Inmates, wardens, and outside observers all agree on one thing when it comes to the condition of Florida’s jails and prisons: They’re in terrible shape. For example, most lack air conditioning. Providing health care services to inmates in jails and …
Surface Transportation News: Congestion Pricing, Toll Lanes, Commuting Data and More
In this issue: Congestion pricing: a tale of two cities States should stop diverting fuel-tax revenue Express toll lanes’ expanding track record 2018 commuting: same old same old Should trucks be taxed to bail out the Highway Trust Fund? Reforming …
New Mexico Needs Pension Reforms, Shared Sacrifice to Pay for Promised Retirement Benefits
The preliminary recommendations recently released by the New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association’s (PERA) Pension Solvency Task Force and heard last week by a legislative committee, look to alter the perilous course of PERA’s deteriorating financial situation, which includes over …
Evidence Shows Soda Taxes Have Not Reduced Obesity
Washington, D.C., could soon be one of the most expensive cities in the country to get a soda. A coalition of D.C. Council members cheered on by activists is hoping to impose a 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages, jacking up the …
CDC Started a Vaping Panic, Now It’s Admitting Vitamin E Acetate In Illegal Products Is to Blame
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has finally all but conceded that the deaths and lung illnesses being associated with vaping have nothing to do with legal nicotine e-cigarettes. “For the first time, we have detected a potential …
State Takeovers Are Not the Best Solution When a District Is In Financial or Academic Distress
With the new school year well underway, districts should be getting back into the swing of things. But that’s not happening at Houston Independent School District, where the high likelihood of a state takeover has been looming for months. A report published by the …
Liberty University: A Cautionary Tale From a School Receiving $770 Million Annually From Government Sources
A recent cascade of investigative reporting on the shady business dealings of Jerry Falwell, Jr. has raised some troubling questions about the controversial evangelical figure and his vision for Liberty University, the conservative Christian institution he has led for more …
Education Funding Should Follow Students to Their Schools
Ask an education expert about school finance and they’ll likely give an opinion about whether there’s enough funding. But two new studies suggest that another issue deserves attention: Who gets to decide how $694 billion is spent on public education each year? …
Florida’s Highway Performance Shows Good Results at Very High Costs
Every year our organization, Reason Foundation, uses data reported by state departments of transportation to the federal government to show and rank the performance of state highway systems relative to one another. This is the 24th year of our Annual …
San Francisco’s Latest Affordable Housing Bond Isn’t the Answer to the City’s Housing Crisis
The San Francisco housing crisis is devastating. For decades, the city has grown more and more unaffordable for average citizens. According to Zumper, the median rent for a one-bedroom San Francisco home was $3,720 in June 2019. Against this backdrop, …
Pension Funds Should Focus on Funding Retirement Benefits, Not Politics
Amidst growing pressures from special interest groups, CalPERS—the nation’s largest public pension system—recently confirmed that it no longer has investments in two private prison companies, CoreCivic and Geo Group. Activists have long targeted these companies over a host of objections, …
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Education Plan Would Hurt Charter Schools
Sometimes it’s better to have no plan at all than to have an awful one. If only Sen. Elizabeth Warren took that advice. The Massachusetts Democrat and 2020 presidential candidate recently released her education plan, which calls for more money …
