How are students performing across the states in math, reading?

(Education Next) It is difficult to assess student performance when a state sets its own standards. There is no way to compare one state with another. To evaluate empirically the standards each state sets, Education Next used information from the recently released 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Colorado passes education bill hailed as a national model

(Denver Post) Colorado lawmakers have passed in both houses Senate Bill 191 which will grant new teachers non-probation status after three consecutive years of positive teaching evaluations. Veteran teachers can loose their non-probation status after two consecutive years of sub-par evaluations. The bill is being hailed as a possible national model.

Study finds Alaska has highest burden of government

(Forbes Magazine) A study on tax burdens in the states calculated the burden of Alaska government by comparing total state and local spending as a share of the state economy (gross state product). It assumed that government spending is a more accurate measure of the burden of government than alternative measures such as current tax receipts. Alaska was the highest with 20.2% of the economy consumed by government.

Local Massachusetts school board member calls for transparency

(Boston Globe) A local school committee member in Massachusetts was shocked when the board was asked to approve a list of expenditures and were provided with no explanations of their purpose.

Illinois reforms its pension system

The reforms recently signed into law by Gov. Quinn include:

- Retirement age is raised from 60 to 67 years old; - the earnings cap is decreased from $240- thousand dollars to almost $107-thousand dollars; - double dipping, when someone receives a public pension while drawing salary from a different public system is now prohibited;

- final average salary would be the average of the highest eight consecutive salary years (instead of four) out of the previous 10 years;

- cost of living adjustments would be calculated using simple interest rather than compound interest;

- COLA would be 3 percent or one-half of the inflation rate, whichever is less, and would apply only after age 67;

- maximum General Assembly and judges’ pensions would be 60 percent of the calculated final average salary, down from 85 percent.

Read more: KWQC, The State Journal-Register, Rockford Register Star; Read the bill text.

Getting what you pay for: Charging more for higher bandwith usage

(Regulation Magazine) Christopher Yoo surveys developments in internet technology and describes how changes in pricing plans are allowing internet providers to recover their investments in better bandwith capabilities.

Florida Medicaid reforms bring higher quality care through competition, incentives

(The James Madison Institute) In October 2005 Florida received approval from the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the broadest reform in the history of Medicaid. The plan involves real managed competition as well
as an innovative health savings account devised
for beneficiaries.

Study finds Texas school district performance improved after local voucher program established

(National Center for Policy Analysis) The University of Texas-San Antonio studied the effects of the voucher program in the Edgewood school district. The Texas Education Agency uses student performance on standardized tests to classify each public school as exemplary, recognized, acceptable or unacceptable. The second year after the vouchers were introduced - the 1999-2000 school year - was the first year that Edgewood had an exemplary school. In fact, Edgewood went from zero exemplary schools to three in 1999-2000. From 1998 to 2008, the number of recognized Edgewood campuses tripled from three to nine, and the single unacceptable campus was reclassified as acceptable. Furthermore, Edgewood significantly increased its high school graduation rate. (Read the full study in PDF)

New evidence suggests charter schools boost high school graduation and college attendance rates

(Education Next) With roughly 30 percent of American students dropping out before receiving a diploma—a rate that has been stable for several decades—assessing existing alternatives to the traditional high school is an urgent task.

Infrastructure "banks" are not the way to fund transportation projects

(The Heritage Foundation) Resistance to higher fuel taxes to fund failed state and federal transportation programs has encouraged President Obama, some Members of Congress, and transportation lobbyists to endorse a federal infrastructure bank to invest in highways and transit.

How much would federal income tax have to be raised to close the deficit?

(The Tax Foundation) The trouble with political discourse about the federal deficit is that voters are often numb to the subject, and as a result, politicians are able to avoid the unpopular votes for cutting spending or raising taxes. Whether deficits are expressed in hundreds of billions of dollars or percentages of GDP, their importance is hard for leaders to convey or for the public to grasp.

Vanpools in the Puget Sound Region

(Washington Policy Center) As traffic congestion and the financial and environmental costs of commuting continue to rise, a once overlooked transit alternative has quietly become an effective option for many motorists: vanpooling. Instead of spending more public funds on public bus services, light rail and commuter rail, policymakers should look to vanpools as the most efficient alternative.

Eminent Domain abuse in the name of development

(Reason TV) A small business is fighting for its life in Brooklyn, New York. (Previous 2009 article)

What really drives health care spending

(Wall Street Journal) Jason Fodeman and Robert Book from The Heritage Foundation explain that the main problem with health care is a pricing system that insulates both patients and producers from normal market incentives.

