Foundations
Foundations
Here's a look at documents from U.S. foundations
Featured Stories
Statement From Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, on Ebola Outbreak
NEW YORK, May 20 -- The Rockefeller Foundation posted the following statement by President Rajiv J. Shah on Ebola outbreak:* * *
Statement From Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, on Ebola Outbreak
The news that the current Ebola outbreak in Central Africa may have circulated undetected for weeks and is now crossing borders is a reckoning for everyone with a stake in global health -- from leaders at the World Health Assembly this week to heads of state, local health departments, frontline clinics, and each of us. Pandemic prevention is in all our interests: The Rockefeller ... Show Full Article NEW YORK, May 20 -- The Rockefeller Foundation posted the following statement by President Rajiv J. Shah on Ebola outbreak: * * * Statement From Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, on Ebola Outbreak The news that the current Ebola outbreak in Central Africa may have circulated undetected for weeks and is now crossing borders is a reckoning for everyone with a stake in global health -- from leaders at the World Health Assembly this week to heads of state, local health departments, frontline clinics, and each of us. Pandemic prevention is in all our interests: The RockefellerFoundation urges leaders at the WHA and beyond to take urgent action to make it a reality.
Twelve years ago, Ebola reminded the world the hard way of what happens when we are unprepared. That outbreak killed more than 11,000 people across West Africa, infected more than twice that many, and reached American shores. Many of us pledged to never let such an outbreak happen again.
In the years since, countries across Africa have made real strides on regional laboratory and surveillance systems. The United States and many others have also supported that work through overseas development assistance and other avenues. For example, U.S.-supported programs led by USAID helped countries detect outbreaks earlier, trace contacts faster, strengthen laboratories, and train frontline health workers.
The disease threat has not changed: Ebola and other viruses do not respect borders, politics, ideology, or any transactional deals. But we've let our frontline defenses down. Last year, countries, including the United States, cut overseas development assistance by $40 billion, including for health services. That's historic decimation of what we know works to prevent viruses and other threats from breaking out.
At The Rockefeller Foundation, we believe we can urgently work together to protect people everywhere. The answer is not to rebuild the old system but to build a smarter one -- pairing AI-powered surveillance, genomic sequencing, and real-time data with strong local health systems and sustained investment in frontline capacity, especially in fragile regions where outbreaks spread fastest.
This is not charity, it's common sense. Recent polling found 88% of Americans and 91% of people worldwide believe international cooperation is essential to tackling outbreaks. We are ready to work with anyone who shares that conviction. The time is now.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/statement-from-rajiv-j-shah-president-of-the-rockefeller-foundation-on-ebola-outbreak/
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Payback Time
DETROIT, Michigan, May 20 -- The Foundation for Economic Education issued the following commentary by Mark Nayler, freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain:* * *
Payback Time
The Spanish government's diversionary tactics.
*
Spain was the second-largest beneficiary of the EU's Next Generation funding scheme (NGEU), rolled out in 2021 to help member states recover from pandemic-era lockdowns. Its total allocation was Euros163 billion ($190 billion, after Italy, which received Euros194 billion, or about $226 billion), enabling Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez to unveil a ... Show Full Article DETROIT, Michigan, May 20 -- The Foundation for Economic Education issued the following commentary by Mark Nayler, freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain: * * * Payback Time The Spanish government's diversionary tactics. * Spain was the second-largest beneficiary of the EU's Next Generation funding scheme (NGEU), rolled out in 2021 to help member states recover from pandemic-era lockdowns. Its total allocation was Euros163 billion ($190 billion, after Italy, which received Euros194 billion, or about $226 billion), enabling Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez to unveil arecord-breaking budget for 2022, boosted with the first Euros26 billion ($30 billion) from this historic program.
Yet from the beginning, Spain's deployment of NGEU money, access to which depends on hitting investment targets set by Brussels (most of them designed to further the EU's green agenda), has been surrounded by controversy. The latest scandal over Madrid's alleged misuse of these funds has highlighted one of the most contentious issues in the bloc--namely, the viability of mutual debt schemes. With negotiations already underway over the next EU budget, during which NGEU repayments kick in, the debate has assumed a greater urgency than ever before.
Earlier this month, the Spanish Court of Auditors (ECA) published a report on the spending activities of Sanchez's government throughout 2024. Its most explosive allegation was that Euros2.4 billion ($2.8 billion) was diverted from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)--the main funding instrument of the Next Gen scheme--to cover civil service pensions. In total, it is alleged that Madrid redirected around Euros10 billion ($11.65 billion) of Brussels's money to cover welfare costs.
