Institute: Public Schooling as a 1971 Chevy Impala

• Evergreen Freedom Foundation:
• Thank you Spokane and northern Idaho!
• Oregonians are getting opportunity to improve education
• "Incentive" is not a four-letter word

• Georgia Public Policy Foundation: Georgia Celebrates Milton Friedman's Legacy

• Heartland Institute: Don't Give Up on School Vouchers!

• Heritage Foundation: The Higher-Education Bill: The Unnoticed Budget Buster

• Nevada Policy Research Institute: Spend, spend again

• Washington Policy Center: Education officials: never enough time or money to educate our kids

Transparency

• Americans For Tax Reform:
• Keystone State Treasury Annouces Contract Transparency
• South Carolina's Medicaid Transparency a Healthy Move for Taxpayers

• Evergreen Freedom Foundation: Court of Appeals rules against Port of Olympia in open records case

 

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State News Updates

 

Alabama

• Alabama tax holiday offers savings during an economic downturn, Birmingham News, July 28, 2008
• Federal judge to allow lawsuit challenging Alabama's property tax system as lowest in nation, racially discriminatory, Birmingham News, July 25, 2008

Alaska

• Palin energy bill proposes replacing lost aviation revenue, Juneau Empire, July 25, 2008

Arizona

• 3 Arizona universities facing budget irony, Arizona Republic, July 25, 2008

Arkansas

• AG says Hardin's bonus may have violated salary caps, Log Cabin Democrat, July 24, 2008
• Ark. gov. mulls more time for company's tax break, Daily Citizen, July 22, 2008
• Beebe calls for 3 budget options, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 22, 2008

California

• To solve budget woes, California eyes higher taxes on the rich, Christian Science Monitor, July 26, 2008
• State pay cut is not governor's call, legal aide says, Sacramento Bee, July 26, 2008
• Controller says he won't cut workers' wages, San Francisco Chronicle, July 25, 2008
• Schwarzenegger seeks to slash state workers' pay till budget passes, Los Angeles Times, July 24, 2008
• State freezes Medi-Cal payments to thousands of healthcare facilities, Los Angeles Times, July 24, 2008
• Governor plans to slash state workers' pay, San Francisco Chronicle, July 24, 2008
• Poll: Californians pessimistic about budget fix, Orange County Register, July 23, 2008
• Q&A: Next Senate leader: State has 'a revenue problem', Sacramento Bee, July 22, 2008

Colorado

• Ending tax break wouldn't raise fuel prices, study says, Denver Post, July 25, 2008
• Court: Colorado financial aid ban unconstitutional, Denver Post, July 24, 2008

Connecticut

• Transportation Project Costs Mushrooming, The Day, July 28, 2008
• Faulty School Projections Prove Costly To Taxpayers, Hartford Courant, July 25, 2008
• State Expects A $22 Million Surplus, Hartford Courant, July 22, 2008

Florida

• Florida Family Readiness Program not being utilized, St. Petersburg Times, July 25, 2008
• Swap one tax for another? 2 sides making their cases, Miami Herald, July 23, 2008
• Pay-as-you-go express lanes could be headed to Orlando area, Orlando Sentinel, July 22, 2008

Georgia

• Are toll roads the answer to metro Atlanta's traffic problem?, Atlantic Journal Constitution, July 27, 2008
• No-earmarks pledge may mean less federal money for Ga., Atlantic Journal Constitution, July 24, 2008
• Ga. officials want to halt education funding suit, Macon Telegraph, July 22, 2008
• Midstate colleges plan for budget cuts, Macon Telegraph, July 22, 2008

Hawaii

• UH boom comes at expense of upkeep, Star Bulletin, July 28, 2008

Idaho

• College of Western Idaho board considers spending cut to honor tax pledge, Idaho Statesman, July 22, 2008

Illinois

• Daley: State needs compromise on capital program, Chicago Tribune, July 26, 2008

Iowa

• 60 Iowa school districts get deficit alerts, Des Moines Register, July 28, 2008
• Lawmakers Want Tax Breaks For Flood Victims, KCCI-TV 8, July 21, 2008

Kansas

• Sebelius: Gas tax increase not likely, Lawrence Journal-World, July 28, 2008
• Governor says university overreacted over budget cuts, Lawrence Journal-World, July 25, 2008
• State asks universities to prepare for budget cuts of 7 percent over two years, Lawrence Journal-World, July 21, 2008

