The Buckeye Institute and Liberty Justice Center have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Kent State University workers who had union dues illegally deducted from their paychecks, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled was a violation of the First Amendment. “Annamarie and Adda are asking the court to rule against this egregious and ongoing violation of their First Amendment rights, which—to date—their union has refused to acknowledge.”
Brianna McKinnon doesn’t look at being a teacher as just a job she holds, but says “it is who she is.” And she has chosen one of the most difficult teaching paths available—working with at risk youth in a school where it is hard to find substitute teachers let alone full-time teachers. While being a teacher is who Brianna is, it is not the only role she fills. She is also a military spouse, which means she and her family have no say over where they will live—that decision is up to the U.S. Department of Defense. After earning her teaching certificate in Washington state, Brianna’s husband was transferred to Ohio, to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court of Michigan to rule in favor of Uri Rafaeli in the case Rafaeli, LLC v. Oakland County and stop the government from taking his private property to pay a negligible tax bill. “The fact that the government would sell Mr. Rafaeli’s property for an $8.41 mistake and then sell it for $25,500 and keep the profits is unconscionable, not to mention unconstitutional. Even citizens of That State Up North deserve to have their property rights protected from government abuse and overreach.”
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy Generation on the policies in House Bill 6. “The Buckeye Institute opposes government subsidies, pure and simple. Any subsidy given to one entity puts other competitors at a disadvantage. And using the power of government to disadvantage market competitors makes for bad public policy…[G]overnment interference and costly subsidies inevitably lead to higher costs and fewer created jobs, making Ohio poorer and weaker, not wealthier and stronger.”
The Buckeye Institute commented on newly released employment data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying, “Spring has brought a rebirth to job growth in Ohio with 6,200 new private sector jobs, a falling unemployment rate of 4.4 percent, and a growing labor force participation rate of 62.7 percent. All these are positive signs for Ohio’s economy…While this month’s rebound in job growth is good news, state policymakers must remain cautious about increasing burdens that could harm the economy…”
A new report, Unsustainable Spending: The State of Alaska’s Budget and Economy, by The Buckeye Institute’s Economic Research Center, found that raising taxes would not raise the revenue needed to address Alaska’s $1.6 billion budget shortfall. “Putting new taxes on Alaskans only burdens the state through reduced investment, a stagnant economy, and lower job creation, and it fails to cover the state’s current budget shortfall.” The research was conducted in conjunction with the Alaska Policy Forum.
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House State and Local Government Committee on the policies in House Bill 46, which secure Ohio’s progress on transparency and government accountability by codifying the Ohio Checkbook initiative. “[T]his effort is just the beginning. True transparency will not be achieved until every governmental unit has opened its account books and made them available online for all of us—every Ohio taxpayer—to better understand how our governments work on our behalf.”
The Buckeye Institute released its 2019 Piglet Book, which identified $2.5 billion in savings for Ohio taxpayers. “Making these cuts will save Ohio taxpayers money, make government more efficient and effective, and keep the state on solid financial ground to better weather the next economic storm.” The Piglet Book is an analysis of Ohio’s proposed biennial budget and offers savings for policymakers to consider as they debate the state’s two-year budget.
In The Des Moines Register, Buckeye’s Rea S. Hederman Jr. and Iowans for Tax Relief’s John Hendrickson urge Iowa policymakers to conduct an audit of the state’s Medicaid program, writing, “A cursory review of the Iowa state budget shows health services and Medicaid to be the second-largest line item. That alone suggests a program audit is in order to ensure every dollar is spent wisely — and that resources are used to help people who truly need Medicaid services.”
As lawmakers begin debating Ohio’s biennial budget, Buckeye’s economist, Andrew J. Kidd, Ph.D., looks at the differences between the Office of Budget and Management’s and the Legislative Service Commission’s tax collection estimates, writing, “In general, OBM expects Ohio’s collection of tax dollars to grow faster than LSC, implying that OBM is painting too rosy of a picture, which will hurt Ohioans if spending cuts have to be made or taxes increased later.”
