The War on Prices: “Junk fees” edition
One of the DFL’s signature achievements in the last legislative session was a ban on so-called “junk fees.” The Star Tribune reports: “All of us have seen this, especially online,”…
One of the DFL’s signature achievements in the last legislative session was a ban on so-called “junk fees.” The Star Tribune reports: “All of us have seen this, especially online,”…
First, the good news. MPR News reports that: Chief authors of legislation setting a minimum wage and employee protections for rideshare drivers in Minnesota announced Monday they’ve reached a deal…
Yesterday, I wrote about a bill being pushed by three DFL Senators — McEwen, Seeberger, and Hoffman — which would erect a costly regulatory apparatus to govern who could buy, sell, or use…
Last week, I released my new Policy Briefing, “Counteracting Regulatory Burdens,” which calls for state policymakers to enact a Pay-as-You-Go provision whereby new regulatory requirements or costs must be offset…
A state government has two categories of economic policy levers available to it: the first is fiscal policy, taxes and spending, and the second is regulatory policy. Burdens of regulation…
Of Minnesota’s many supposed “labor shortages,” one of the most pressing is the shortage of nurses. A recent op-ed in the Star Tribune argues: The reality is that Minnesota has…
I’ve written before that “Occupational licensing laws are barriers to entry which restrict new producers from coming into the market. This keeps prices artificially high, benefiting existing producers at the…
During the last legislative session, the Minnesota House and Senate managed to pass a bill so wacky that it was too much even for Governor Walz. The bill required that…
Senator Tina Smith may think that “Bidenomics” is working, but it doesn’t feel that way to the average American. Fox 9 ran a story recently titled “Americans are giving less…
It is ludicrous enough already that people are seriously touting Minnesota as the fifth-best state for business, but the situation is about to get even worse with the imposition of…
The Twin Cities have an affordable housing problem as the result of excessive taxes, fees, and regulations that effectively make it illegal to build affordable housing there. Occasionally, when I…
The 2023 legislative session saw a torrent of mostly bad policy passed into law. Gov. Walz, among others, called the session “Transformational” and I would not disagree. As I wrote…
We at the Center have written a lot about Minnesota’s relatively expensive housing. A recent article by Jim Buchta and MaryJo Webster for the Star Tribune explained how bad the situation is…
On housing and child care, Minnesotans face higher costs than many other Americans. In 2019, the average Minnesota family paid over $16,000 to keep a child at a day care…
Last year, my colleague Martha Njolomole noted that: Approximately 1 in every 5 Minnesotans has an occupation that requires a license. According to a 2017 report by the Institute of…
In our recently published report, American Experiment noted that the childcare crisis in Minnesota is largely due to excessive government regulations. Strict staff-child ratios and group size limits, as well…