Government Lobbying on Pension Rules Does Not Align with Public Interest
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) pronouncements 67 and 68, despite their limitations, are expected to bring about some improvements in the way governments report pension liabilities. As a...
View ArticleKeystone XL Poses Very Little Danger to Whooping Crane
The Daily Caller In the ongoing debate over whether the Keystone XL pipeline should be built, there are many false and exaggerated claims about the pipeline’s environmental impacts. One of the worst...
View ArticleGAO Sounds Warning on State, Local Budgets (Again)
In recent years, state and local governments have largely remained in a fiscal holding pattern, continuing a slow recovery from the impacts of the Great Recession. Overall, state revenues have...
View ArticleGAO Warns on Long-Term State, Local Fiscal Imbalance
The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently issued its latest state and local government fiscal outlook, which suggests a growing gap between revenues and expenditures over the coming decades...
View ArticleBringing the Endangered Species Act in to the 21st Century Through Increased...
A recent Washington Post story addresses what has long been a problem for those impacted by the Endangered Species Act: a lack of transparency for data used by federal regulatory agencies to make...
View ArticlePrivatization & Government Reform Newsletter #14 (January 2015 edition)
The January 2015 edition of the Privatization & Government Reform Newsletter is now online. Topics covered in this issue include:BUDGETS: GAO Sounds Warning on State, Local Budgets (Again)PENSIONS:...
View ArticleWhat Causes Policymakers to Underfund Pensions
The failure of many states properly fund their pension systems has been a well documented reality over the past few years, and unfunded liabilities are estimated to be as high as $4 trillion. However,...
View ArticleCompetitive Contracting Helps California Taxpayers
Orange County Register It’s been over 20 years since Orange County plunged into bankruptcy, prompting a wide range of financial and budget reforms that ultimately helped put the county on a more...
View ArticleAtlanta Transit Should Stay off Tracks and on the Road
Georgia Public Policy Forum This legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly is expected to tackle transportation reform, with many hoping lawmakers address both roadways and transit. It appears...
View ArticleWhy Obama's Alaskan Wilderness Plan Matters for the Endangered Species Act
Watchdog.org The announcement by President Obama that he wants to designate the entire Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska as a wilderness area has a great deal of importance to states,...
View ArticleHow Privatization Could Improve Accountability at Scandal-Plagued Texas Hospital
Tyler Morning Telegraph Change is never easy, as recently demonstrated by the state’s move to privatize Terrell State Hospital and the ensuing calls by state Sen. Robert Nichols and the Tyler Morning...
View ArticleCalifornia Bill to Restrict E-Cigarettes Would Harm Public Health
Orange County Register A California legislator just introduced a bill that would add electronic cigarettes to the state’s Smoke-Free Workplace Law, thereby prohibiting vaping everywhere that smoking is...
View ArticlePoll: 72 Percent of Americans Are Concerned About Public Pension Costs, 82...
The new Reason-Rupe national telephone poll of 1,003 adults finds 72 percent of Americans are concerned their state and local governments may not be able to afford the pensions that have been promised...
View ArticleThe Incoherent Philosophy of the Radical Environmental Lobby
While the growing influence of a small number of environmental lobbying groups on the implementation of the Endangered Species Act is widely known, less well understood is the philosophy driving these...
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Sign of Reform for Military Pension
While most of the private sector has embraced the defined contribution (DC) pension model, the public sector is still largely using unwieldy defined benefit (DB) plans. This is also true for members in...
View ArticleRepealing Plastic Bag Bans Is Good for Shoppers and Likely the Environment Too
Orange County Register The Huntington Beach City Council’s recent decision to overturn its ban on plastic bags is not only good for shoppers, it is likely good for the environment too. So is the news...
View ArticleEliminate TIGER Program
Recommendation for the CongressEliminate Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Program Issue: The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Program is an...
View ArticleSurface Transportation Reauthorization Should Eliminate TIGER Grants
Approximately every six years, Congress reauthorizes U.S. surface transportation policy. These reauthorizations provide an opportunity to make changes and updates that affect millions of Americans. We...
View ArticleRequire Metro Planning Agencies to Consider Congestion in Transportation Plans
RECOMMENDATION FOR CONGRESSRequire Metropolitan Planning Organizations to Compare Future Congestion with Baseline Congestion in Long Range Transportation Plans Issue. Under federal law, Metropolitan...
View ArticleRequire MPOs to Compare Current and Future Congestion
Over the next two weeks Reason Foundation will highlight six national surface transportation policies that need to be changed. Today’s topic focuses on congestion relief in metro areas. The proposal...
View ArticleGA House Transportation Plan a Step in Right Direction
Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Georgia House bill is a good way to increase transportation funding in the state. While details need fine-tuning, the House bill finds $1 billion in new revenue,...
View ArticleAdd Taxpayer Protections to FRA's RRIF Loan Program
RECOMMENDATIONFORTHECONGRESSAdd Taxpayer Protections to the Federal Railroad Administration’s RRIF Loan Program Issue. The Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program was created...
View ArticleAdd Taxpayer Protections to Railroad Loan Program
Reason Foundation is highlighting six national surface transportation policies that need to be changed. Past posts detail the problems with the TIGER grants program and the need for MPOs to analyze...
View ArticleEliminate Surface Transportation Funding for Non-federal Modes
RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CONGRESSEliminate Surface Transportation Funding for Non-Federal Modes Issue: The federal highway transportation program is structured as a users-pay/users-benefit system with...
View ArticleEliminate Federal Surface Transportation Funding for Non-federal Modes
Today Reason Foundation highlights the fourth of sixth national surface transportation policies that need to be changed. Past posts detail the problems with the TIGER grants program, the need for MPOs...