Louisiana

• La. urged to let single agency collect taxes, Times-Picayune, July 22, 2008

Maine

• Tax-repeal group raises $375,000, Sun Journal, July 25, 2008
• Dirigo adjusts savings estimates for past year, Bangor Daily News, July 25, 2008

Massachusetts

• Special pensions cost state millions, Boston Globe, July 25, 2008

Michigan

• More college tuition hikes, Detroit Free Press, July 26, 2008
• Funding inches up for state's schools, Lansing State Journal, July 25, 2008
• Bill to increase K-12 spending awaits Michigan governor, Toledo Blade, July 24, 2008

Mississippi

• Board of Education increases budget, Hattiesburg American, July 28, 2008

Missouri

• MU pushes for $1 billion from state for 2010, Kansas City-Star, July 27, 2008

New Jersey

• Fundraising woes have Rutgers scarlet-faced, Star-Ledger, July 27, 2008

New Mexico

• Legislature: Governor to squeeze in special session, Santa Fe New Mexican, July 22, 2008

New York

• Legal defense at public expense?, Times Union, July 26, 2008
• Food stamp usage sees spike as economy slows, Times Union, July 24, 2008
• Gov Warns of Wall St. Bonus Blow, New York Post, July 22, 2008

North Carolina

• House takes its time when it comes to budget, News & Observer, July 28, 2008

Oregon

• State distributes school fund money, Statesman Journal, July 24, 2008
• Two more initiatives qualify for Oregon's November ballot, Oregonian, July 22, 2008

Pennsylvania

• Concerns rising about bridges falling, Morning Call, July 28, 2008
• $1.7 million Pa. spam scam outlined, Philadelphia Enquirer, July 28, 2008
• Pennsylvania Lottery sales hit record high, but revenues decline, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 22, 2008

Rhode Island

• Union vote to reject contract offer puts state budget in doubt, Providence Journal, July 27, 2008

South Carolina

• DOT has less money to spend on roads, The State, July 27, 2008

South Dakota

• Stage set for testy school funding trial, Argus Leader, July 27, 2008

Texas

• UT System to sell some oil field reserves for $1 billion, Houston Chronicle, July 25, 2008

Vermont

• Talk of state job cuts echoes 1950s report, Rutland Herald, July 27, 2008

Washington

• 520 tolls may stretch from I-5 to Bellevue, Seattle P-I, July 24, 2008

West Virginia

• W.Va. plan would fund pension with fireworks tax, Charleston Daily Mail, July 28, 2008
• Tracks want to skip paying state's cut on free slot games, Charleston Gazette, July 24, 2008

U.S.

• Billions needed to shore up nation's bridges, USA Today, July 25, 2008
• States Slammed by Tax Shortfalls, Wall Street Journal, July 24, 2008
• Budget gaps triple for '09, Stateline.org, July 24, 2008
• States worry about dwindling road funds, Stateline.org, July 23, 2008

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SPN Research Forum listserv: The research forum listserv is an email-based conversation hosted by the John Locke Foundation. Post messages and get responses to issues of importance in your state and across the country. With participants from other SPN think tanks and associate SPN member organizations, the Forum can help with background for your papers or ideas on what's worked in other states. Learn from other think tanks. Share your research ideas. Discuss timely issues. To join the conversation, email Daren Bakst dbakst@johnlocke.org.

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 Links of Interest

• Alliance for Workers Freedom
• American Legislative Exchange Council
• American Shareholders Association
• Americans for Limited Government
• Americans for Prosperity
• Americans for Prosperity Texas Blog
• Americans for Tax Reform
• BNA State Tax Highlights
• Budget and Tax News
• BusinessNevada
• Carolina Journal
• Citizens Against Government Waste
• COST Tax Updates
• EFF Updates
• EFF Blog
• FreedomWorks
• Foundation for Economic Education
• Independence Institute Updates
• Insider Online
• Media Freedom Project
• National Tax Limitation Committee
• National Taxpayers Union
• PolicyBot
• Property Rights Alliance
• Ronald Reagan Legacy Project
• Sam Adams Alliance
• SPN blog
• State Tax Updates (ATR)
• Tax Bytes (Institute for Policy Innovation)
• Tax Foundation
• Townhall
• Washington Policy Center Blog
• Young America's Foundation

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