The Heartland Institute

According to Governing magazine, there were 28 public bankruptcies in 2011 and 2012. Although that number fell short of many experts’ predictions, it still represents a significant increase in defaults. Of the dozens of cities considering bankruptcy, Stockton, California is the largest and has received the most attention. A recent ...

The Vermont Legislature is considering a vast new array of tax changes and increases that could have a major effect on Vermonters. The proposals under House bill 528 , which recently passed through the Vermont House of Representatives, would increase income tax rates for higher-income earners while adding new sales taxes that ...

Included in President Barack Obama’s 2014 budget is a proposal to expand federally funded pre-K, to be paid for by raising the federal cigarette tax from $1.01 per pack to $1.95. Research on preschools has shown they have a limited positive effect on the very poorest and neediest children, and research on broader government ...

Colorado legislators are bucking the national trend and considering a proposal that would boost the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The RPS requires utilities to obtain a specified percentage of their power from intermittent renewable sources by a certain date. Twenty-two of the 29 states with such mandates in place ...

In his 2013 State of the Union Address, President Obama proposed increasing the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00 an hour, with the stated goal of raising the incomes of millions of working families. Minimum wage laws attempt to create a minimum standard of living to protect the health and well-being of employees ...

North Carolina legislators are considering repealing the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The RPS requires utilities to obtain a specified percentage of their power from renewable sources by a certain date. Twenty-two of the 29 states with such mandates in place have considered changing those laws over the past two ...

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, also known as the Dodd-Frank Act, created many new restrictions on financial instruments and activities. The new regulatory powers include a consumer protection agency and the creation of a single federal bank regulator. The act replaces market-based financial monitoring with ...

As advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling continue to revolutionize the nation’s energy outlook, it’s important to consider the economic ripple effect expanding shale energy has had on industries outside the energy sector. Research from Deutsche Bank found North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation created 115,000 ...

Does your state benefit from President Barack Obama’s expansion of the Medicaid program, or does the expansion just put you on the hook for millions or even billions in new taxes to pay for money presented as “free”? Currently 18 states have decided not to move forward with expanding Medicaid or are leaning in that direction ...

The state employee pension system in Illinois is broke, both financially and structurally. Without an overhaul of the current, unsustainable system, Illinois taxpayers will continue to suffer substantially higher taxes to bail out the state for its imprudent policies. If state workers and union representatives cannot accept sensible ...

Problem In 1998, Wisconsin legislators established the state’s first renewable requirement. Since then, the law has been rewritten numerous times, culminating in a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that currently requires utilities to generate 10% of electricity from sources such as wind and solar by the end of 2015. The mandate ...

This week sponsors of the Marketplace Fairness Act, Sens. Mike Enzi and Dick Durbin, are introducing an amendment intended as a proxy vote for the expansion of states’ ability to charge sales taxes on out-of-state retailers regardless of whether the retailer had a physical presence in the state. Last week a group of 16 conservative ...

The Florida Legislature is considering a bill that would allow and regulate the use of a technology that has revolutionized the United States’ energy outlook: hydraulic fracturing. Advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have led to a boom in domestic oil and natural gas production, presenting immense economic ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and expanded in 2007 through the Energy Independence and Security Act, requires 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel be blended into gasoline and diesel fuel by 2022. The program also requires American agriculture ...

Broadband consumers in Tennessee could soon see a significant hike in their monthly bills if legislation now before the state legislature passes. SB 1222 and HB 1111 are companion bills that would allow Tennessee’s electric cooperatives and government-owned utilities to increase the fees they charge telecom companies, including ...

Wind and solar energy are dilute, intermittent, and more costly than traditional hydrocarbon energy sources. After atmospheric absorption and system losses, only a single 100-watt bulb can be powered from a square meter of solar cells, and this only at midday on a cloudless day. Wind towers must be spaced about 140 meters ...

Problem HB 1390, the Arkansas Distributed Generation Act, requires utilities to buy electricity from renewable energy sources at fixed above-market rates set by the Arkansas Public Service Commission or another regulatory authority and then socializes the higher costs among all ratepayers. According to the most recent data from the ...

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton recently proposed as part of his state budget a $2.1 billion tax hike package that includes higher income tax rates on high-income earners, an expansion of the sales tax base, a hike in cigarette taxes, and a small reduction of the state’s corporate income tax. The initial budget forecasts projecting ...

Kentucky’s government employee pension system is currently carrying a $33 billion unfunded liability and has less than half the money it needs to cover all its present and future obligations. Both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly are considering proposals that would reform the state’s failing pension system. One proposal ...

Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation insurance system is currently the sixth most expensive in the nation and in dire need of reform. The costs of maintaining the system are high, and the size and burden of the system are a strong factor in businesses’ choice to expand or relocate. Oklahoma is one of only two states that use ...