Tag: Center of the American Experiment

Minnesota Teachers Union Conference to Feature Sessions on ‘Pronoun Usage,’ ‘2SLGBTQIA+’ Ideology

Alpha News
Education Minnesota

Public school teachers from across Minnesota will meet in St. Paul Oct. 17 to participate in a conference put on by Education Minnesota, the state’s teachers union.

At Education Minnesota’s 2024 MEA Conference, educators will learn about, and discuss, various public education topics in conference sessions throughout the day. While some of those sessions appear to cover noncontroversial topics, others are steeped in what Center of the American Experiment policy fellow Catrin Wigfall described as “ideological agendas.”

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High Energy Costs Drive Revolt Against States’ Climate Policies but Commitments Hard to Dislodge

Just the News
Arizona Corporation Commissioners in front of power station

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) recently took the unusual step of voting to pull back on the state’s renewable energy targets, over concerns they are too costly and produce few benefits.

Most states are moving in the other direction, following California’s lead, but there are signs of some hesitation as the real costs of these policies are realized.

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Minnesota Democrat Andy Smith Jokes About Possible Arson of Conservative Offices

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Andy Smith

Democratic legislator Andy Smith was widely criticized for his reaction to the news that three conservative organizations may have been the victims of arson — so much so that he almost immediately deleted his Twitter account.

A Golden Valley building that houses the Center of the American Experiment, TakeCharge, and the Upper Midwest Law Center caught fire early Sunday morning. The ATF confirmed with Alpha News that federal and local agencies are conducting an “arson investigation” into the fire.

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Police Chiefs, Lawmakers Explain Issues with New SRO Law

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Center of the American Experiment hosted a panel discussion with police chiefs and state representatives last week to discuss the ongoing controversy surrounding a new law impacting school resource officers (SROs).

The law prohibits SROs in cases where there is no threat of bodily harm or death from using the prone restraint or any force that “places pressure or weight on a pupil’s head, throat, neck, chest, lungs, sternum, diaphragm, back, or abdomen.”

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Not One Student Proficient in Math in 10 Minneapolis, St. Paul Public Schools: Report

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At least 10 elementary and high schools in the Minneapolis Public School District and St. Paul Public School District in Minnesota, did not have a single student meet grade level expectations in math during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a Wednesday report by the Center of the American Experiment, an organization focused on state public policy.

State wide, 19 school districts did not have one student test proficient in math on the 2022 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment, a standardized test used to determine what students have learned, according to a Center of the American Experiment report. Of elementary schools in the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts, seven did not have a single student meeting grade level expectations in math.

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Report: Walz’s Carbon-Free Future Would Cost Customers $3,800 Extra per Year

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Gov. Tim Walz’s vision for a carbon-free Minnesota could have a devastating impact on family budgets, according to a new report released this week.

The report was authored by the Center of the American Experiment’s Isaac Orr, Mitch Rolling, and John Phelan, who used economic modeling software to predict the impacts of Gov. Walz’s proposal to create a 100% carbon-free electric grid by 2040.

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Report: Minnesota Has Second-Most Expensive Electricity Prices in the Midwest

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Minnesota’s electricity prices are lower than just one state in the Midwest, according to data reported by the Center of the American Experiment.

Second only to Michigan, Minnesota’s electricity prices increased 22% from 2011 to 2021, reaching 11.12 cents per kilowatt-hour. This makes Minnesota’s electricity prices the 14th highest in the country — compared to 2001, when Minnesota held the position for 14th lowest in the country.

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Raise Our Standards Tour Duluth Stop Attracts Protesters

Hayley Feland
Duluth Lift Bridge

The Center for the American Experiment’s (CAE) Raise Our Standards Tour made it to Duluth after four venues declined to host the event, where attendees were met by protesters. According to the Duluth News Tribune, the event drew about 30 attendees and 40 protesters. Before the event started, “protesters gathered along Minnesota Avenue with flags and signs promoting racial justice.”

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New Poll Says Minnesotans Don’t Trust Governor to Handle Crime

Hayley Feland
Gov. Tim Walz

A poll conducted by the American Experiment shows that a majority of Minnesota residents don’t trust Governor Tim Walz to take care of crime. According to the findings of the Thinking Minnesota poll, 55% of Minnesotans do not approve of Governor Walz’s response to the riots that have been taking place in Minneapolis. This is almost opposite of the results of the June 2020 Thinking Minnesota poll, where 59% of Minnesotans approved of Governor Walz’s handling of the riots.