Madrid insists that diverting EU funds earmarked for investment to cover budgetary costs is "routine and fully lawful." Surprisingly, Brussels has backed this claim. Raffaele Fitto, the EU Commission's Vice President for Cohesion and Reforms, maintains that "it could be possible for member states to temporarily use some of the liquidity from RRF disbursements to cover other budgetary outlays," and that doing so would have "no impact on the protection of EU funds." As the EU examines the Spanish auditors' report, several of the bloc's more hardline members have reacted with fury to its contents.
"If these allegations are confirmed," said Tomas Zdechovsky, a Czech member of the center-right European People's Party (EPP) and the EU Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee, "we are facing a serious abuse of European taxpayers' money." Dirk Gotink, a Dutch member of the EPP, said that, if true, the Spanish auditors' claims "would confirm our worst fears about these funds." Alice Weidel, leader of Alternative fur Deutschland, posted on X that "German taxpayer's money is financing socialist mismanagement in Europe," while Michael Jager, president of the European Taxpayers' Association, called it a "first-order scandal."
Even if the diversion of EU funds into Spain's pension pot was legal, it still shows the problems caused by Sanchez's lack of fiscal mandate. His minority coalition relies on the support of mercurial independence parties from Catalonia and the Basque country, and has not been able to pass a budget since 2023. The auditors cite this fiscal paralysis in their report, saying that the rollover spending plan of 2024 "caused uncertainty regarding the applicability... of certain rules linked to budget management." For opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Sanchez's repeated failure to pass budgets is unconstitutional--evidence of his determination to cling to power whatever the cost.
The duration of his budgetary vacuum coincides with what the Spanish think tank Funcas calls a "downward trend in spending agility" in Spain's execution of RRF funds. In 2022, the year of that historically bloated welfare budget, only 30% of Madrid's NGEU money was disbursed; in 2023, that figure dropped to 24.5%; and in 2024 to 22%. In July 2024, the ECA named Spain as the least effective spender of EU funds, and demanded that it return or repay those which had not been used properly.
There are also concerns about opacity and corruption. As early as February 2023, Monika Hohlmeier, Chairwoman of the EU Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control, traveled to Madrid in an attempt to ascertain where Spain's NGEU money was going. The EU is also investigating the possibility that RRF funds were misused in connection with the Koldo corruption scandal, in which two of Sanchez's former allies are charged with receiving kickbacks on face mask contracts during the pandemic (the trials are complete and a verdict is expected in the coming weeks).
This is not just a domestic matter. The Spanish auditors' report has come at a difficult time for European finances, with the bloc's current budget, or Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), expiring in 2027. Under the next MFF, which will cover the period 2028-34, repayment of the Euros750 billion ($874 billion) debt issued on international markets to fund the NGEU scheme is set to begin (the bonds will continue maturing up to 2058, guaranteeing the next generation of EU taxpayers a financial burden, if nothing else). Spain is one of several members that want to delay the inevitable.
For Spain's Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo, NGEU is a model for how the bloc should operate going forward. He has recently called for long-term joint EU debt issuance, claiming that it would result in Euros25 billion in annual savings. Cuerpo is backed by France and Greece, both of which also support more mutual debt or postponing NGEU repayments. Last month, French president Emmanuel Macron said it was "idiotic" to start repaying Euros25 billion ($29 billion) a year from 2028, while his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis rhetorically asked: "What sense does it make right now to go and repay the Recovery Fund, thereby eating into the budget for the next six years, when we have no reason to do so...?"
Here are two reasons to do so: 1) that the bonds that funded NGEU's "non-repayable" grants start maturing in 2028; and 2) that there are concerns that large chunks of this money have been wasted or not spent at all. According to the ECA, only about half of NGEU funds paid out to national governments have reached their final recipients. Incredibly, there is confusion over what counts as a "final recipient," with some member states seeing it as companies or public entities (surely correctly), and others taking it to mean the governmental departments responsible for disbursing the funds--or, in many cases, just sitting on them. The ECA claims that the Next Gen scheme has had practically zero impact on European economies, and that the "absence of a dedicated source of EU funding" will place enormous strain on future EU budgets.
