In The Topeka Capital-Journal, The Buckeye Institute and Kansas Policy Institute highlight the findings of a joint report, writing, “If Kansas does nothing to improve its tax policies, its economy will languish and fall further behind its regional peers. Kansas learned an important lesson from the failed ‘Kansas Experiment.’ And it is time for state policymakers to acknowledge it and move on.”
In 2023 Ohio moved up two spots in the Economic Freedom of North America 2023 report, ranking 33rd out of all 50 states. The report, released by the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute in partnership with Canada’s Fraser Institute, ranks every state and province in North America based on economic freedom, measured by government spending, taxation, and labor-market freedom.
The Buckeye Institute commented on the newly released jobs report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying “While not exactly a lump of coal, Ohio’s job market has slightly cooled in the last few months of the year, and in 2024, policymakers will return to Columbus facing a job market weaker than the first half of 2023. To ring in the New Year, lawmakers will need to focus on further reforms to Ohio’s tax system and modernizing the state’s economic system.”
The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Schafer v. Kent County with Michigan’s Supreme Court, arguing that Kent County violated Michigan’s just compensation clause when it sold Matthew Schafer and Harry and Lilly Hucklebury’s homes to pay delinquent property taxes and pocketed the surplus as windfall profits. “Seizing these profits was always unconstitutional, and Kent County should be embarrassed to ask the court to let it pocket these ill-gotten gains.”
The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Cincinnati v. Ohio with Ohio’s First District Court of Appeals, calling on the court to reaffirm the constitutionality of the state’s preemption law, which protects the Second Amendment rights of Ohioans. “Yet again, officials in one of Ohio’s largest cities are attempting to address a rise in violent crime by limiting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Ohioans. While violent crime is certainly a problem that cities must address, it is irrelevant to whether Ohio’s preemption law is constitutional.”
Responding to The Buckeye Institute’s economic concerns regarding low statutory limits placed on a “green energy” PILOT program, Open Road Renewables has asserted that Frasier Solar’s PILOT is a “clear winner” for Knox County. To address these concerns, Buckeye modeled additional scenarios. Doing so only further supports the original conclusion that the PILOT program is not a “clear winner” for Knox County and that its commissioners should be mindful of the program’s short- and long-term tradeoffs.
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee on the policies in Ohio Senate Bill 37, which would ensure that the suspension of driver’s licenses is related to driving offenses. These policies are the “kinds of criminal justice reform that The Buckeye Institute has championed for more than a decade” and “target dangerous offenses involving operating motor vehicles, [such as] driving under the influence, and vehicular homicide.”
Ohio has become a model of regulatory reform, winning victory after victory against outdated, bureaucratic red tape that makes it harder for businesses to operate and workers to find jobs. Senate Bill 9 requires Ohio to reduce its regulations by 30 percent by 2025, and Senate Bill 131 recognizes out-of-state occupational licenses. These are solid wins championed by The Buckeye Institute, but this is no time for the state to rest on its laurels.
A new report, Reforming Kansas Tax Policy, released Monday by the Economic Research Center (ERC) at The Buckeye Institute, found that cutting taxes in Kansas could lead to hundreds of millions in economic growth and business investment. The ERC partnered with Kansas Policy Institute to conduct the research. “With regional competition for businesses and workers, Kansas must revisit pro-growth tax reforms to keep the state economically competitive.”
The Buckeye Institute filed Littlejohn v. AFSCME with the State Employment Relations Board, asserting an unfair labor practice charge by AFSCME and the city of Cincinnati against Necole Littlejohn, a hospital employee with the city of Cincinnati, who had money illegally taken out of her paychecks by her employer and given to the government union. “Ms. Littlejohn is not a member of the government union, but the union continues to use an unethical legal sleight-of-hand to steal money from her paycheck.”
