In case you missed it…
Cronyism
Remember when Nevada lawmakers told us that the more than $300 million in special tax “incentives” they were giving to an unknown electric car manufacturer, Faraday Futures, was going to bring a bunch of jobs to North Las Vegas? Well, as it turns out, the deal has essentially collapsed. The electric car manufacturer, backed almost exclusively by a Chinese billionaire, has said it will no longer move forward with plans to build a giant manufacturing plant just north of Las Vegas. Luckily for taxpayers, and thanks to the warnings from groups like NPRI and state leaders like Treasurer Dan Schwartz, some protections were put in place. (Read more)
Free markets
Everything is bigger in Texas. Including job growth. Currently, the Lone Star State leads in job growth over the last ten years, and incomes have risen almost twice as fast compared to regulation and tax-heavy states such as California and New York. Governor Gregg Abbott says the reason why is simple: low taxes, light regulation, restrained government and right-to-work laws among the biggest contributing factors. So, yes, everything is bigger in Texas. Except government. (Read more)
Healthcare
The Senate’s first draft plan to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act actually preserved, and in some cases even expanded the price-hiking and service-cutting components of Obamacare. Cato Institute’s Director of Health Policy Michael Cannon pointed out that Republicans’ attempt to brand the plan as “free markets” would have done major damage to future reforms. “Senate Republicans will claim that their bill repeals ObamaCare and replaces it with free-market reforms,” wrote Cannon. “Perhaps the worst part is that ObamaCare supporters would be able to blame the ongoing harm their law causes on free markets rather than the actual culprit.” Let’s hope that analysis of the latest Senate plan, accounced this week, is better. (Read more)
The 79th Legislative Session
Local governments in Nevada spent over $3.75 million in taxpayer money in the last legislative session lobbying lawmakers for bigger government — and, likely, more taxpayer dollars. The amount shows an increase over the 2015 legislative session of roughly $450,000. Maybe local governments should worry more about providing citizens with value than politicking with our hard earned money. (Read more)
Labor unions
Free market groups are beginning to submit amicus briefs in a case going before the Supreme Court that could allow workers throughout the entire nation the right to opt out of paying union dues. A brief filed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute documents the way in which unions use membership dues to engage in partisan politics and collusion with government officials — often without regard to how their members might feel about such blatant politicking. “The right to free speech also includes the right not to speak,” said Andrew Grossman, a partner with the firm of Baker & Hostetler, about allowing workers the right to opt out of such political organizations. “State governments and labor unions seem to have forgotten that. The Supreme Court should remind them.” (Read more)