Then there's the proliferation of private-sector fraud. By the end of last year, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) had launched 518 investigations tied to the RRF facility, representing almost a quarter of its total cases. EPPO estimates the damage to the EU's finances at Euros5 billion ($5.8 billion), with procurement fraud the most common offense, typically facilitated by the forgery of invoices or contracts.
It will be several more years before the efficacy of the NGEU program can be properly assessed. The evidence so far, however, indicates that bureaucracy, political deadlock, and corruption have severely diluted its economic impact. The EU's immediate focus should be on working out a sustainable repayment program, not channeling more jointly-financed debt to unknown destinations.
* * *
Mark Nayler is a freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain. He writes regularly for The Spectator and Times Literary Supplement and is working on a biography of the philosopher Bryan Magee, due to be published by Bloomsbury (London) in 2028.
* * *
Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/payback-time/
Rockefeller Foundation Awarded $350M+ to Reach 731 Million People Amid 2025's Historic Decline in Global Aid
NEW YORK, May 19 (TNSrep) -- The Rockefeller Foundation posted the following news release on May 17, 2026:* * *
Rockefeller Foundation Awarded US$350M+ to Reach 731 Million People Amid 2025's Historic Decline in Global Aid
2025 Impact Report, "Big Bets, Real Results," highlights $32 billion in total capital mobilized into solutions for millions of people in Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, Europe, the United States, and more
*
The Rockefeller Foundation today released its 2025 impact report, Big Bets, Real Results, detailing a year of strategic investments aimed at lifting up ... Show Full Article NEW YORK, May 19 (TNSrep) -- The Rockefeller Foundation posted the following news release on May 17, 2026: * * * Rockefeller Foundation Awarded US$350M+ to Reach 731 Million People Amid 2025's Historic Decline in Global Aid 2025 Impact Report, "Big Bets, Real Results," highlights $32 billion in total capital mobilized into solutions for millions of people in Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, Europe, the United States, and more * The Rockefeller Foundation today released its 2025 impact report, Big Bets, Real Results, detailing a year of strategic investments aimed at lifting upsome of the world's most vulnerable people and solving humanity's most persistent problems. The report details the Foundation's 2025 work, including big bets on Universal Energy Abundance, Food is Medicine in the United States Regenerative School Meals around the world, to accelerate the reach of frontier technology, community-driven models, and decisive data across its core focus areas. Amid a volatile global landscape and a historic decline in global aid, the 113-year-old philanthropic organization successfully awarded more than US$350 million, directly mobilized US$3 billion, and helped mobilize an additional US$29 billion in indirect capital -- reaching 731 million people worldwide.
"Disruption changes how we work, but not who we work for. Last year the world's commitment to helping those in need contracted sharply -- and people who depended on this paid the price. But it also revealed the uncommon courage of leaders across the United States, Africa, Asia, and Latin America who chose to raise their ambitions and go big. We are proud to stand with them and share this report, which proves it is still possible to deliver results at scale for vulnerable people, despite the disruption that makes their lives worse and our work harder," said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. Read his full statement here.
2025 Impact by the Numbers
The Foundation awarded more than $350 million across 235 grants and program-related investments to 204 unique partners in 2025. The following metrics highlight the reach, capital mobilization, and environmental outcomes of the 2025 portfolio:
* Results for People: 731 million people accessed or used a charitable product or service funded by the Foundation. Of those reached, 3 million people experienced a clear, measurable outcome from a direct intervention.
* Unlocking Investment: The Foundation directly mobilized $3 billion and helped scale concepts that indirectly mobilized an additional $29 billion in capital -- $32 billion in total--for charitable interventions through the work of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and other partners.
* Protecting the Planet: Efforts resulted in 84 million tons of CO2e -- a metric that accounts for the total global warming potential of all greenhouse gases avoided, reduced, or sequestered -- and 23 million hectares of land protected or restored, an area roughly the size of Utah, the United Kingdom, Ghana, Laos, or Guyana.
* Global Funding Reach: Charitable investments reached every major region, including more than $133 million in Africa; $93 million in Asia and Oceania; $59 million in Latin America and the Caribbean; and $49 million in the United States and North America. Detailed regional breakdowns are available in the Full 2025 Financial Overview.
"When the world pulls back, philanthropy has to lean in," said Elizabeth Yee, Executive Vice President of The Rockefeller Foundation. "From AI-powered disease alerts in Latin America to school meals in Kenya and clean energy in Haiti, 2025 showed that the right investments -- made with the right partners -- deliver results at scale, strengthen markets, and create curable impact for communities."
