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Cannabis legalization might be a policy that many would assume is a negative for a state’s workforce, but Badger Institute analysis of the limited available research paints a much more complex and positive picture.

In most of rural Wisconsin, population is flat or declining. The Badger Institute identified 116, or nearly 6%, of the state’s 1,939 municipal units that have lost more than 20% of their populations since 1990.

A new study predicting which states are best equipped for social mobility places Wisconsin at 14th. That puts the Badger State behind second-place Minnesota and Iowa (12th place) but ahead of Indiana (21st), Michigan (30th) and Illinois (40th).

The research shows that more adults will use cannabis if it is legal to use in any form. When it comes to youth use of cannabis, the research is still highly disputed, but the available research and data indicate there have not been dramatic increases in youth use of the substance when it becomes legal.

Wisconsin’s Republican lawmakers recently introduced Assembly Bill 660, aiming to help employers provide support for working families in meeting the costs of childcare. While the bill’s intentions are commendable, the approach of directly subsidizing employers to create and subsidize childcare slots has proven ineffective in other contexts.

Over 70,000 Wisconsin students could be impacted If successful, a lawsuit claiming Wisconsin’s private-school parental choice program and public independent…

There is a real possibility for cannabis reform to result in public safety gains for the Badger State but the tradeoffs that must be accepted are a significant reduction in safety on the state’s highways and roads and an increase in minor property and nuisance crimes near cannabis dispensaries if the state were to establish a commercial market for either medical or adult-use products.

After Gov. Tony Evers announced last week he was diverting $36.6 million in federal emergency pandemic funds for, among other things, a soccer stadium, a sports center and a railroad museum, state Sen. Duey Stroebel tweeted, “I struggle to see how any of these projects relate to pandemic relief.”

Legislative leaders say costly project not needed or wanted Wisconsin officials in the Evers administration, supported by politicians in many…

Saying they “have not given up on a colorblind society,” Wisconsin Republicans have filed a bill to remove race-based considerations from an array of UW System and technical college financial aid programs.

Despite all of the millions of dollars, time spent and inconveniences imposed, it’s nearly impossible to determine if Wisconsin’s emission testing program meaningfully decreases exhaust emissions that form ozone and damage air quality.

In a speech to the Badger Institute Thursday night, Congressman Mike Gallagher, the Green Bay Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, issued a clarion call for America  to rearm and stockpile critical munitions, issued a stark warning about authoritarian regimes and terrorist groups across the globe and said the future is still up to us here in America “but won’t be much longer.”

Learn how the Badger Institute’s policy research, storytelling, investigative journalism, videos and advocacy is crucial to help translate policy ideas into bona fide policy reform.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the state government finished its fiscal year business with a surplus of $1.83 billion. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican tax cut.

A discussion on black conservativism that took place on the UW-Madison campus and was broadcast live on Zoom Saturday was interrupted by what appeared to be a coordinated protest when someone hacked into the online portion, insulted speakers with vulgar language and was joined by a handful of others who exposed  themselves onscreen nude or masturbating.

Healthcare innovators are our best chance for better healthcare, as long as well-intended but stifling government regulations or laws, or an increasingly anti-competitive marketplace, don’t get in their way. The current reimbursement-driven system both creates roadblocks for innovators and simultaneously drives up costs. Direct pay removes these roadblocks.

A state Department of Health Services decision to take a year to remove ineligible people from Wisconsin’s Medicaid rolls — much slower than many other states — will cost federal and state taxpayers an estimated $745 million.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated this week that people who filed for unemployment insurance during the pandemic stole somewhere between $100 billion and $135 billion in benefits — just a portion of the estimated fraud across all federal pandemic programs.

The Legislature appears ready to confront one of the primary factors driving up childcare costs in Wisconsin: overregulation. Failing to confront this reality would miss an opportunity to improve the affordability and accessibility of childcare without adding to the budget. Eliminating unnecessary or unverifiable regulations can reduce compliance costs for childcare providers without sacrificing quality — savings that they can pass on to families. Fewer regulations will increase competition among childcare providers, return authority to parents and ultimately make childcare more affordable for Wisconsin families.

Volunteers are the backbone of emergency response in Wisconsin and many communities have struggled for years to find enough of them.