42 ideas Insider Online Free Report

IN THE 1980’S TV SERIES, HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, DISCOVERS THAT THE GALACTIC EXPLORER ARTHUR DENT ULTIMATE ANSWER TO “LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING” IS THE NUMBER 42. WHILE WE CAN’T CLAIM TO HAVE SOLVED THE DEEP MYSTERIES OF THE COSMOS, WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT THE 42 IDEAS PRESENTED HERE HAVE THE POWER TO EXPAND FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY IN OUR CORNER OF THE WORLD. IN THIS REPORT, THE STAFF AND SCHOLARS OF THE GOLDWATER FOR THE INSTITUTE OFFER DOZENS OF SPECIFIC IDEAS FEATURE LEGISLATURE TO CONSIDER IN CRAFTING STATE POLICY THIS YEAR , AND BEYOND. THESE PROPOSALS RANGE FROM MAKING CARS MORE AFFORDABLE (IDEA 11) TO CREATING THOUSANDS OF NEW JOBS (IDEA 27) TO GIVING CHILDREN IN TROUBLED SCHOOLS A PASSPORT TO SUCCESS (IDEA 6). THE INSIDER FEBRUARY 2003, NO. 303 The deadline for all submissions to The Insider is the 10th of the month to be included in next month’s issue. Please contact The Editor, The Insider, The Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002-4999, 202/546-4400, fax 202/544-0961, email Insider@heritage.org. The Insider is published monthly by The Heritage Foundation’s Coalition Relations Department. Begun in January 1978, The Insider abstracts recent publications, profiles the latest legal action, and reports newsworthy events in the conservative movement. The Coalition Relations Department serves as Heritage’s liaison to a network of some 400 policy groups and over 2,000 leading scholars and activists worldwide. COALITION RELATIONS STAFF Bridgett Wagner, Director, Coalition Relations • John Hilboldt, Deputy Director, Coalition Relations • Andrew Walker, Editor, The Insider • Lynn Gibson, Job Bank Coordinator • Ann Bula, Internship Coordinator • Kelli Fulton, Project Coordinator • Jonathan Butcher, Coalition Relations Intern Becky Norton Dunlop, Vice President, External Relations Note: Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the view of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F E A T U R E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDUCATION The most successful states in the nation offer educational options to parents and students with innovative programs such as choice among traditional public schools, charter schools, private schools, and scholarship programs. That flexibility allows families to find programs and schools suited to their children’s individual abilities, temperaments, needs, and interests—a process that ultimately results in improved academic achievement. Columbia University researchers recently examined 35 studies of choice programs across the United States and concluded that “a sizable majority of these studies report beneficial effects of competition across all outcomes.” Likewise, a Goldwater Institute examination of reading and math test scores COMPETITIVE COMMERCE State laws contain measures that prevent producers of goods from selling directly to consumers. That reduces competition and hurts consumers by causing them to pay higher prices and limiting their choices. Those laws also hamper the development of the growing sector of e-commerce. State legislatures should provide relief to consumers and restore free exchange by eliminating those laws. 7. Permit competition in the provision of electricity. 8. Permit competition in electric distribution services. 9. Ensure that environmental policy decisions are made by the legislature. 10. Restrict the power of state corporation commissions to levy taxes for subsidies and social policies. 11. Expand competitiveness in the market for “ALL CHILDREN, NOT JUST A SELECT FEW, DESERVE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 IDEAS FOR FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY ON THE STATE LEVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in Arizona found similar effects from charter school attendance. All children, not just a select few, deserve educational opportunities. Legislators should open doors until every child has an opportunity for educational success. The following ideas are excellent means to achieving this goal. 1. Adopt English language mastery scholarships. 2. Invite the participation of local businesses in tuition-scholarship credits. 3. Enforce open-enrollment policies. 4. Level the playing field between traditional public schools and independent schools by granting parents a tax credit or deduction for K-12 tuition payments. 5. Review provisions for students with special needs, and consider appropriate reform. 6. Include a school choice option for children in failing schools. automobile sales by eliminating laws that protect auto dealers from competition. 