Our staff and volunteers have been hard at work making phone calls and knocking on doors to spread the ideas of economic freedom, and it’s paying off! Here’s a list of all the victories we’ve had in the states so far this year:
Alaska
- Initiated and successfully passed a ballot initiative that restored the Anchorage tax cap
Arizona
- Passed campaign finance bills that promote free speech and protect non-profit organizations from regulations and requirements implemented by an unelected “Clean” Elections Committee
- Passed a home rental bill (like AirBnB, HomeAway, etc.) that protects individual property rights from overregulation by local governments
- Passed a bill that removes the requirement for public notices on businesses
Arkansas
- Stopped an 8 cent, $160 million per year gas tax hike and convinced lawmakers to use existing funds for infrastructure
- Stopped an $18 million/year sales tax increase for public transit in Pulaski County
Colorado
- Protected taxpayer’s rights found in TABOR by defeating plan to bail out Obamacare Medicaid expansion
Florida
- Killed the governor’s massive $250 million slush fund (Enterprise Florida)
- Grassroots efforts saved taxpayers over $1 billion
- Of 32 bills AFP Florida opposed, not one passed
- Prevented the allocation of $12 million taxpayer dollars for pro sports stadium
Georgia
- Secured the ability of Georgia’s home schooled students to be eligible for the HOPE scholarship
- Advocated for the passage of Right to Try legislation to allow individuals who are sick to try drugs and treatments that currently aren’t approved by the FDA but are in the testing phase
- Successfully protected the First Amendment’s freedom of speech provisions
Illinois
- Defeated 14 tax or debt hikes, saving taxpayers $39M in bonds and $5.76M in increased property/sales taxes annually
- Defeated attempt to pass a constitutional amendment establishing a “Millionaire’s Tax”
- Assisted Governor’s Office in defeating an effort to override his veto of legislation to strip the Governor of his negotiating power with AFSCME, the union representing state government workers
- Defeated attempt to replace the flat income tax with a progressive tax
Indiana
- Stopped the gas tax hike and convinced lawmakers to use existing funds for infrastructure
- Repealed Prevailing Wage law
Kansas
- Blocked Medicaid expansion
- Blocked the reinstatement of the income tax on small businesses
- Moved up the implementation date to 2017 when cities and counties will need voter approval for property tax increases above the rate of inflation while eliminating loopholes
- Prohibited any work in the state in complying with EPA rule 111(d)
- Prohibited municipalities from instituting property price controls
- Helped pass welfare reform
- Eliminated the Kansas Electric Transmission Authority
- Instituted performance-based budgeting
Kentucky
- Defeated occupational licensing requirements for hair braiders
- Stopped a restaurant tax expansion
Minnesota
- Stopped a bill that would restrict free speech by drastically expanding the kinds of communication that would be regulated by the Campaign Finance Board and expand disclosure requirements to issue-focused organizations
- Halted a 16 cent gas tax
- Stopped a new payroll tax on 80 percent of employers/workers to fund the creation of new government bureaucracy
Mississippi
- Successfully led the fight against proposals for $375 million in tax increases, including calls for a massive gas tax hike
- Advocated for the passage of “The Taxpayer Pay Raise Act.” The law, once fully implemented, will result in $415 million in annual tax relief–the largest tax cut in Mississippi history. It includes the elimination of the punitive franchise tax
- Actively lobbied for the passage of an expansion of Mississippi’s public charter school law to permit students in failing schools to cross district lines to attend a public charter in another district
- Supported the passage of legislation that permits ridesharing companies to operate in Mississippi, providing consumers with additional choices
Missouri
- Stopped gas tax hike and utility rate hike
- Defeated multiple first amendment threats
Nebraska
- Stopped Medicaid expansion
New Hampshire
- Ended taxation of sale of businesses
- Quadrupled depreciation exemptions
- Passed major civil asset forfeiture reform
- Ended Certificate-Of-Need Board
- Stripped funding for passenger rail from capital budget
New Jersey
- Defeated a county mandate on businesses which would require union-sponsored programs for any eligible bidders of public works projects
- Held off a 23 cents per gallon/ $1.3 billion total gas tax hike
- Kept a dangerous constitutional amendment that would have impeded any meaningful pension reform off November’s ballot
North Carolina
- Defeated Rep. Renee Ellmers after Ellmers abandoned limited-government principles she was elected on and instead aligned herself with special interests in Washington
- Successfully fought for a third income tax cut since 2013
Pennsylvania
- Successfully fought to keep an income and sales tax increase out of the FY 2016-2017 budget
- Advocated for a bill that will block the Department of Environmental Protection from continuing to develop a State Improvement Plan in compliance with the EPA Clean Power Rule. DEP continued to develop rule despite SCOTUS ruling.
- Fought for the passage of a no tax-hike FY 2015-2016 budget, despite repeated vetoes from Governor Wolf and attempts form some Republican lawmakers to pass tax-hike budgets
- Supported a bill to bring transparency to union contracts by giving the Independent Fiscal Office authority to analyze and publicly share the costs of state union contracts
- Supported a bill that would have allowed school districts to consider teacher quality in layoff decisions. Currently, PA law says seniority is the ONLY factor that can be considered. Governor Wolf vetoed the Protect Excellent Teachers Act
South Carolina
- Beat the gas tax
- Protected attempts to stifle First Amendment rights
South Dakota
- Blocked an attempt at expanding Obamacare Medicaid
Tennessee
- Reduced occupational licensing through the signing of the Right to Earn a Living Act into law
- Eliminated the Hall Income Tax, the state’s only income tax
- Beat the gas tax
Utah
- Passed equal funding for charter schools
- Stopped an internet sales tax
- Defeated e-cigarette tax increase
Virginia
- Successfully advocated for a no tax hike budget
- Supported Senate passage of a vote to increase parental education choice
West Virginia
- Passed right-to-work legislation
- Passed occupational licensing reform giving APRNs the ability to practice to their full scope of training helping to provide more affordable healthcare options for rural communities
- Passed prevailing wage repeal for public construction projects
- Passed an interim study on state implementation of Education Savings Accounts
- Prevented portions of an omnibus tax hike deal
Wisconsin
- Defended citizens’ property rights through a bill that solidifies the rights of everyday property owners against an overreaching government
- Supported passage of the BASE Act, a bill that adds accountability and transparency to the state budget writing process
- Passed civil service reform
- Supported the passage of Government Accountability Board (GAB) Reform through a bill that restores accountability and transparency to the way Wisconsin regulates political speech and elections
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