Take a Pass On Trains

(Cato Institute) Michigan should be grateful the federal government allocated only $244 million to the Detroit-Chicago high-speed rail corridor. To qualify for the really big federal rail grants, California and Florida agreed to put up billions of dollars of their taxpayers' money -- money the states don't have and can't spare -- in matching funds for construction. California has a $20-billion budget shortfall; Florida a $3-billion shortfall.

There are better options than a health insurance mandate

(Insurance News Net) From Arnold Kling at the Mercatus Center and Nick Schulz at AEI: Forcing consumers to buy health insurance may benefit insurance companies, health-care providers and other special interests, but it is not good public policy.

Falling crime rates can't be explained despite recession

(Wall Street Journal) Manhattan Institute scholar Heather MacDonald explains how falling crime rates are demolishing the theory that unemployment causes crime. (Video)

How competitive contracting can help Washington state balance its budget without raising taxes

(Washington Policy Center) Washington lawmakers again face a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, meaning they will either increase the amount of money they collect from citizens
each year, or re-evaluate the way they deliver core services to the public.

Nonprofits in health care: Are they more efficient and effective?

(Goldwater Institute) With the possible exception of education, perhaps nowhere is the notion of profit more widely condemned than in health care. Economic principles and econometric studies indicate that for profit health care providers are just as effective, if not more effective, at providing health care services as are nonprofit providers. Legislators should, at a minimum, treat nonprofit and for profit providers equally in government contracting.

Funding state high-risk pools a better alternative for the uninsured

(Council for Affordable Health Insurance) One of the key issues in the health care reform debate is how to guarantee the uninsured, and especially those with a pre-existing medical condition, have access to affordable health insurance coverage. Most reform proposals impose “guaranteed issue,” and “community rating,” which would significantly increase costs. But there is a better way to guarantee access to coverage for the uninsured with a pre-existing condition: it’s called a high risk pool.

Anchorage VA clinic: $76mil, 184,000 square feet

(KTUU) Patients and staffers at Anchorage's veterans' clinic have waited two years for this day: the opening of their new building on North Muldoon Road. Less than seven miles from the site of the new crime lab, the new clinic measures 184,000 square feet, but with a price tag that should make Alaska policymakers take notice.

Promised health care premium decrease turns to increase

(AP) New healthcare legislation allowing adults to remain under the coverage of their parents’ plan is expected to raise premiums near 1 percent. This coming despite the campaign promise that premiums would be reduced by 2,500 per average family.

Editorial: The downward spiral of the state of Illinois

(Chicago Tribune) Illinois needs leaders who see that, across this nation, concerns about the public sector's size, cost and reach is the domestic issue that most rivets Americans.

Cruise ship head tax cut expected to pass Legislature

(Business Week) Gov. Sean Parnell has proposed reducing the $46-per-person tax to $34.50, and allow deeper offsets for local head taxes for ships stopping in Juneau and Ketchikan. Some form of the tax is expected to pass before session ends April 17.

British Columbia lumber exports to China grew 70% in 2009

(Lesprom) Lumber exports to China hit 1.63 million board feet in 2009, more than twice the volume shipped in 2008. Those exports generated $327 million in revenues, a 70% increase over 2008. The U.S. market is still this province's primary customer. Americans bought 7.48 billion board feet of lumber valued at $1.54 billion in 2009.

Massachusetts Health Care Reform: a glimpse into America's future

(Wall Street Journal) Massachusetts law makers imposed new laws on insurance companies in 2006, including terms such as the inability to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. This caused systematic abuse resulting operating losses for three of the four non-profit insurance providers in the state. Current Governor Deval Patrick recently denied the companies the ability to raise rates, resulting in an on-going battle between the two.

CBO Director: U.S. fiscal policy is 'unsustainable'

(UPI) U.S. fiscal policy "is unsustainable" and cannot be solved with minor changes, the head of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office told reporters in Washington.

Opinion: Work sharing could work for us

(Los Angeles Times) Currently, firms mostly respond to weak demand by laying off workers. Under a work-sharing program, firms are encouraged by government policy to spread a small amount of the pain across many workers.

Canada ranks high in low business costs

(The Globe and Mail) Canada's relatively low corporate taxes make the country one of the best places to do business.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Lahood delcares end of favoring cars over bicycles

(Fast Lane) In his personal blog, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood declared a "sea change" in policy after attending the National Bike Summit: "This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized," he wrote. (NYT blog reports)

Read the health care bill

(GPO.gov) Here's your new health care plan, America: All 2,407 pages of it. (PDF 4.08MB)

What's the health care bill schedule?