12. Liberalize state markets for beer and wine by eliminating mandatory middlemen. 13. Eliminate state racing and boxing commissions and allow self-regulation in those sports akin to that found in football, baseball, and other sports. 14. Eliminate the state nursing boards and allow for regulation by private associations specializing in certification, such as the American Board of Nursing Specialties, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, the Oncology Nursing Certification Association, the American Board of Perianesthesia Nursing Certification, and the Emergency Nurses Association. 15. Eliminate state optician boards and allow organizations such as the American Board of Opticianry to regulate opticians. 16. Eliminate the Board of Barber Examiners and Board of Cosmetology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H E I N S I D E R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ELECTORAL REFORM 17. Repeal “campaign finance reform” laws. 18. Preserve state term limit laws. TRANSPORTATION 19. Convert carpool lanes to carpool/toll lanes. 20. Reduce air pollution by targeting superemitting vehicles. 21.Thin out traffic congestion by replacing existing highway taxes with congestion-based pricing. 22. Encourage more efficient use of existing streets and freeways through improved traffic signal coordination and flexible employment policies. 23. Allow for private construction and management of state roadways. TAX POLICY 24. Restore inflation indexing of the personal income tax code. 25. Conform the state tax code to new federal depreciation rules. 26. Equalize personal and corporate income tax rates. 27. Lower income tax rates to a regionally competitive level. 28. Suspend and/or reduce the unemployment insurance tax. 29. Eliminate the corporate income tax. 30. Replace the state income tax system with a consumption-based flat income tax. 31. If sales tax exemptions must be eliminated, lower the sales tax rate or eliminate the income tax. PROPERTY TAX REFORM The property tax is a tax on capital, so a high property tax on business deters capital investment, thereby leading to slower economic growth and reduced income. High property taxes reduce small business starts and the opening of branch plants. A 10 percent increase in the property tax in a state has been found to lead to as much as a 6 percent decrease in resident income. Property taxes also depress property values.A study looking specifically at the Phoenix metropolitan area found that a 10 percent increase in the property tax rate leads to a 3.9 percent decrease in property values. The legislature could take an important step toward encouraging investment and economic growth in the state by simplifying the property tax and making it fair and uniform. Listed below are reforms that policymakers should implement to reduce the burden of the property tax and help the state’s economy. 32. Reduce taxes on business property. 33. Eliminate perverse incentives in the current property tax system. 34. Provide property owners with true taxpayer protection. BUDGET POLICY 35. Enact a zero-based budgeting rule. 36. Eliminate needless spending. 37. Eliminate duplicative spending. 38. Devolve some state programs to localities and contract others out to private management. 39. Convene a budget realignment commission. 40. Enact a strong constitutional spending cap. PROPERTY RIGHTS Property rights are under erosion on the state level throughout the country. In Arizona, for example, municipalities in recent years have increasingly used their condemnation powers for purely private purposes. Much of this encroachment has been enabled by the enactment of the 1997 redevelopment statutes, which effectively remove any meaningful content to the constitutional requirement that property be taken for public use only. Under the new regime, with municipalities acting as strong-arm real estate brokers in what have traditionally been private land deals, condemnation “horror stories” have begun to emerge. Sadly, property condemnations are rarely challenged in any meaningful way. Worse still, takings for private use are entirely unnecessary to achieve the goals of redevelopment. The free market has achieved redevelopment for centuries, and developers and municipalities have several tactics at their disposal to achieve redevelopment without trampling on the rights of private property owners. 41. Ensure that municipalities do not use their condemnation powers for private purposes. 42. Require municipalities to hold public hearings prior to condemnations. This article is adapted from a Goldwater Institute study of the same name. The full study is available at http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article.php /223.html. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .