In a new policy memo, Classroom Space for Every Student in Every Family in Every Community, The Buckeye Institute offers lawmakers additional solutions to address the growing need for classroom space in private and charter schools, given the success of the Ohio EdChoice program and the increasing demand for vouchers. In this new memo, Buckeye builds on an earlier recommendation and urges lawmakers to “authorize the state treasurer to make linked deposit programs and a loan guarantee program available to non-district schools.”

In a new policy memo, Focus Higher Ed Capital Budget Spending on Building a 21st Century Workforce, The Buckeye Institute recommends that capital budget requests from public universities only be granted for the “construction, maintenance, demolition, and repurposing of buildings needed for educating students on public campuses.” With growing student debt, rising tuition, and stagnant and declining enrollment, legislators should grant capital requests to help right-size campuses and meet the “education needs of the 21st century.” 
 

In a new report—A Healthcare World Reimagined: How Big Government Threatens Healthcare AI and What to Do About It—that is no April Fools’ Day joke, The Buckeye Institute outlines policy solutions and regulatory changes lawmakers should address to capitalize on the benefits of artificial intelligence to improve healthcare services. “Artificial intelligence, even in its fledgling stage, already shows great promise for improving healthcare services for physicians, hospital systems, and their patients.” 

A new report, Next Steps for Georgia Tax Reform, by The Buckeye Institute, found that cutting taxes would lead to billions in economic growth and business investment in the Peach State. The Buckeye Institute partnered with Georgia Public Policy Foundation to conduct the research. “Georgia has undertaken several positive tax reforms that have spurred economic growth, but the state must continue to reform its tax policies if it wants to remain competitive.”

The Buckeye Institute released a new policy brief, Making the Grade: Ohio’s Success Cutting Regulations, which reviews and grades how Ohio’s state agencies fared in cutting regulations. The Buckeye Institute analysis gives state agencies a B in complying with the Ohio Senate Bill 9, which requires every state agency to cut regulations by 10 percent by June 30, 2023, with the ultimate goal of cutting regulations by 30 percent by June 30, 2025.

Open Road Renewables’ (ORR) property tax revenue estimates for the Frasier Solar project were made publicly available on January 8, 2024. The Buckeye Institute cannot vouch for ORR’s data, but is nonetheless providing an analysis using the ORR data in order to show an apples-to-apples comparison. After re-running The Buckeye Institute’s proprietary economic model using ORR data, Buckeye’s original conclusion stands: the PILOT program remains as not being a clear winner for Knox County or its taxpayers.
 

The Buckeye Institute released a new policy brief, Brewing Freedom: Ensuring the Freedom to Contract for Ohio’s Craft Brewers, urging Ohio lawmakers to free Ohio’s small craft brewers from the state’s anti-competitive alcohol franchise law that “disproportionately empowers distributors to the detriment of small craft brewers.” “Ohio’s award-winning craft beer industry is suffering from the anti-competitive effects of the state’s 50-year-old alcohol franchise law.”

A new report, Net-Zero Climate-Control Policies Will Fail the Farm, released by The Buckeye Institute, found that America’s net-zero climate-control experiment has dire economic consequences for American farmers and families. The report comes just days after a coalition of agricultural commissioners in 12 of America’s leading farm states demanded that the country’s six largest banks come clean on their “involvement in NZBA [the United Nations’ Net-Zero Banking Alliance] and their net-zero goals.”

In a new policy memo, A Transformational Investment: Use Ohio’s Capital Budget to Increase Classroom Space, The Buckeye Institute urges Ohio lawmakers to “create a permanent revolving loan fund to increase student capacity at schools across Ohio—a vital need given the Ohio EdChoice program’s success and recent expansion.” Using the One-Time Strategic Community Investments Fund to “improve the state’s education infrastructure” will make “transformational investments in education.”

The Buckeye Institute released a new policy brief, A Sandbox for Everything: A Universal Approach to Help Innovators, urging Ohio lawmakers to cut more regulatory red tape and “expand Ohio’s ‘regulatory sandbox’ to include all industries.” The brief outlines three improvements Ohio policymakers can take to cut more regulations and attract more innovators to the Buckeye State. “By expanding its regulatory sandbox and leading the way in creating a state-to-federal sandbox reciprocity program, Ohio will remain competitive in the innovation race.”