The Heartland Institute

Pennsylvania’s legislature is considering legislation that would end school property taxes and instead increase income and sales taxes to raise the $13 billion the state spends on K-12 schools. “It’s been very well received,” said state Sen. Dave Argall (R-Schuylkill), cosponsor of Senate Bill 1400. “People just hate the school ...

In this news story from Greenwire, Nick Juliano of the Energy and Evironment Daily reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) gave a speech in Las Vegas detailing his hopes to tax carbon emissions to combat climate change. ...

Unless there is a substantial change in leadership in Washington in the next election, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will go into effect as planned. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the measure as constitutional in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, Sup. Ct. Docket Nos. 11-393 and ...

Private donors are stepping up to help California keep its state parks open, allowing state officials to forego plans to close 70 of California's 278 state parks. Low Attendance, Revenues The Parks and Recreation Department had targeted the 70 state parks for closure due to low attendance and low revenues. Parks and Recreation ...

A new genetic study suggests polar bears arose between 4-5 million years ago and thus survived the more than 50 glacial/interglacial cycles of the Pleistocene... Read More Regional Climate Models: How Well Do They Work? (7 August 2012) A new study finds there is still a long, long way to go before they are likely to ...

The Supreme Court’s decision on the constitutionality of the individual mandate to buy health insurance was an unprecedented expansion of federal powers, blindsiding the parties and virtually obliterating the notion that the federal government is one of limited, enumerated powers. The majority opinion held the government does not ...

An abundance of domestic energy will enable the United States to cut in half its reliance on oil from the Middle East by the end of the decade, and could end any reliance at all by 2035, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). New Technologies Boost Outlook America’s bright energy outlook is due to ...

Financially strapped homeowners stand to become even more downtrodden in 2013. As Congress focuses on the upcoming federal elections, a little-known or -understood law is scheduled to reappear, potentially costing those in foreclosure or loan modification thousands of dollars in new tax liabilities. "There is a very dark cloud ...

Facebook has quietly launched a real-money online gambling application in the U.K., marking a major thrust of the social networking site into online gambling. The Financial Times is reporting that starting this week, Facebook will offer users in the U.K. ages 18 and over online bingo and slots for cash prizes. Slate.com picked ...

Local school districts covetously control vacant school buildings across the nation while public charter schools struggle to house students as charter numbers grow in many districts. The real estate crisis was ranked the number one external obstacle to charter growth by the National Charter School Research Project’s most recent ...

A coalition of conservative and free-market policy groups has sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson urging her to defer to Alaska state officials regarding a proposed mining operation on state land. The proposed mine promises to be one of the most lucrative in the world, and the Pebble ...

States are taking very different attitudes toward implementation of President Obama’s health care law after it survived constitutionality tests thanks to Chief Justice John Roberts. Although some states see the Roberts decision as a green light to go forward, others understand the decision as giving them control over their imperiled ...

Environmental activists delayed the launch of an environmentally friendly oil shale project in southeastern Utah’s Unita Valley, pending the outcome of more study of the project’s expected effect on groundwater near the site. State Approved Project Earlier this year the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining awarded an oil shale ...

In this story for Think Progress, Stephen Lacey reports on a speech by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) who wants to pass a carbon emissions tax. The speech includes a lengthy section of his speech related to climate change and global warming. ...

A judge recently ruled that a Parent Trigger petition from parents in Adelanto, California is valid and their request to convert their children’s school to a charter must go into effect. California is the first state to pass a Parent Trigger law, which a dozen other states also have considered. It allows a simple majority ...

Carbon taxes have regained traction with several prominent Republican lawmakers and political leaders publicly voicing support for a “revenue-neutral” carbon tax in exchange for tax cuts on capital or investments. Most notably, a new political interest campaign led by former Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC), the Energy & Enterprise ...

San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu has introduced legislation that would require building owners who are required to have water drinking fountains to provide bottled water refill stations as well. Reducing Use of Plastic The legislation offered June 26 is designed to enable people to keep using, or recycling ...

Meteorologist Anthony Watts explains the importance of his new research on heat biases in the U.S. temperature record. ...

Michigan lawmakers are considering addressing the state’s debilitating $22 billion teacher pension deficit by switching incoming state teachers to a 401(k)-style plan instead of the traditional defined-benefit plan. Gov. Rick Snyder and other lawmakers have stated concerns such a transition would cost taxpayers too much, but because ...

Few taxes imposed by state and local governments are more controversial than the estate tax, popularly referred to as the “death tax.” Estate taxes are levies on property transferred from a deceased person’s estate to relatives or other parties. The estate tax rate is scheduled to automatically increase, and the amount excluded ...