Tag: Cato Institute

Youngkin Casts Doubt on Building Small Nuclear Reactor in Southwest Virginia

The Center Square
Glenn Youngkin

After months of research and investigation into what it would look like to build a small modular nuclear reactor in Southwest Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin revealed the region may not be selected for Virginia’s first SMR after all.

“There may be other places around Virginia that may be better suited for the first one,” Youngkin said. “We’re looking at places across the commonwealth. I do firmly believe that Virginia will be the first state to have a small modular reactor in a commercial fashion.”

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Biden Border Policy Critics Lament ‘Migrant Crime Wave’

The Center Square
Congressman Mark Green at U.S. border

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark E. Green blasted President Joe Biden for the wave of illegal immigrants entering the U.S., saying a “migrant crime wave” is sweeping the country.

Green’s office said “President Biden and now-impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ refusal to secure the border has helped unleash a new wave of crime across the nation.”

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Runaway Inflation ‘Unlikely’ to be Reeled in Under Biden Administration, Experts Say

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by Will Kessler   As long as President Joe Biden continues his high government spending policies, inflation is not likely to return to previously normal levels without seeing economic repercussions, according to experts who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The last time the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, was below 3 percent year-over-year was in March 2021, two months after Biden took office, with the CPI last measuring at 3.7 percent for September, despite the Federal Reserve’s inflation target being just 2 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. To return to the Fed’s target, which was common in the decade preceding Biden without difficulty or economic repercussions, the president would have to give up his high-spending policies that have been a signature of his economic policy, according to experts who spoke to the DCNF. “It is possible that inflation returns to 2 percent, but poor fiscal policy can make it much harder and more unlikely,” Jai Kedia, a research fellow in the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute, told the DCNF. “There’s an economic theory called the ‘fiscal theory of the price level’ and it suggests that a stable economy requires…

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Pennsylvania State Representatives Call for Federal Rail Safety Legislation

Bradley Vasoli

Three Republican Pennsylvania lawmakers are preparing to introduce a resolution calling on Congress to pass a new rail-safety statute in light of February’s train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. 

State Representative Jim Marshall (R-Beaver Falls) told The Pennsylvania Daily Star he is co-sponsoring the resolution to encourage an “all-in approach” to reduce the likelihood of freight-train accidents. State Representatives Natalie Mihalek (R-Pittsburgh) and Ryan Warner (R-Connellsville) spearhead the measure. 

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Pennsylvania GOP State Lawmaker Proposes Freight-Train Length Limit

Bradley Vasoli

A Republican Pennsylvania lawmaker is urging colleagues to cosponsor state-level legislation to limit a freight train’s length to no greater than 8,500 feet.

State Representative Louis Schmitt, Jr. (R-Altoona) reasoned in a memorandum describing his proposal that the February 3 derailment in East Palestine, less than half a mile from Pennsylvania’s western border, shows current rail-safety requirements are inadequate. 

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Pennsylvania Representatives Drafting Measure to Enhance Railroad Safety Rules

Bradley Vasoli

Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers representing areas affected by the February train derailment less than a mile beyond the Ohio border are drafting legislation to enhance railroad-safety rules.

The emerging bill by Representatives Jim Marshall (R-Beaver Falls) and Rob Matzie (D-Ambridge) would tighten maintenance and oversight standards for wayside hotbox detectors, limit the length of trains, set a minimum number of train staff, toughen supervision of railroad-safety compliance and facilitate reporting of violations. The legislators also say their measure will create a mechanism for better communication regarding the transportation of toxic substances. 

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Wisconsin Congressman Gallagher Reintroduces Bipartisan Bill Targeting Over-budget, Behind-Schedule Projects

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Representatives Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) and Katie Porter (D-CA-47) are pushing for passage of their reintroduced Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act, a bill to publicize which federal projects are dramatically over budget or behind schedule. 

The measure instructs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to generate an annual report on all projects that run at least $1 billion over initially authorized expenses or whose completion takes at least five years longer than originally scheduled. 

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Ohio Enacts Universal Occupational License Recognition

Bradley Vasoli

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) on Sunday signed legislation allowing Ohioans who acquired occupational licenses in other states to utilize their credentials in the Buckeye State.

Eighteen states, including neighboring Pennsylvania, already recognize occupational licenses that their residents received elsewhere. For years, a coalition of free-market organizations, including the Columbus-based Buckeye Institute, have urged Ohio lawmakers to adopt the same policy to ease burdens on workers and make the state more economically competitive. 

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Blackburn Releases New Video on the Economy, Discusses What Has Kept Tennessee Growing as Nation Struggles

Bradley Vasoli

Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn is preparing to release a video via social media discussing the state’s economy and spoke with The Tennessee Star this week to discuss both the pressures it endures as well as its bright spots compared with other regions.

In the one-minute spot, which shows the senator touring a Clarksville-area manufacturing plant, she discusses the challenge ongoing inflation poses to producers as they attempt to provide affordable goods to Tennesseans. 

