Browsing: Reports

State and local governments in the United States have wide latitude in setting economic policy. In the first half of the 20th century, the progressives chose an economic model for Wisconsin that called for high levels of taxation and government expenditure coupled with extensive regulation of business and labor.

One of the few things that all Americans agree on about education is that it must improve. How, specifically? There we differ.

Of the convicted criminals Wisconsin imprisons, most will serve a sentence and be released. Then what?

Milwaukee is among the cities that have repeatedly cut law enforcement positions in recent years.

Not only has the city reduced the number of authorized police positions, it has fewer officers to fill them, leading to higher vacancy rates. This inability to fill what remaining positions the city is funding includes leadership ranks: The Milwaukee Police Department is facing a damaging loss of institutional knowledge and practical skills, a loss that could worsen policing just when Milwaukee needs its force to perform at its peak.

Wisconsin’s court system is plagued by massive delays and a growing backlog of criminal cases. It now takes more than a year for a court to resolve an armed robbery charge, 14 months to resolve a sexual assault case and more than 15 months to resolve an allegation that someone committed a murder.

Wisconsin’s crime trends in essence reveal two different states: the city of Milwaukee (and other select urban areas) and the “Rest of Wisconsin.” While most of the state is relatively safe in comparison to five years ago, troubling trends in Milwaukee — one of the primary economic engines of the Badger State and home to 10% of its citizens — are undermining the health and safety of the state in general.

Raising children, as can be fully appreciated only after you’ve done it, takes place in real time. They eat, sleep and grow whether you’re ready or not. So as parents supply children with the most crucial material treasure they ever will receive — a stable, loving home — many rely on some outside help in caring for their children while earning a living.

The surest way to improve the healthcare that Wisconsinites receive is to enable people to get the greatest satisfaction at the most favorable price via a free and transparent market.

Eight states, including neighboring Minnesota and Michigan, have authorized dental therapist programs statewide. Dental therapists are mid-level providers who perform preventive, restorative and intermediate restorative procedures.

The good things in life in this democracy — opportunity, fulfillment, upward mobility, prosperity, the redounding energy and succor that comes from free association, love of relatives and friends

As we move through 2022, the national economy is in what might best be described as a strange state.

Some people earn a lot of money. Some earn a little.

Wisconsin’s politicians prohibit over 1 million citizens from working unless they have government permission.

As a way for funding an important public good — highways — Wisconsin’s gas tax was pretty good

Wisconsin, like most states, allows individuals who have been convicted of a one-time, low-level offense to ask a judge to have the record of that conviction expunged once they’ve served their sentence and demonstrated they pose no risk to public safety

Recent and rigorous academic evaluations suggest that such policies aren’t effective at increasing employment among the formerly incarcerated.
August 11, 2022

Even before the pandemic, U.S. entitlement spending was on an unsustainable path, the growth in means-tested safety net programs far outstripping inflation.

A new report from the Tax Foundation and the Badger Institute offers five comprehensive tax reform options to enhance Wisconsin’s tax competitiveness by reducing harmful taxes on labor and investment.

Wisconsin could help lead the nation in empowering patient-consumers to seek care in a functioning market with upfront transparent pricing.

The estimate by the Department of Public Instruction of potential added costs to property tax payers from opening Wisconsin’s school choice programs to families of all income levels is deeply flawed.