View ArticleNew Jersey Tries to Make Excuses for Expensive State Highways in Poor Condition
Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report, which found New Jersey’s state-controlled highway system ranks 48th out 50 states in cost-effectiveness and performance, has resonated with New Jersey’s...
View ArticleCongress Should Simplify Conformity Regulations for Regional Transportation...
RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CONGRESSSimplify DOT Regulations Regarding Conformity Determination Issue. The Clean Air Act of 1990 (CAA) as amended requires each region currently (or previously) in...
View ArticleSimplify DOT Regulations Regarding Conformity Determination
Simplifying DOT regulations regarding conformity determination is the fifth of six changes Reason Foundation is recommending be made in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization. Past posts...
View ArticleThe Private Cure for Crumbling Waterway Infrastructure
A recent New York Times article recited the dreadful condition of the locks and dams on our nation’s rivers. The article noted:“[L]argely out of sight of most Americans, the locks are crumbling. There...
View ArticleCongress Should Simplify Long-range Planning Requirements for Regional...
RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CONGRESSSimplify DOT Regulations Regarding Transportation Planning Issue. Since 1964 federal laws and amendments (23 USC 134 and 49 USC 5303) have required that states and...
View ArticleSimplify DOT Regulations Regarding Long-range Transportation Planning
Today we present our final of six changes Reason Foundation recommends Congress adapt in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization. This change focuses on simplifying DOT regulations...
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Reforming Public Safety Pensions in Tequesta, Florida
Innovators in Action 2015 In 2010, the Village of Tequesta, Florida—a small, incorporated community of nearly 6,000 residents in northern Palm Beach County—achieved something that would make many...
View ArticleInnovators in Action (February 2015 edition): Reforming Public Safety...
The latest interview in Reason Foundation's Innovators in Action 2015 series focuses on the Village of Tequesta, Florida’s 2010 reforms to its public safety defined-benefit retirement plans. Village...
View ArticleSurface Transportation Recommendations for Congress
Approximately every six years, Congress reauthorizes U.S. surface transportation legislation, providing an opportunity to make changes and updates that affect millions of Americans. Reason Foundation...
View ArticleDoes the Public Support Pension Reform?
Often some of the most important and necessary policy reforms to be made are the most politically sensitive and difficult to maneuver. Pension reform is no different.Conventional wisdom suggests that...
View ArticlePennsylvania House Passes Liquor Privatization Bill
For the second time since 2013, legislation that would privatize the sale and distribution of wine and distilled spirits in Pennsylvania has passed the House, which voted this afternoon to approve...
View ArticlePennsylvania House Approves Liquor Privatization Bill
This afternoon, the Pennsylvania House voted 114-87 to approve House Bill 466, a bill that would privatize the state's wholesale wine and spirits monopoly, gradually close the hundreds of state-owned...
View ArticlePrivatization & Government Reform Newsletter #15 (February 2015 edition)
The February 2015 edition of the Privatization & Government Reform Newsletter is now online. Topics covered in this issue include:PENSIONS: Public Support for Pension ReformTRANSPORTATION:...
View ArticleTo Improve Atlanta's Transit System, Skip Streetcars and Focus on Bus Service
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Atlanta has recently joined several dozen other U.S. cities by opening a streetcar line. With critics already pointing out that, for many trips, taking the 2.7 mile...
View ArticleCalifornia Needs to Measure Student Academic Progress
Orange County Register Parents at Anaheim’s Palm Lane Elementary School were recently dealt a setback when the Anaheim City School District board unanimously rejected a petition to turn the failing...
View ArticleThe Dismaying Backlash Against Toll Roads
Public Works Financing Ten years ago Texas was emerging as the promised land for tolling and public-private partnership highway projects. With strong political support, Texas DOT was tapping the...
View ArticleCalifornia Bullet Train Tries to Dodge State Environmental Laws
Orange County Register Gov. Jerry Brown has twisted himself into a series of contradictions, opposing state environmental rules that he previously supported, and selectively deferring to the federal...
View ArticleGrant Tolling Flexibility for Interstate Highway Reconstruction
RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CONGRESSGrant user-friendly tolling flexibility for Interstate highway reconstruction Issue: America’s Interstate highways are reaching the end of their 50-year design life, and...
View ArticleProvide Tolling Flexibility for Interstate Highway Reconstruction
I have written two new surface transportation policy recommendations in addition to the six that my colleagues and I wrote last month. The first concerns the looming problem of reconstructing and...
View ArticleRecognize All HOT/BRT Lanes as "Fixed Guideways" for Transit Funding
RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CONGRESSRecognize All HOT/BRT Lanes as “Fixed Guideways” for Transit FundingIssue: Federal transit policy recognizes that an HOV lane converted to a variably tolled HOT lane...
View ArticleAnalysis of the California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA)
The state of California and its local governments are saddled with unfunded public pension liabilities estimated to be as high as $583 billion. As a result, several municipalities in the state now have...
View ArticlePoliticians Should Follow Public's Lead on Pensions
Orange County Register California’s pension system for state workers is $60 billion underfunded, the state teachers’ plan is nearly $75 billion underfunded, and the University of California pension...
View ArticleAllow all HOT/BRT Lanes to Count as "Fixed Guideways" for Transit Funding
The final Reason Foundation surface transportation policy recommendation suggests that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) amend its treatment of HOT lanes and busways. This document joins the...
View ArticleObama Administration Report Overstates Wind Power's Potential, Understates...
My new column is up RealClearMarkets:The U.S. Department of Energy just released a report in which it claims that consumers and the environment would benefit from increasing the proportion of...
View Article2015 California Pension Reform Summit Featuring Former San Jose Mayor Reed...
A recent brief on the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 found pension costs and debts will continue to increase and be a burden to state and municipal retirement plans. Realizing...
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