(Wall Street Journal) The WSJ has compiled a schedule of implementation for the health care bill that was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. (NYT Opinion: The Real Arithmetic of Health Care Reform)

Arizona Governor cuts Medicaid, SCHIP

(ABC 15 News) Governor Jan Brewer said the federal healthcare reform bill sitting in Congress would financially devastate Arizona, arguing that a bill drafted by Congress would not be a good fit for every state. Arizona has already cut its Medicaid and SCHIP programs in an effort to control its costs, despite criticism that the cuts would lead to a loss of federal funding.

Idaho first state to pass legislation prohibiting federal health care reform

(Washington Post) Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter was the first to sign a piece of legislation into law which would prohibit the federal government from requiring citizens to buy health insurance. Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states including Alaska.

Poll shows 55% disapprove of Obama handling of health care

(CBS News) A recent CBS News/New York Times Poll, conducted February 5-10, gives the president his lowest marks on handling health care to date.

EPA administrator distances herself from IPCC

(Pajamas Media) When EPA administrator Lisa Jackson decided that the EPA would consider the air we exhale (CO2) a pollutant, she cited from the IPCC AR4 report. But now that the climategate story is out in the open, she appears to have circled the wagons.

New Hampshire town rejects federal stimulus funding for local project because of federal wage rules

(Seacoast Online) As stimulating as it might have sounded at the time, the city recently declined $2.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for its new water treatment plant because federal wage regulations would have forced the city to pay more for the project.

Minnesota Chamber of Commerce sues in federal court to void state campaign finance laws

(Business Week) The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is asking a federal judge to void state campaign finance laws that restrict corporate activity in elections. The business group sued Tuesday in U.S. District Court, seeking a judgment that matches up with a recent Supreme Court ruling giving corporations more latitude in federal races.

Opinion: Warming's Uncertain Science

(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) Before trillions more of our dollars are wasted in a vain effort to control the weather 100 years from now, our leaders should be much more certain that human activities are actually causing climate harm than is warranted by the uncertain science that has been spun out as settled fact by today's climate industrial complex.

Budget request uncovers mismanagement of Alaska Medicaid

(Fairbanks Daily News-miner) The state suspended, for one year ending in mid-2009, a school-focused Medicaid reimbursement program after muddy financial reporting raised red flags with federal agencies. The Department of Health and Social Services has asked for a legislative OK to balance its books by $7 million to try to resolve past budgeting issues within the program.

The "Con" of American Hospitals

(FOX Business) John Stossel gives an example of why the United States does not have a free market in health care.

11 Wisconsin school districts reject federal stimulus funding

(Education Week) Eleven Wisconsin school districts want nothing to do with a highly touted federal grant program that could direct thousands of dollars to their classrooms.

Is obesity really an epidemic?

(Spiked) Two studies produced by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association – one about obesity in children and adolescents, and the other about adult obesity – completely undermine the claims of an obesity epidemic.

State lawmakers seek to ban health insurance mandate

(FOXNews) Lawmakers in about half the states are forging ahead with constitutional amendments to ban government health insurance mandates.

The proposals would assert a state-based right for people to pay medical bills from their own pocketbooks and prohibit penalties against those who refuse to carry health insurance.

Government health care spending to top private sector by 2012

(Kaiser Health News) However, even if that legislation never passes, government programs will soon finance a majority of the health care market, according to officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Report: Hong Kong remains world's freest economy

(AFP) Hong Kong remains the world's freest place to do business while the United States has lost its claim to an unrestricted economy, according to an annual report recently published.

Opinion: Why don't faith-based Americans care about Economics?

(Townhall) Austin Hill talks about the moral questions naturally raised in economic questions and why Americans who claim to be concerned only with "moral issues" should also be concerned with ideas like "spreading the wealth around."

The Cost of Government Regulation

(AP) The world's cheapest car is being readied for sale in the U.S., but by the time India's Tata Nano is retrofitted to meet emissions and safety standards, it won't be that cheap. Originally sold for $2500, the Tata Nano is expected to cost $8000 in the United States.

Mayo Clinic in Arizona to stop treating some Medicare patients

(Bloomberg) The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little.

How one company is making the health care market better

(Wall Street Journal) As AthenaHealth CEO Jonathan Bush sees it, the profound problem with U.S. health care is that there's "no landscape of choices, or choosers." Due to the complexity of America's third-party laundromat for health dollars—your doctor's clerical staff bills your treatment to an insurance company picked by your employer, and it pays him with your money via premiums or foregone wages—"few doctors in America know the actual value of the services they render."