Last week, the Mercatus Center of George Mason University released its 2024 edition of “Snapshots of State Regulations.” As with most rating systems, this allows states to compare themselves to other states and examine particular strengths and weaknesses in their systems. These strengths and weaknesses explain good and bad rankings and provide focus areas for...
I’m frustrated – again. It’s the time of year when we are all braving the heat and the release of countless budgets across the state. And the majority of the elected officials crafting and approving budgets are making the case not only for a Special Legislative Session to reduce property taxes, but reinforcing my number...
The Special Legislative Session to address property taxes has officially begun, and our team is hard at work advocating for sound policy and opposing proposals that would hurt Nebraska. So far this session, we have provided testimony on the following bills: LB 1– This bill, carried by Senator Linehan, is Governor Pillen’s plan to...
The last couple of weeks of June is often a time of great interest for those who watch the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) because they mark the release of the final decisions for cases that were heard during the court term. The Court begins hearing cases for the term in October, and...
The purpose of Platte Institute’s tax vision document is to lay out the principles that Platte Institute believes should guide the ongoing property tax reform efforts. First, we will lay out actions to avoid with explanation. Then we will argue for accomplishing fundamental policy deliverables that are necessary for the successful delivery of property tax...
A decade ago, Florida was far from the model for economic freedom from regulatory burden. The state ranked 8th among 44 states with 168,795 regulatory restrictions according to a review of states with the highest regulation count done by the Mercatus Institute at George Mason University. Florida now leads the nation in migration gains, even...
As previously discussed, economic statements are crucial for quantifying the impact of regulations and ensuring that state agencies thoroughly evaluate all options and understand the downsides before regulating the state’s economy. Furthermore, these reports should be independently reviewed to verify the legitimacy of the agencies’ findings. Texas, unsurprisingly, hits all the positive marks for impact...
Editor’s Note: As the 5th of 7 planned research notes by our summer intern, Stephen Trainer, this post discusses the concept of regulatory sandboxes. The Platte Institute has supported several regulatory sandbox efforts, including a comprehensive one (which would cover multiple industries) and the most recent one (LB587 in 2023/24), which provides for an “insuretech...
A few states outside the midwest provide promising templates for regulatory reform and modernization, a pressing issue for Nebraska. Idaho and Virginia notably embarked on a mission to unshackle citizens from a growing administrative state, as discussed by a Mercatus Study in 2019. Six years ago, Virginia passed the Regulatory Reform Pilot Program that tasked...
First introduced in 2009 and subsequently passed by the US House of Representatives in 2023, the REINS Act, formally known as the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, represents a legislative endeavor to augment Congressional oversight concerning federal regulations with substantial economic ramifications. Specifically, it aims to empower Congress to assert greater...
The primary autoregulative process when state agencies begin promulgating rules and regulations is the cost-benefit analysis (CBA). Despite having many names across states, the CBA or impact statement is an important system in which agencies self-evaluate the effectiveness and scope of a proposed rule’s regulatory impact on business and government. Moreover, these reports play an...
Note: This Research Note is the first in a planned series of notes by Platte’s summer interns. Despite sharing a border, Iowa and Nebraska diverge on many legislative topics, especially the regulatory review process. Iowa has been noted to have “one of the best-designed review structures in the country,” according to the Institute for Policy...
Iowa’s spending restraint has allowed the Hawkeye State to accelerate previously-enacted tax reforms. Thanks to a package of new tax reforms, Iowa’s income tax will be lowered to a flat 3.8% beginning in 2025, far less than half the state’s 8.98% top rate when Iowa’s tax reforms began. The Hawkeye State’s accelerating tax relief adds...
With the rise of artificial intelligence assisting us with how we communicate via email, our alienation occurs while we communicate, not instead of. We can stop it by being intentional with each other while using AI for the rest. If you have not heard of Artificial Intelligence (AI), you have been under a rock. AI...