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Ohio Mayors, Cities, and Planning Agencies Support Reconnecting the State Through Passenger Rail

Hannah Poling

In a display of support of passenger rail service in Ohio, a bi-partisan alliance of Ohio mayors in partnership with several of Ohio’s regional planning agencies, have formally requested the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to include a list of Ohio rail lines in its Corridor Identification Program (CAP).

According to FRA, the CAP, established earlier this year, institutes a pipeline of projects ready for funding, allowing them to be implemented faster and with greater coordination. The Corridor ID Program is anticipated to help expand intercity passenger rail service beyond the Northeast Corridor.

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Tennessee’s Blackburn and Green Take Biden to Task for 20-Year Mortgage-Rate High

Bradley Vasoli

Republican federal legislators from Tennessee blasted the Biden administration yesterday in light of the news that mortgage-interest rates have reached a two-decade high. 

Government-sponsored mortgage corporation Freddie Mac reported this week that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage — the option most homebuyers choose — hit 7.08 percent, exceeding seven percent for the first time since Spring 2002. The rate was 6.94 percent last week.

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Georgia’s Kemp Receives B Grade for Fiscal and Tax Policies

The Center Square

The Cato Institute gave Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp a B on its 2022 Fiscal Policy Report Card of governors, citing his tax cuts as a reason for the grade.

The libertarian think tank also gave Kemp, a Republican, a B on its 2020 report card. The analysis grades governors on their fiscal policies from a limited-government viewpoint; the higher the grade, the more a governor has cut taxes and spending.

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Fiscal Policy Report Card Gives Pennsylvania Low Grade

The Center Square

In a recent ranking of America’s governors, Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf ranked at the bottom of the pack – 44th for his fiscal policies.

An annual fiscal policy report card from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, graded the nation’s governors “from a limited-government perspective.” In their grading that emphasized lowering taxes and cutting spending, Wolf earned an “F.”

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Cato Institute Gives Governor Bill Lee ‘D’ Grade on State Fiscal Policy Report Card

Kaitlin Housler

The Cato Institute released its 2022 Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors on Wednesday, which grades the governors of all 50 U.S. states on their fiscal policies from a limited-government perspective.

According to its website, the Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank that “promotes an American public policy based on individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peaceful international relations.”

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Puskaric to Ask Pennsylvania Agencies to Ditch Social Media Platforms That Censor

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania state Rep. Mike Puskaric (R-Jefferson Hills) indicated Wednesday he will urge state agencies to ditch social-media platforms he says engage in censorship.

In a memorandum asking fellow representatives to cosponsor his upcoming resolution, the Pittsburgh-area legislator argued that especially large information-technology companies violate the state and federal constitutions when they make politicized publishing decisions. He insisted government institutions and officials should respond by cancelling their accounts on such sites and signing onto more permissive online venues instead.

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Legislators Announce Formation of ‘Train Travel Caucus’ in Support of Expanding Taxpayer-Subsidized Amtrak into Tennessee

Laura Baigert

During the House floor session Thursday, legislators announced the formation of the Train Travel Caucus in the Tennessee General Assembly, in support of expanding the taxpayer-subsidized National Railroad Passenger Corporation, known as Amtrak, into Tennessee.

The announcement came from a Democrat lawmaker, Representative Jason Powell (D-Nashville), who is the House sponsor of HB2278. The bill directs the Tennessee Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) to study within its existing resources the cost, feasibility and infrastructure of expanding railroad passenger service in the state through the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak.

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Gov. Ducey Pushing Democratic-Sponsored Bill to Create an Earned Income Tax Credit in Arizona

Rachel Alexander
Sean Bowie and Doug Ducey

Arizona doesn’t have an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which mostly gives straight cash to those who don’t earn enough money to obtain a state tax refund, but Gov. Doug Ducey wants to change that. He is supporting SB 1018, sponsored by Senator Sean Bowie (D-Phoenix), which would create one, joining 30 other states which have adopted one patterned after the federal EITC. 

A state EITC would take $74 million from the state’s coffers annually and give it to low earners. In order to qualify, income levels would face the same ceilings as the federal credit. Both families and singles are eligible, with a family of four children earning $20,000 maxing out the most with $325.

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As His First Cabinet Pick, Youngkin Names School Data Guru Aimee Guidera to Be Secretary of Education

Eric Burk

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin announced that Aimee Rogstad Guidera will serve as Secretary of Education. During the No Child Left Behind era, Guidera founded the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) which focuses on better data gathering to help improve school quality.

In his Monday press release, Youngkin said, “Aimee will be a critical partner in restoring expectations of excellence; overseeing a record education budget to invest in teachers, facilities and special education; rolling out innovation lab and charter schools; and standing for a curriculum that prepares Virginia’s children for a dynamic future and removes politics from the classroom.”

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Ohio Ranks Poorly in Terms of Freedom, Report Says

The Center Square

Ohioans are not as free as much of the rest of the nation, according to a new report released by the Cato Institute. And things are getting worse.

