On Oct. 23, the Louisiana Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee voted against a proposal to procure the Interstate 10 Calcasieu River Bridge replacement via a public-private partnership (P3). This vote leaves the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) with fewer options for replacing the obsolete bridge, none as desirable as the public-private partnership proposal. Still, it is worth exploring the next alternatives for the Calcasieu River Bridge. The two most likely alternative delivery methods were each detailed during the DOTD hearing: A more traditional design-bid-build pay-as-you-go approach to long-term rehabilitation of the existing bridge, leveraging the …
The FTC’s case against Amazon is built on bad economics
As the Federal Trade Commission continues its misguided antitrust case against Amazon, a key focus has been Amazon’s treatment of third-party sellers. The FTC claims that Amazon is abusing sellers by steadily increasing commission fees. However, the case fundamentally misrepresents the economics occurring in this digital market. The FTC argues that the increasing percentage of revenue third-party sellers pay to Amazon in exchange for selling on the platform is a function of its monopolistic power. One report by Marketplace Pulse shows sellers have gone from paying 20-30% of revenue from goods sold in 2016 to …
Playing politics with a Virginia toll road
Anti-toll-road populism has been spreading across many parts of the country. In Northern Virginia, long an anti-populist sanctuary, the combination of a Dulles Greenway proposal that would increase toll rates and elected officials dreaming of higher office has proven to be a combustible combination. The Dulles Greenway is a privately owned highway in Loudoun County, Virginia. The 13-mile road is owned by Trip II, whose largest partner is Atlas Arteria. The Greenway has a peak toll rate of $5.80 and an off-peak rate of $5.25. The consortium proposes increasing the toll by 40% during peak …
Drug Legalization Handbook
Foreword The Drug Legalization Handbook is a living document. As new information and data arrive, the words on these pages will change. The intent of this handbook is simply to provide a framework for how to legalize all drugs. Much conversation and work has been done to detail why we should legalize drugs, but not enough effort has been done to show people how we can successfully legalize drugs in the current legal regime. As the founder of the National Coalition for Drug Legalization, I must admit that my journey to believing in the legalization …
Drug prohibition has failed, it is time to legalize drugs
Few debates in public policy are as controversial as the treatment of drugs. Some drug legalization advocates argue that individuals should be free to make their own choices in a liberal society. Others lament that drugs shouldn’t be legal because drug addiction can lead individuals down a dark, twisted path that impairs their freedom and ability to make rational choices. And still others want to ensure, as best we can, that potentially addictive drugs are not available to children. These are all valid concerns and viewpoints. The new Drug Legalization Handbook, published by Reason Foundation, …
Comparing the Ohio PERS defined contribution plan to gold standards
Non-law enforcement and public safety public workers who enter the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System, or Ohio PERS, choose from two retirement plans: a defined benefit pension plan (the Traditional Plan) and the Member Directed Plan (MDP), a defined contribution plan. A hybrid defined benefit/defined contribution option (the Combined Plan) is no longer available and was closed to new entrants as of Jan. 1, 2022. This analysis uses the standards set in Reason Foundation’s Defined Contribution Plans: Best Practices in Design and Utilization to review the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System’s Member Directed Plan’s major …
Kentucky needs new approaches to the opioid crisis
In 2017, an estimated 50,000 people in Kentucky suffered from the effects of opioid abuse, exacting an economic toll of $25 billion, according to a study published in a journal of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Ibogaine, a naturally occurring compound, is a promising treatment for opioid dependence, and clinical trials proposed by a state commission could open access to this novel solution. “Unfortunately, the effectiveness of current treatments for opioid use disorder is insufficient, as best demonstrated by the current crisis we find ourselves in but also as shown in rigorous scientific evaluations,” …
The flawed premise of the lawsuit 41 states filed against Meta
In a remarkable challenge, 41 states and the District of Columbia have coordinated a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Facebook and Instagram, accusing the company of designing features that allegedly hook young users to its platforms. The lawsuit reflects a broader societal tendency to scapegoat new technologies and social media for enduring societal woes. A closer examination, however, reveals that this lawsuit may be misdirected. The crux of the lawsuit relies on the presumption that participation in social media platforms, specifically Facebook and Instagram, is detrimental to young people. Specific allegations in the …
The way Michigan’s pension reform tackles public pension debt is a model for other states
Unfunded retirement benefits held by municipal governments pose a growing challenge to states, namely through requests for state taxpayer funding to keep up with growing local costs. In response to the rising concern of compounding pension debt among cities and counties, in 2017, Michigan passed Act 202, which introduced an innovative approach: a “closed-loop” system that streamlined the disbursement of state funding. The program required pension units receiving state grants to adhere to a binding correction plan. Michigan’s initiative represents more than a transformative step for its fiscal landscape—it offers a potential model for other …
Public sector unions continue to advocate for pension plans that don’t benefit most members
Labor unions representing state and local government employees across the country have long supported traditional defined-benefit pension plans for their members to the exclusion of other retirement plan types. While defined-benefit (DB) pensions have many positive qualities and have served some public sector employees well for many years, there is little question that they no longer meet most public employees’ lifetime financial security needs. Actuarial data from the public pension systems themselves bear this out. In North Dakota, for example, only 33% of employees beginning service at age 22 still participate in the pension plan …
California’s public school advocates should embrace open enrollment
Attending highly-ranked public schools is an educational holy grail for many families, but enrolling in these public schools can be near-impossible for many students since access to them is based on where students live. Less affluent students often can’t attend these public schools because their families can’t afford the costs required via the expensive mortgages or high rents charged within the schools’ boundaries. Some students, desperate to attend better schools, lie about where they live–a practice called address sharing–to gain access to higher-performing public schools. Yet, address sharing is risky. In California, it’s a felony …
Congressional hearing highlights need for gas tax replacement
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Highway and Transit Subcommittee held a hearing on the status and future of the federal Highway Trust Fund on Oct. 18. The witnesses all agreed the current revenue-outlay imbalance was unsustainable and suggested a variety of approaches to address the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The policy preferences expressed by members of the subcommittee were all over the map, but they were in broad agreement that reinvigorating the users-pay/users-benefit principle with a future-proof alternative to long-dominant fuel taxes was the path forward. Chad Shirley, an economist with …
