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Backgrounders

View all policy studies.

  • Updated Arizona K-12 education finance model with latest school finance and transportation data
    Updated Arizona K-12 education finance model with latest school finance and transportation data

    The model allows users to test changes to Arizona’s funding formula, see how changes to local property taxes impact funding, and see how potential changes affect the funding of individual school districts and charter schools.

    By Christian Barnard
    April 7, 2023

  • Preserving and expanding the benefits of airline deregulation
    Preserving and expanding the benefits of airline deregulation

    Three reforms Congress could make to expand the benefits of airline deregulation.

    By Marc Scribner
    April 6, 2023

  • Montana House Bill 226 would modernize the Public Employees Retirement System
    Montana House Bill 226 would modernize the Public Employees Retirement System

    By Leonard Gilroy and Steven Gassenberger
    March 21, 2023

  • Why New Mexico House Bill 547’s tax increases undermine public health
    Why New Mexico House Bill 547’s tax increases undermine public health

    The taxes in the bill would hurt efforts to reduce the smoking of traditional cigarettes and disproportionately harm low-income families.

    By Guy Bentley
    March 17, 2023

  • Montana reform would improve pension funding and retirement savings for public employees
    Montana reform would improve pension funding and retirement savings for public employees

    Montana House Bill 226 would adopt actuarially determined employer contributions funding to guarantee benefits are fully funded within a specified timeframe.

    By Steven Gassenberger
    March 14, 2023

  • Actuarially determined contributions would reverse Montana’s pension debt trends
    Actuarially determined contributions would reverse Montana’s pension debt trends

    By Leonard Gilroy and Steven Gassenberger
    March 13, 2023

  • Clearing up definitions of backpack funding
    Clearing up definitions of backpack funding

    Without strong funding portability mechanisms, school districts have weak financial incentives to welcome transfer students.

    By Christian Barnard
    March 1, 2023

  • Modeling methodology and approach to analysis of public retirement systems
    Modeling methodology and approach to analysis of public retirement systems

    The Pension Integrity Project uses custom-built actuarial and employee benefit models that are tailored to reflect each unique retirement system.

    By Leonard Gilroy and Zachary Christensen
    February 17, 2023

  • Alaska House Bill 28 would help provide justice for those harmed by marijuana prohibition
    Alaska House Bill 28 would help provide justice for those harmed by marijuana prohibition

    Alaska lags behind other states when it comes to mitigating the harms done by marijuana prohibition.

    By Vittorio Nastasi
    February 17, 2023

  • Pension changes in House Bill 22 and Senate Bill 35 threaten Alaska’s budgets
    Pension changes in House Bill 22 and Senate Bill 35 threaten Alaska’s budgets

    HB 22 and SB 35 could cost Alaska upwards of $800 million in the coming decades.

    By Ryan Frost and Leonard Gilroy
    February 9, 2023

  • Scrutinizing NDPERS’ cost claims on House Bill 1040
    Scrutinizing NDPERS’ cost claims on House Bill 1040

    NDPERS is choosing to adopt the costliest interpretation of HB 1040 and is cherry-picking the worst from a range of actuarial cost estimates to scare away proponents.

    By Leonard Gilroy and Ryan Frost
    February 7, 2023

  • Does the defined contribution plan in North Dakota’s HB 1040 meet gold standards?
    Does the defined contribution plan in North Dakota’s HB 1040 meet gold standards?

    Examining the the proposed contribution rate, portability, enrollment options and other retirement plan features in North Dakota's House Bill 1040.

    By Ryan Frost
    January 24, 2023

  • Does North Dakota House Bill 1040 meet the objectives for good pension reform?
    Does North Dakota House Bill 1040 meet the objectives for good pension reform?

    The bill would help ensure North Dakota has the ability to pay 100% of the benefits earned and accrued by active workers and retirees.

    By Ryan Frost
    January 24, 2023

  • Examining the pension reform benefits of North Dakota House Bill 1040
    Examining the pension reform benefits of North Dakota House Bill 1040

    HB 1040 would shift NDPERS to an actuarially sound method of funding, ensuring the state can deliver on its promises to members and retirees.

    By Ryan Frost and Leonard Gilroy
    January 24, 2023

  • Protecting customer privacy in mileage-based user fee collection
    Protecting customer privacy in mileage-based user fee collection

    Policymakers and the public have expressed concerns about road user privacy in mileage fee systems, especially those that involve a location-based component.

    By Marc Scribner
    January 3, 2023

  • How express toll lanes benefit drivers
    How express toll lanes benefit drivers

    Today, 60 express toll lane projects across the country are providing commuters with faster and more reliable alternative to congested highway lanes.

    By Robert Poole and Baruch Feigenbaum
    December 12, 2022

  • HOV lanes have failed to reduce traffic congestion or emissions
    HOV lanes have failed to reduce traffic congestion or emissions

    Carpooling plummeted from 19.7% of commuters in 1980 to only 8.9% in 2019.

    By Baruch Feigenbaum and Robert Poole
    December 12, 2022

  • Steps to protect public finance from ESG activism
    Steps to protect public finance from ESG activism

    Public pension systems are particularly exposed to the risks associated with ESG and politically-driven investing strategies.

    By Pension Integrity Project
    November 18, 2022

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