The report calls Ohio “thoroughly mediocre when it comes to freedom,” ranking the Buckeye State above average in fiscal policy but poorly on both regulatory and personal freedom issues. Overall, the report ranked the state 31st in the nation in terms of freedom, a spot lower than last year and two below its peak in 2016.

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CATO: Michigan Seventh Freest State in the Nation

The Center Square

Michigan ranked 7th nationwide in the CATO Institute’s 2021 Freedom in the States report.  

The rankings use 230 metrics to rank states on how their policies promote freedom in fiscal, regulatory and personal realms. The Wolverine state advanced two spots from 2018 and four since 2016.

Michigan’s tax burden is 5.9% of adjusted personal income, while government debt is now below average at 15.9% of income.

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At Conference, Northam Says Virginia Is Ideal for Offshore Wind Industry

Eric Burk

RICHMOND, Virginia — Governor Ralph Northam and Dominion Energy CEO Robert Blue announced that the Port of Virginia will lease 72 acres of the deep-water Portsmouth Marine Terminal for staging and pre-assembly of Dominion’s offshore wind project.

“This announcement is yet another milestone toward making Virginia the national leader in offshore wind power,” Northam said. “The Commonwealth and Dominion Energy are standing together to promote clean energy, reduce carbon emissions, create jobs, and build a new American industry on the East Coast of the United States.”

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Rural Oregon Counties Want to Secede from State to Join ‘Greater Idaho’

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Conservative Oregonians are trying to leave the increasingly left-leaning state all together to preserve their values – but not by moving elsewhere. A group called Move Oregon’s Border is leading an initiative to have Oregon’s rural counties secede from the rest of the state and join Idaho, Fox News reports.

Mike McCarter, 72,  a lifelong Oregonian, retired plant nursery worker and firearms instructor, has been leading the separatist movement for almost two years. He said he and many others are eager to “get out from underneath the chokehold of Northwestern Oregon.”

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New Census Data Show Migration to Low-Tax States

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by Chris Edwards   The Census Bureau has released new data on state population growth between July 2017 and July 2018. Domestic migration between the states is one portion of annual population change. The Census data show that Americans are continuing to move from high-tax to low-tax states. This Cato study examined interstate migration using IRS data for 2016. The new Census data confirms that people are moving from tax-punishing places such as California, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey to tax-friendly places such as Florida, Idaho, Nevada, Tennessee, and South Carolina. In the chart, each blue dot is a state. The vertical axis shows the one-year Census net interstate migration figure as a percentage of 2017 state population. The horizontal axis shows state and local household taxes as a percentage of personal income in 2015. Household taxes include individual income, sales, and property taxes. On the right, most of the high-tax states have net out-migration. The blue dot on the far right is New York with a tax burden of 13 percent and a net migration loss of nearly 1 percent (0.92) over the past year. On the left, nearly all the net in-migration states have tax loads…

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New Studies Explore Good, Bad, and Ugly on Tennessee’s Fiscal Health

Chris Butler
Tennessee Capital building

Two different organizations released good and bad news Tuesday about Tennessee’s fiscal health. The Washington, D.C.-based Cato Institute called out Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam for “substantial spending increases in recent years.” The Mercatus Center at George Mason University, meanwhile, ranked Tennessee in the top five of the 50 states for good fiscal health. Cato’s Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governor’s 2018 graded state executives on fiscal policies from a limited government point-of-view. Haslam scored a B on the 2016 report. This year, though, he earned a D, according to the report. “The state general fund budget rose 4.7 percent in 2017 and 9.8 percent in 2018. State government employment has been trending upwards since 2013,” the report said. The report mentioned how Haslam signed a bill increasing the state’s gas tax by 6 cents per gallon. He increased the diesel tax by 10 cents per gallon, all while increasing vehicle fees. The study, however, gave Haslam credit elsewhere. “In 2016, his big reform was repealing the ‘Hall tax,’ which was a 6 percent tax on dividends and interest,” according to the report. “Tennessee has no broad-based income tax, but it had this anti-savings levy. The reform reduces the…

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Cato Institute Expert: Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s Mass Transit Plan ‘A Bad Investment’

Wendy Wilson

A senior fellow with the Cato Institute is the latest expert to criticize Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s $5.2 billion mass transit plan. The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C. Barry wants to raise taxes to pay for a light-rail network, improved and expanded bus service, and an underground tunnel downtown. Currently, the Music City Star connecting Lebanon and downtown Nashville is the only commuter rail service in the area. Randal O’Toole wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal last week in which he criticized Barry’s plan for Davidson County, as well as mass transit proposals in San Antonio and Tampa. O’Toole wrote: These proposals are questionable at best and reckless at worst, given that transit ridership—including bus and what little rail these regions have—is down in all three jurisdictions. This is a nationwide trend: Data released this week by the Federal Transit Administration shows that ridership is falling in nearly every major urban area (with Seattle as a notable exception)… The main reason for this drop-off is that low gas prices and ride-sharing services have given people better options. Census data show that 96% of American workers live in households with at least one car,…

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