Archives: Transportation / Articles
Archives: Transportation / Articles
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Key ALEC Policy Ideas for 2021
Our entire policy department at ALEC is busy analyzing the best free market ideas to add to the important discussions taking place across the states and at the federal level…
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Safety Innovations in Travel
As we handle the COVID-19 pandemic, find out how industry leaders like Raytheon and Collins Aerospace are working to keep consumers safe. State legislators play a key role in returning…
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Return To Flight
In just over 100 years the possibility of flight made the world much smaller and redefined what travel and human connectivity mean. Modern aviation changed what it means to go there.
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Government Should Stay in its Lane on Automated Vehicles
As Rich States, Poor States (the new 11th edition can be found here) shows, states vary greatly in their fiscal health and operations. Fortunately, many states strive to create…
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Federal transit grants bypass state lawmakers
As the deadline for Congress to pass a spending bill gets closer, debates over how much to spend and what to spend it on dominate the news cycle. Lost in…
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Are Drivers Getting a Good Deal for Gas Taxes?
Are American drivers getting a good deal on roads for what they pay in gas taxes? Most would struggle to answer the question since doing so would first require them…
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Oklahoma State of the State: Governor Fallin Delivers Stern Tax and Spend Message
Despite early promise of being a bold reformer, the governor now zealously possesses the tax and spend mantle. And the spending extends beyond education. She promises a cornucopia of spending courtesy of the tax hikes on “initiatives that each of you are passionate about.”
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Utah State of the State: Acting Today with the Future in Mind
Even with the modest changes to property taxes and a possible increase in the gas tax, Utah’s overall pro-business status remains unrivaled. Economic growth and jobs growth over 10 years are 5th highest and 3rd highest, respectively. Perhaps Utah has indeed “become that shining city on a hill for our nation.”
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Investing in Infrastructure
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Trump. I joined other Governors, Mayors, and Speakers from across the country as the…
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Colorado State of the State: Hickenlooper’s Pursuit of Taxes
The governor is right that “by almost any measure, we’ve become one of the best places for business in America.” But expanding crony capitalism and increasing the tax burden make maintaining this coveted status more difficult. Following five consecutive years in the top 10 for economic outlook in Rich States, Poor States, Colorado dropped to 16th in 2013 and has failed to fully recover. A sharpened focus on regulatory reform and pension reform are required to guarantee continued success in the Centennial State.
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Trump Infrastructure: Plan is Out, Details to Come
This morning the Trump Administration released its $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan. After much speculation the sources of funding for such an investment, conservatives should be pleased to hear the Trump…
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California State of the State: A High Speed Train of Taxes and Spending
California Governor Jerry Brown boldly championed an unabashedly liberal agenda throughout his 16th—and final—State of the State address. The governor declared, “California is prospering,” a stark turnaround from the economic…
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Protecting Everyday Life Means Protecting America’s Infrastructure
This winter Americans have seen the importance of well-working infrastructure as much of the country has faced freezing temperatures. For instance, 48 percent of American households use…
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19th Century Myth Threatens 21st Century Technology
Two centuries ago, a group of English textile workers known as the Luddites feared that new technologies of the industrial revolution would destroy their livelihoods. The Luddites formed militias and…
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Proposed Tax Increases Threaten to Stunt Oklahoma Recovery
The Oklahoma legislature is considering tax increases on cigarettes, beer, and fuel, along with doubling the severance tax on new oil and natural gas wells. The estimated…
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The Federal Government is Starting to Act on Autonomous Vehicle Technologies
The future is bright for autonomous vehicle development in the United States. The Trump administration, through Secretary Elaine Chao and the U.S. Department of Transportation, just announced a new guidance…
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State of the State: New Hampshire
Despite the Granite State’s strengths and Sununu’s proposals, there remains work to be done. For example, the top marginal tax rate for corporations is a steep 8.2%; and although New Hampshire doesn’t have a personal income tax or sales tax, it does have the highest property tax burden in the nation. New Hampshire also ranks a lackluster 37th in the nation in terms of burdensome regulations according to the Pacific Research Institute. Furthermore, the recently released ALEC report Unaccountable and Unaffordable 2016 ranks the state’s pension funding level at 43rd nationally. Using a risk-free rate of return of 2.344 percent, New Hampshire’s state pensions are unfunded in excess of $13,000 per capita with a funded ratio of just 28 percent.
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State of the Commonwealth: Massachusetts
Overall, however, the state’s steps towards economic competitiveness are yielding results. Governor Baker rightfully recognized this achievement, “We built a bipartisan team, worked in partnership with the legislature and looked for common ground.” Shrinking the state’s budget gap by over $1 billion without tax or fee increases is just one example.
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State of the State: Michigan
Fortunately, the governor recognizes that the government can best enable growth by removing artificial obstacles to entrepreneurs: “Over the last few years we dumped the dumbest tax in America, we cut needless regulations, we started paying down our long-term debt, we started saving for the future, we laid the groundwork for success we have today so our businesses could create jobs. We create the environment for job creation, we don’t create those jobs.”
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State of the State: California
The governor is right: we cannot “construct some alternate universe of non-facts that we find more pleasing.” California’s economic outlook currently ranks 46th nationally, according to Rich States, Poor States. Ignoring the impending fiscal collapse due to unfunded pension liabilities, failing to reduce the onerous tax burden, and pretending that a state carbon emissions crackdown will alter global climate only will force others to flee Governor Brown’s vision of the future.