Ron DeSantis’ Silly Drug Importation Idea

Ron DeSantis proposed in November 2020 to import drugs from Canada for state agencies such as Medicaid, prisons and other public healthcare programs. The goal is to save $150 million in state taxpayer funds. But the Biden administration seems unlikely to approve the plan, and the FDA has raised objections. Here's why the DeSantis plan will not — and cannot — save even a dollar.

Pioneer Institute Statement on the State Legislature’s FY2024 Tax Relief Package

The recent advancement of a tax bill H. 4104, that is expected to be enacted by the Legislature this week after languishing for more than 20 months, puts Massachusetts taxpayers one step closer to realizing some tax relief. However, it may be too little to tackle the Commonwealth’s affordability and competitiveness challenges.

Ruining Research Rewards: Price Controls Come for University Patents and Products

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute Senior Fellow Dr. Bill Smith about the benefit of the Bayh-Dole Act’s protection of intellectual property rights for university research patents and the risk posed to the nation and the local economy from recent efforts to consider price controls on products developed from patented discoveries.

Virtual Policy Briefing: Exploring the Intersection of Vocational-Technical Education and the Life Sciences Sector

Massachusetts is the nation’s leader in vocational-technical schooling and home to the most dynamic life sciences sector in America. We invite you to join us for a webinar on the nexus between the Bay State’s educational, life science, and competitive human capital needs in the 21st-century global economy.

University Science Research Is Under Threat

The Biden administration's formation of a working group to “develop a framework for the implementation of the march-in provision of the Bayh-Dole Act" could have serious adverse consequences for university research and biopharmaceutical innovation. It represents a particularly dangerous threat to the thriving life sciences cluster in Greater Boston.

Pioneer Study: Adopt Innovative Approaches to Address K-12 STEM Teacher Shortage

States and school districts should look to innovations like endowing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) chairs in high schools to address a growing K-12 teacher shortage, according to a new white paper published by Pioneer Institute.

Pioneer Institute Objects to Ballot Petitions on Rent Control and MCAS

Pioneer Institute today filed with Attorney General Andrea Campbell letters expressing opposition to certification of two ballot initiative petitions, one relating to rent control and the other proposing the elimination of MCAS testing as a condition for graduation from a public high school, because both initiative petitions, as drafted, are unconstitutional.

A History of Massachusetts’ Peculiar Beach Access Laws

Massachusetts rivals Maine for the lowest percentage of publicly owned and accessible coastal land. What seems a geographic coincidence is actually the product of contentious property rights disputes going back nearly 400 years, to the days of Puritan law.

Sabotaging Strategic Success: How Price Controls Could Imperil U.S. Pharma Industry

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Director of Life Sciences Initiative Dr. Bill Smith about the policies that drove biopharmaceutical company from Europe to the U.S., and how proposed, similar price controls in President Biden’s Fair Prices Act could distort incentives away from innovation and threaten the success of a thriving and vital U.S. industry.

Changes to the Confounding Massachusetts Estate Tax

Policymakers on Beacon Hill have many visions of tax relief for this fiscal year, and all of them include changing the estate taxes. What are those changes, and what would their impact be?

The War on Math in Boston-Area School Boards

Despite long-standing bipartisan agreement that all students need and deserve challenging curricula for educational success, many Boston-area school boards are dismantling advanced math programs in the name of equity and inclusion; such moves only exacerbate educational disparities while ignoring the persisting achievement gaps across racial demographics.

Senator Sanders’ Outdated Focus on List Prices of Prescription Drugs

Senator Bernie Sanders and his advisors have not caught onto the fact that the problem for consumers and patients is no longer the list prices of prescription drugs but skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs due to health insurance benefit design.

Can Massachusetts Reverse the Decline in U.S. History and Civics Performance?

Massachusetts — home to so much history, including seminal events such as the Boston Tea Party — has much to be proud of in its own students’ history and civics performance. Even as policymakers have supplanted typical curricular standards with “engagement” mandates that students participate in progressive activism, national attitudes towards Massachusetts’ civic education have remained envious.

Cheap, Efficient, Effective: The Lessons from the PVTA and WRTA

The MBTA is recognized as one of the best transit systems in the nation. It's not perfect, however: comparisons to other Massachusetts transit systems can indicate the MBTA's flaws and highlight the regional authorities' strengths.