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Minnesota Teens Are Working Less, But Older Residents Are Working More

Anthony Gockowski

  Minnesota teens are working less, while older Minnesotans are working more. That’s an alarming trend, according to Center of the American Experiment economist John Phelan. Phelan notes in a recent article that the labor force participation rate for Minnesotans aged 16 to 19 fell 19.1 percentage points between 1999 and 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the participation rate increased by 9.6 percent among Minnesotans aged 55 to 64 between the same years. “Not all youth absolutely need jobs, so they’re very sensitive to market conditions,” Oriane Casale, assistant director of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s labor market information office told MinnPost. “Basically, if they see their friends working and they can easily find a job, then they’ll work. Otherwise, they might not even look for a job,” she added. Phelan points out that these trends are expected to continue, according to the Minnesota State Demographic Center’s predictions. They suggest that the participation rate for those aged 16 to 19 is forecast to drop by another nine percent between 2020 and 2045, but will increase for all age groups above 45. “This doesn’t just pose a problem for Minnesota by exacerbating the participation…

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Shocking Report Finds Minnesota Taxpayers Foot the Bill While State Employees Are Placed on Leave for Crimes and Misconduct

Anthony Gockowski

  A shocking new report found that state employees who are under investigation for crimes and misconduct are paid millions in taxpayers dollars while they are on administrative or investigative leave. KARE 11, who uncovered the scandal, is dubbing the controversy “stay away pay,” since state employees are effectively paid to stay away from their place of work. A.J. Lagoe of KARE 11 found that Ramsey County Correctional Officer Travis VanDeWiele, for instance, received $121,555 in pay over a two year period while he was on administrative leave. VanDeWiele was placed on leave for using excessive force, and continued to receive pay for a year after he plead guilty to disorderly conduct. Former Minneapolis Police Officer Thomas Tichich, meanwhile, was paid $65,000 over a 13 month period while awaiting trial for sexually assaulting a passed out woman. Tichich was convicted and is now in prison. In total, the investigation found that between January 1, 2015 and May 31, 2018, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Ramsey County, and Hennepin County paid out $3.7 million in “stay away pay.” “Well I think it’s a scandal. I think people are rightly outraged when they find out that many public employees in this state have been…

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Polling Continues to Show Strong Opposition to 20-Cent Gas Tax Increase

Anthony Gockowski

  Veteran political reporter Tom Hauser was chastised in December by at least one state representative when he correctly pointed out that all but one recent poll showed opposition to a gas tax increase. Hauser said at the time that “nearly ever poll,” with the exception of one Star Tribune poll, showed that a majority or plurality of Minnesotans opposed an increase in the state’s gas tax, as The Minnesota Sun reported. He noted that “every KSTP/SurveyUSA poll in the last 15 years” found opposition to an increase. Polling has continued to confirm Hauser’s analysis. A late April poll from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Business Partnership found that 65 percent of Minnesotans oppose Gov. Tim Walz’s proposed 20-cent gas tax hike. Now, a new poll conducted for the Center of the American Experiment by Meeting Street Research has found similar results. The poll, published in the latest issue of Thinking Minnesota, found that 60 percent of Minnesotans oppose the 20-cent increase, and 45 percent are strongly opposed. Just 35 percent of respondents said they support the increase, and an even smaller 17 percent “strongly” support it. The 20-cent increase, which was approved Monday by the Minnesota…

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REPORT: 50 Percent Renewable Energy Mandate Would Cost Minnesota $80 Billion by 2050

Anthony Gockowski

A shocking new report from the Center of the American Experiment found that a 50 percent renewable energy mandate would cost $80.2 billion in Minnesota alone by the year 2050. Minnesota’s current renewable energy mandate, or REM, requires that 25 percent of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2025, but some Democratic lawmakers would like to see that number raised to 50 percent by 2030. Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) recently proposed making Minnesota 100 percent carbon-free by 2050. The Center of the American Experiment’s report chose to focus on the 50 percent by 2030 figure since research has shown that “using wind, solar and batteries to achieve 100 percent of electricity generations would be exponentially more expensive than a 50 percent renewable benchmark.” It’s important to note that Walz’s proposal calls for 100 percent carbon-free energy, rather than strictly renewable energy, meaning sources like nuclear energy could still be used heavily. The report’s first finding states that a 50 percent REM would “increase electricity costs by $80.2 billion to meet mandated renewable energy goals and maintain this electric system through 2050.” The report, titled “Doubling Down on Failure,” further finds that a 50 percent REM would “destroy 20,950…

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Minnesota’s Premier Think Tank Ramps Up Efforts to Expose ‘Bad Ideas’ at Minnesota Capitol

Anthony Gockowski

The Center of the American Experiment, Minnesota’s leading think tank, has launched a new Capitol Watch project to monitor the radical bills and the people behind them at the Minnesota State Capitol. Since the start of the 2019 session, the Minnesota House and Senate have already introduced a combined 1,482 pieces of legislation. As The Minnesota Sun has reported, among these bills are proposals to make Minnesota a sanctuary state, ban plastic straws across Minnesota, legalize marijuana, and the like. “The idea of Capitol Watch is to shine a light on what’s happening over at the Capitol. There are a lot of very silly legislative proposals, there are a lot of very bad ideas, some of which are probably going to pass, that really need to be exposed as they get introduced and as they work their way through the system,” Center of the American Experiment President John Hinderaker told The Minnesota Sun. As an example of the sort of thing Capitol Watch will seek to expose, Hinderaker pointed to a DFL legislative priority to introduce a 50 percent renewable energy mandate in Minnesota. One bill, Senate File (SF) 425, wants to make Minnesota the first state in the nation…

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