Reason Foundation

May 21, 2016

Top Story

Arizona Voters Approve Major Overhaul of Public Safety Officers' Pensions

Constitutional amendment bypasses Arizona Supreme Court's ossification of public-employee pension rules

Alexander Volokh

Now we know that there's a constituency for meaningful pension reform, and that reforms can be politically feasible even if they include some retroactive changes.

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Air Traffic Control Newsletter #133

U.S. falling behind in ATC modernization | Weak arguments from status-quo defenders

Robert Poole

In this issue:

• U.S. falling behind in ATC modernization
• Weak arguments from status-quo defenders
• Progress on "union give-away" claims
• Civil/military cooperation in ATC
• Nav Canada model gains higher profile
• An ATC history lesson
• News Notes
• Quotable Quotes

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Surface Transportation News #151

Platooning and truck lanes | Mileage-based user fees making progress

Robert Poole

In this issue:

• Platooning and truck lanes
• Mileage-based user fees making progress
• Transit's declining ridership
• Time for road tunnels
• "Electric cars are coal-powered cars"
• Upcoming Transportation Events 
• News Notes
• Quotable Quotes

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How to Reform Illinois’ Nonviolent Class 4 Felony Statutes

Revising Illinois’ draconian sentencing rules for low-level, nonviolent drug possession and theft crimes.

Lauren Krisai

Over the past several decades, Illinois’ prison population has exploded. Between 1984 and 2014, inmate population increased by roughly 182 percent, while the state population only grew by 12 percent over the same time period.
This rapid increase in the prison population has come with numerous costs for the state: increased prison budgets, growth in the number of people cycling in and out of prison, wasted human capital and overall strain on a system that has become too big to manage.

One major first step in reversing this cycle is revising Illinois’ draconian sentencing rules for low-level, nonviolent drug possession and theft crimes. People convicted of these types of crimes, or Class 4 felonies, are the biggest driver behind Illinois’ prison population growth. Between 1989 and 2014, 55 percent of the increase in prison admissions was due to more individuals convicted of Class 4 felonies. Today, Class 4 felony offenders make up the largest sector of incoming inmates in Illinois, accounting for over 37.7 percent of all admissions. The percentage of inmates incarcerated for Class 4 felonies has shot up faster than any other felony class – these inmates made up 11.9 percent of Illinois’ prison population as of 2013, compared with 4.1 percent in 1993.

Illinois prisons are among the most overcrowded in the nation, which is dangerous for both inmates and staff. In 2014, the average cost of incarcerating each inmate per year in Illinois was $21,071, and the cost of maintaining the system ballooned to almost $1.4 billion per year. This figure does not include additional outside costs taxpayers bear, such as administrative costs, pension contributions, employee benefits and taxes, retiree health care contributions, and capital costs.

To address these problems, in February 2015, Gov. Bruce Rauner created a criminal- justice task force to identify areas of the criminal-justice system that could be reformed that would result in a 25 percent reduction in the prison population by 2025 – an ambitious task.

The best way to start would be to change how the state responds to low-level, nonviolent drug and property felonies – a modest yet necessary first step in making broader reforms.

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The Ecologically Destructive Estate Tax

How the federal estate tax is ecologically harmful and how to fix it.

Brian Seasholes

The ongoing debate over the federal estate tax tends to focus on the tax’s economic impacts, such as on small businesses, employment and capital formation, as well as the very small percentage it constitutes of federal tax receipts. Less well known, however, is the significant harm the estate tax does to the ecology of the United States.

Private lands, especially large, intact pieces of land, are critically important to ecological conservation. Conversely, land broken into smaller pieces is generally of less ecological value. Unfortunately, the estate tax results in private land being broken up, subdivided and sold. Over the past several decades it has become increasingly apparent that...

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Airport Policy and Security News #111

Will airports pull the plug on TSA screening? Airport privatization booming in Europe

Robert Poole

In this issue:

• Will airports pull the plug on TSA screening?
• Airport privatization booming in Europe
• Bill would end small-airport subsidies
• Lessons from the Brussels bombings
• Protecting airports from drone encounters
• When is a user fee actually a tax increase?
• News Notes
• Quotable Quotes

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The Paris Agreement: An Assessment

Examining the Paris climate deal and policy options that would better address the problem of climate change

Julian Morris

On December 12, 2015, government officials from 195 nations meeting in Paris, France, finalized a new agreement on climate change. This brief assesses the merits of the Paris Agreement in order to encourage informed debate about its ratification by signatory nations. It examines the nature and extent of the threat posed by climate change, the effectiveness of solutions adopted in Paris, and considers other, better solutions.

The brief begins with a concise history of the emergence of concern over climate change. This is followed by a status report on, first, the science of climate change and, second, economic analyses of the problem of climate change. It then assesses the Paris Agreement in light of the scientific and economic evidence. Finally, it explores some other policy options that would better address the problem of climate change.

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Surface Transportation News #150

Getting more bang for highway investment bucks | Emerging consensus on autonomous vehicles and VMT

Robert Poole

In this issue:

• Getting more bang for highway investment bucks
• Emerging consensus on autonomous vehicles and VMT
• Taking the teeth out of HOV/HOT performance requirements
• Barge operators want improvements without paying for them 
• Millennials are buying cars—what a surprise!
• Congestion's getting worse, and not just here.
• Upcoming Transportation Events
• News Notes
• Quotable Quotes

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