Spence Purnell
Policy Analyst, Reason Foundation
Spence Purnell is a policy analyst at the Reason Foundation, where he works on pension reform, Florida policy issues and economic development.
Prior to joining Reason, Spence worked as director of business development at Florida startup Dealers United and as an analyst for the state of Florida's Executive Office of the Governor (Florida Gubernatorial Fellowship).
Spence graduated from Stetson University with a bachelors degree in political science and is working on an MPA at Florida State, where his research has focused on database infrastructure and analytics, economic development, and policy evaluation methods.
Purnell is based in Florida.
-
What States Can Learn From Black Market THC Products Causing Vaping-Related Illnesses
Entrepreneurs have shown that not every potentially harmful situation necessitates government regulations and that market solutions can be quickly and effectively devised.
-
States Handing Out Economic Development Incentives Aren’t Getting Results
Taxpayers deserve to know exactly how much is being spent by governments on incentive and tax break programs and what the return on that public investment exactly is.
-
What States Can Learn From California’s Expensive Financial Information System Failures
States possess vast amounts of financial and non-financial data, and the best way forward to manage all types of data would be to implement an Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary (OPEN) data policy.
-
Marijuana Taxation and Black Market Crowd-Out
Tax rates that elevate the price of legal marijuana significantly above black market prices prolong the presence of illegal markets and reduce government tax receipts.
-
How Cities Often Overstate the Economic Impact of Events and Facilities
Visit Sarasota estimates the World Rowing Championship generated $22 million in economic impact, while the official body of the championships calculated an impact of $7 million.
-
Consideration of XBRL and Structured Disclosures by Municipal Issuers
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board should accept and display Inline XBRL disclosures.
-
Missouri and Kansas End Economic Border War
Missouri and Kansas reach deal to stop using subsidies and tax incentives to get businesses to move across state lines.
-
Study Ranks Every State’s Highway System, Finds Road Conditions Worsening In Important Categories
North Dakota, Virginia and Missouri have the best performing, most cost-efficient state highway systems, while New Jersey, Rhode Island and Hawaii have the worst.
-
It Is Time to Stop Drug Testing Parolees and Probationers for Marijuana
Drug testing for marijuana does not serve public safety, imposes economic costs, and unnecessarily restricts civil liberties.