Baking Young Minds: Scientific Concerns for Cannabis on Kids

Joe Selvaggi talks with professor of psychiatry Dr. Ryan Sultan about the findings of his recently released study on the effects of cannabis on the mental health of American adolescents. Dr. Sultan’s work shows a substantial correlation between cannabis use and negative mental health outcomes.

A Bird’s Eye View: Massachusetts K-12 Education by County

Massachusetts has had the best public school system in the country for the past two decades: along with some of the highest per pupil spending as well. Among the counties, does high per pupil spending translate to better results? The short answer: not really.

Study: Update Finds Boston Public Schools Making Slow, Uneven Progress

The Boston Public Schools (BPS) are experiencing some positive change but have a long way to go to streamline critical processes, improve school accountability, and create a realistic, school-centered budget, according to a new study from Pioneer Institute.

Senate Tax Package Misses the Mark on Competitiveness

The Senate tax package, S.2397, is heavy on provisions that reduce the tax burden for certain taxpayers, thereby helping those that qualify for the expanded credits and deductions. The bill, however, is light on provisions that will improve the Commonwealth’s competitiveness.

Study: Immigrant Entrepreneurs Benefit N.E. Economy, Despite Facing Obstacles to Growth

BOSTON – Immigrants in Massachusetts and New England are more likely to be self-employed, but the businesses they own tend to be in different industries than those owned by the U.S. born, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

The MassLottery: A Bay Stater’s Favorite Pastime

The Massachusetts lottery made $5.9 billion in 2021, making it the fourth-highest source of revenue for the state. This confirms a long-standing trend: that Massachusettans love to play the lottery.

Dodging Debt Default: Who Won Congressional Cage Match Compromise

Joe Selvaggi talks with CATO Institute budget expert Chris Edwards about the details of the newly passed Fiscal Responsibility Act, which avoids crossing the debt ceiling in exchange for slowing spending growth.

Tilting Offshore Windmills: Speaking Truth to Ratepayers

Joe Selvaggi talks with energy economist Dr. Jonathan Lesser about the chasm between the promises and realities of offshore wind projects, including the likely increased costs passed to electricity consumers and taxpayers.

Picking Patients’ Pockets: Exposing Insurance Schemes Targeting Orphan Diseases

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s senior Health Care Fellows Dr. Bill Smith and Dr. Robert Popovian about their white paper "Out-of-Pocket Pirates: Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and the Confiscation of Out-of-Pocket Assistance Programs." This episode explores what consumers and regulators can do to ensure those with rare diseases are not left without assistance.

Erec Smith on the Rhetoric of Anti-racist Activism

Joe Selvaggi talks with York College of Pennsylvania Associate Professor Eric Smith about the disempowering effects of modern anti-racism movement and the challenges for thought leaders who espouse more constructive narratives.

Opinion: Drug patents aren’t a ‘necessary evil.’ They save lives.

Drug patents are one of the most important public policy innovations in all of human history, and a boon to patients awaiting cures. Inventions only come when inventors are rewarded, not punished. Patents are not a “necessary evil.”

Study: Net Out-Migration of Wealth from Massachusetts Nearly Quintupled from 2012-2021

IRS data reveals that net out-migration from Massachusetts is accelerating rapidly and is greatest among affluent residents who pay the most in state taxes, according to a Pioneer Institute analysis. Between 2019 and 2021, Massachusetts rose from ninth to fourth among all states in net out-migration of wealth, behind only California, New York, and Illinois.

Study: High List Prices and Deep Discounts for Prescription Drugs Hurt Poor and Sick Patients

A new Pioneer Institute study illustrates how the current system of drug pricing and discounts leads to patients with challenging diseases being charged huge out-of-pocket sums to keep other premiums low, effectively imposing financial penalties on the sick to protect the healthy and wealthy.

Massachusetts’ Misguided Middle-Class Health Insurance Subsidy Expansion

A proposal on Beacon Hill to expand insurance subsidies up to 500 percent of the federal poverty level, could push the small business insurance market into a death spiral, without reducing the number of uninsured and hurting those with preexisting conditions.

Bank of Big Brother: Exploring a National Digital Currency Future

Joe Selvaggi talks with financial privacy and digital currency expert Nicholas Anthony of CATO Institute Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives about the potential benefits and risks were the U.S. to adopt a national digital currency.

Transparency, Please! MBTA Resists Disclosure of Arbitration Award

Joe Selvaggi talks with attorney for Pioneer Public Interest Law Center (PPILC) John La Liberte, about the work he did to successfully gain access to the MBTA retirement fund’s arbitration agreement after a seven-month legal struggle.