Two more points from the lieutenant governor’s press conference, yesterday, raise questions about the direction of health care and about what freedom requires.
The language of NFIB v. Sebelius ultimately requires the mandate tax to be a sort of property tax on one’s body, with a corresponding tax credit applied to income for those who purchase health insurance.
Justin appears on Rhode Island Public Radio’s Political Roundtable to discuss the Supreme Court’s ObamaCare ruling.
Lt. Gov. Liz Roberts’s claims that ObamaCare will expand coverage for small-business employees does not address how the law will affect different small businesses.
The claim that recent health care legislation signed into law last week adjusts depending on the Supreme Court’s pending decision on ObamaCare is a bit of an overstatement.
An attempt to consider whether Treasurer Gina Raimondo’s investment assumptions are reasonable leads to deeper (frightening) considerations.
With Education Commissioner Deborah Gist recommending that the charter expire for one of Rhode Island’s charter school specifically on the grounds of its math scores, the question arises whether private-sector methods and non-union teachers might underperform their public-school peers. Comparing several charter high schools in RI shows that the lesson may be the opposite.
A Gallup poll finding American confidence in public schools at an all-time low also points to a disconnect between Americans’ opinions of various institutions and the priorities of government.
Various national organizations have attempted to calculate unfunded liabilities for Rhode Island and other states across the nation. The differences are dramatic and indicate reason for concern.
The economic drag of legal uncertainty surrounding ObamaCare may be resolved with the Supreme Court’s pending ruling on its Constitutionality, but longer-term effects remain a concern.
RI’s employment slide stopped in May, but comparison with MA shows just how much ground it has to recover.
Under the radar, the state government of Rhode Island has gradually been reversing the workforce reduction achieved during Governor Carcieri’s second term.
Although enrollment is down in almost every Rhode Island city and town, expenditures have continued to grow at several times the rate of inflation.
NEA Executive Director Robert Walsh may disagree with findings of deteriorating opinions of teachers’ unions, but technology and events of recent years suggest reevaluation may be in order.
Trends in GDP growth for Rhode Island and three other New England states suggest that its general policy approaches during the last decade might be worth reconsidering.
In a mildly whimsical video blog, Justin explains pension fund discount rates and the risk associated with shooting too high.
As public officials debate the appropriate next steps for Woonsocket, the city’s local pension plan provides an example for caution.
The state government’s negotiated take from proposed casino games at Twin River and Newport Grand would provide a sliver of relief from a swath of loss and may not be worth the shift to full-scale casinos.
The final part of this series groups communities by income and population change, finding clear distinctions suggestive of different strategies for moving the state forward.
A quasi-public wind farm proposal is still flying below most Rhode islanders’ radar and changing shape from month to month, the latest idea being to make it a subsidiary of the EDC.
Part 2 of The Current’s long-running review of population and employment data assesses population, employment, and income trends across the cities and towns to develop a sense of how communities are shifting.
The Current’s long-running review of population and employment data can lead to better understanding of who is being affected by public policy in Rhode Island and how. Part 1 reviews how the cities and towns compare right now.
Not only has RI’s sharp drop in employment continued, but its trend is increasingly opposite that of the nation.
General Treasurer Gina Raimondo expresses concerns about a bill to bring Central Falls and other struggling pension systems into MERS.
Rhode Island has the seventh highest energy costs, and renewable energy standards are a likely contributor.
During no period, from 1965 to 2000, did young, single college graduates increase in number in Rhode Island, according to the U.S. Census.
Legislation bringing Central Falls and other municipalities into MERS limits pension cuts to 25% and may set precedent for repeated state bailouts.
Government and public administration has moved up to 2nd on a list of fraud-prone industries, with health care and education climbing quickly.
A bill by Sen. Crowley and the Dept. of Revenue would allow cities and towns to use the state oversight process to move retirees into the state-run MERS pension system.
In keeping with past experience, Kauffman/Thumbtack study finds RI to be dead last in the nation for small business friendliness.