The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Laird v. United Teachers of Los Angeles, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and tell government unions that they cannot rely on obscure and arbitrary opt-out windows as a way to deny First Amendment rights to public employees and they cannot illegally take money from public employees’ paychecks once they have quit the union.
The Buckeye Institute was honored by the New Civil Liberties Alliance at the Third Annual Georgies for Best Amicus Curiae Brief for its amicus brief in Relentless v. U.S. Department of Commerce. Buckeye received the George Washington Award for its brief and help in fighting the administrative state’s abuse of civil liberties. In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argued that the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Chevron and put an end to judicial deference to executive agencies’ interpretation of the law.
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Ways and Means Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 386, which proposes to eliminate both the state income tax and the commercial activities tax (CAT) simultaneously. Although House Bill 386 moves in the right direction, The Buckeye Institute, strongly urged lawmakers to “reconsider eliminating both taxes simultaneously,” noting that eliminating both taxes would “require dramatically changing budget priorities and holding spending at or below inflation.”
The Buckeye Institute filed its appeal and a request for oral arguments in Flannery v. D.C. Department of Health with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The Buckeye Institute’s client, Eric Flannery, is challenging D.C. Council’s and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s unconstitutional pandemic-era emergency acts and orders, which D.C. used to force the closure of The Big Board, a neighborhood bar and grill located in our nation’s capital, owned by Mr. Flannery.
At Cleveland.com, The Buckeye Institute encourages Ohio lawmakers to update the state’s antiquated and anti-competitive franchise law, which is responsible for lopsided restrictions that unfairly favor large wholesale distributors. “Ohio boasts an award-winning craft beer industry. But that industry and its small business owners have largely thrived in recent years despite — not because of — an unfair legal holdover from the Nixon era that should finally be changed, if not repealed entirely.”
The Buckeye Institute, joined by Mountain States Legal Foundation, filed an amicus brief in Smith & Wesson v. Mexico, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and tell officials in Mexico that it cannot shift the blame for its failure to control drug cartel crime in its country onto American companies. “When Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, it was clear Congress intended to protect the Second Amendment.”
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Joint Committee on Property Tax Review and Reform and offered lawmakers several recommendations to ease the property tax burden on Ohioans. In the testimony, Buckeye pointed out that with 924 cities and villages, 1,308 townships, more than 600 school districts, 88 counties, and hundreds of other special taxing districts, Ohio has an “over-supply of local government reflects” that has “saddled Ohio with the 12th highest local tax burden as a percentage of income in the country.”
The Buckeye Institute, joined by Mountain States Legal Foundation, filed an amicus brief in Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence Corp. v. School Committee for the City of Boston, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and end discrimination-by-proxy in elite public schools. “In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that admissions criteria using race as a factor is unlawful.”
The Buckeye Institute commented on the newly released jobs report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying, “Although Ohio’s job market set employment records over the past year, it has now clearly cooled as higher interest rates and inflation take their toll on Ohio’s families and businesses,” and encouraging policymakers to “continue efforts to reduce the overall tax burden on Ohioans in a sustainable and responsible manner that also constrains spending, protects taxpayers, and keeps Ohioans working.”
In a new policy memo, How Higher Hospital Costs Lead to Higher Prices, The Buckeye Institute outlines one of the largest single drivers of healthcare costs—rising hospital costs. In his memo, Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute, notes that hospital costs account for 30 percent of all healthcare spending. Hederman urges “hospitals—and the policymakers that help oversee them” to “look for ways to control spending and alleviate known causes of higher costs.”
