In The Center Square, The Buckeye Institute offers an approach to higher education reforms, writing, “As the traditional higher education model shifts away from catering primarily to recent high-school graduates living full-time on campus, it must find ways to reduce administrative expenses while keeping pace with changing demographics, student and employer preferences, and new learning opportunities. Lawmakers and education policymakers must facilitate rather than hinder each of those objectives.”

In The Columbus Dispatch, The Buckeye Institute calls for a more competitive, more transparent, less subsidized energy market, writing, “The rapidly evolving 21st century economy runs on electricity and demand for reliable power shows no signs of abating. Without affordable electricity, Ohio risks losing economic market share to states with more energy and lower energy prices. That’s an avoidable risk not worth taking.”
 

Will South Carolina join other states across the nation in what Zachary D. Cady of The Buckeye Institute calls “the flat tax revolution”? What trade-offs are involved in the legislative process when it comes to tax reform? How do we know how tax code changes will affect the broader economy? All these and questions and more are discussed on this episode of Beyond Policy, a podcast of the Palmetto Promise Institute.
 

In The Columbus Dispatch, The Buckeye Institute points out missing information from a recent article, writing, “The April 13 Dispatch article, ‘Ohio schools, parents concerned as lawmakers debate voucher and public school funding,’ states that ‘Republican lawmakers’ are ‘proposing cuts to public schools.’ That assertion is incorrect.”

In The Center Square, The Buckeye Institute and the Mississippi Center for Public Policy look at Mississippi’s bold tax reform, writing, “No one likes paying taxes. April 15th is a time of dread for most taxpayers. But this April, Mississippians have a reason to cheer because of the state legislature’s actions and Gov. Tate Reeves. Mississippi is poised to become one of the top ten states for income tax policy and can look forward to more jobs and economic prosperity for generations.”

Higher education reform requires embracing responsible innovation to improve student success. Ohio’s workforce shortages in nursing, engineering, and trade labor demand a higher education system that adapts to declining enrollment and rising alternatives. Aligning state subsidies with post-graduate outcomes, reducing administrative costs, and regulating OPM partnerships wisely are commonsense reforms that can help Ohio, and its students overcome some of the challenges they now face. 

In Crain’s Cleveland Business, The Buckeye Institute urges Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio General Assembly to fix a faulty quirk in the state’s tax code. “The General Assembly should re-index the tax brackets to inflation and, this time, end the residual tax penalty, too…To offset potential lost revenue from eliminating the tax bump, state policymakers should take a few pages from The Buckeye Institute’s most recent Piglet Book…”

The March 11 story, Private school vouchers, Ohio’s wealthiest families access scholarships, misses the larger story of Ohio’s school choice success. As a result of the changes adopted by lawmakers, lower-income and middle-class families now get better access to the schools of their choosing. In Ohio, the poorest families receive nearly one-third of the total funding for the state’s leading voucher program, the EdChoice scholarship. Middle-class families utilize another one-third. 

On RealClear Energy, The Buckeye Institute looks at how states are rethinking failed energy policies as the demand for reliable, affordable energy increases and ending ill-considered green energy mandates. Windmills and solar panels will not meet the “energy demands of 21st century computing and manufacturing in America,” and “modern families and businesses need affordable and reliable electricity sources that will keep the lights on even when the sun isn’t shining.”

At Minding the Campus, Hal R. Arkes, a member of The Buckeye Institute’s Board of Trustees, and George Dent write, “Ohio Senate Bill 1, passed by the Senate, will be a big step forward for higher education. The bill would protect free speech; forbid discrimination based on race or other group identity; forbid indoctrination by faculty and staff; forbid “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs; and institute an undergraduate General Education Requirement in American government or history that includes readings of major primary documents.”