This weekly round-up shares the latest news about what the Network is doing to promote state-based solutions that will improve the lives of families, workers, and local communities. If you are an SPN member and have an update you’d like us to include in next week’s round-up, please email us at updates@spn.org (all submissions are subject to SPN approval).

Announcements

The Environmental Protection Agency selected Mandy Gunasekara, senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, as its next Chief of Staff.

Success Stories

Libertas Institute won a lawsuit against the city of Pleasant Grove, Utah over its adoption of a transportation utility fee that was really a tax. To be a fee, there must be a “specific charge in return for a specific benefit to the one paying the fee,” as the 4th District Court noted. Pleasant Grove imposed an illegal tax as a fee, evading the requirements enacted by the Legislature to increase taxes.

won a lawsuit against the city of Pleasant Grove, Utah over its adoption of a transportation utility fee that was really a tax. To be a fee, there must be a “specific charge in return for a specific benefit to the one paying the fee,” as the 4th District Court noted. Pleasant Grove imposed an illegal tax as a fee, evading the requirements enacted by the Legislature to increase taxes. The Washington Post published a piece from the Maryland Public Policy Institute on Baltimore’s crime epidemic. This is the second national media placement for MPPI in the past few weeks. In early February, The Wall Street Journal published a similar piece by the Institute on Baltimore’s crime problem. The Institute is also driving this conversation within the state of Maryland with placements in Baltimore CityBiz and citations in the Capital Gazette.

on Baltimore’s crime epidemic. This is the second national media placement for MPPI in the past few weeks. In early February, The Wall Street Journal published a similar piece by the Institute on Baltimore’s crime problem. The Institute is also driving this conversation within the state of Maryland with placements in Baltimore CityBiz and citations in the Capital Gazette. In 2019, the Platte Institute successfully opposed more than $750 million in tax increases before the Nebraska Legislature’s Revenue Committee. This session, legislators received the message that the Platte Institute is watching. Out of nearly 500 new bills introduced, there are no major tax increase proposals. Instead, numerous bills to cut property, income, and sales taxes were introduced.

Research & Initiatives

Think Tanks in the News

Events & Opportunities