Stories from the Field: Human Impact in Action
The 2025 report highlights the individuals at the center of the Foundation's work and its 'Big Bets' organized across three strategic pillars:
1. Frontier Tech: Bridging the public-private gap to ensure the latest technological breakthroughs reach the people who will benefit most, first.
2. Community-Driven Models: Strengthening local systems and infrastructure to ensure lasting progress is led by and for the communities it serves.
3. Decisive Data: Tapping into unconventional data and evidence to enable the swift decision-making required to save lives and scale world-changing ideas.
To access the full list of stories, click here (https://impactreport.rockefellerfoundation.org/stories/global-energy-alliance-mesh-grids), with following snapshots illustrating this work in action:
* Universal Energy Abundance (India, Zambia, Haiti): With Foundation support, the Global Energy Alliance is helping scale India's first standalone utility-scale battery energy storage system in New Delhi, India, which has helped 100,000+ people access reliable electricity. In Zambia families now are able to operate their oil extractors using clean, affordable solar power -- producing and selling cooking oils to their community, at a fraction of the cost. As result of investing modular, solar-powered mesh grids in northwest Haiti, 21,000 people were connected to reliable electricity. Together, these innovations are providing the reliable power necessary to stabilize grids and support livelihoods. Globally, the expected lifetime impact for all deployed and deployment-ready Alliance projects includes 91 million people reached with new or improved energy access, jobs and livelihoods improved for 3.1 million people, and approximately 296 million tonnes of carbon emissions prevented.
* Regenerative School Meals (Global): In Makueni County, Kenya, the introduction of omena fish into school menus through Lattice Aquaculture is helping small-scale producers stabilize food supply chains and improve student nutrition. The Foundation's partnership with the World Food Programme is helping improve how children are fed in Benin, Burundi, Ghana, Honduras, India, and Rwanda, ensuring every plate of food creates positive ripple effects, and the results show up where they matter most: in classrooms and communities.
* Food is Medicine (United States): Community Servings provides over a million medically tailored, nutritious, homemade meals every year to chronically- and critically-ill individuals in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Because Food is Medicine programs need to be covered by both public and private health insurance in order to be accessible to eligible people across the U.S., the American Heart Association's Health Care by Food initiative supported 28 studies across the country -- including in Alabama, California, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, and Texas -- to generate evidence on which Food is Medicine programs are most effective.
* Climate-Smart Tech (Brazil, India, Kenya, United States): AI-powered app, FarmerChat, created by Digital Green, provides real-time, multilingual guidance, tailored to a farmer's specific location and weather conditions. Last year, 83% of women users reported being much more confident investing in their farms because of FarmerChat, which had more than 1.6 million downloads and handled more than 10 million queries across six countries, including Brazil, India, and Kenya. Across the United States, the Foundation supported Invest in Our Future to advance clean energy projects across 45 states, reaching more than 770 counties and 400 cities and towns.
* Embracing Local Practices to Speed Reforestation (Brazil): In northeastern Brazil, Health in Harmony is supporting women-led coalitions of forest guardians to establish nurseries to reverse rainforest deforestation and protect biodiversity, while creating sustainable economic opportunities. As a result, nearly 20,000 community members from nine Indigenous Peoples territories received support to protect 2 million hectares of rainforest.
* Innovating Early Health Alerts (Brazil & Colombia): Thanks to innovative data modeling through the Dengue.AI platform, health officials in Cali, Colombia are able to predict and prevent outbreaks with 93% accuracy, which has protected 2.2 million people from the mosquito-borne virus. In Brazil, the Alert-Early System of Outbreaks with Pandemic Potential (AESOP), which was developed with local health authorities, has helped prevent 86 outbreaks from becoming full-scale crises. These real-time interventions are protecting vulnerable communities from climate-sensitive health threats.
* AI for Civic Good (South Africa): The Foundation is investing in digital tools to increase civic participation. In Cape Town, South Africa, through Turn.io, it's collaborating with the city's data analytics hub to build the country's first AI-powered platform for residents to participate in local government -- in their own language and on their own terms -- reaching approximately 100,000 people.
"As The Rockefeller Foundation marks 60 years of its Africa Regional Office, it reflects a broader shift in the future of development. Amid aid cuts, geopolitical tensions and conflict, climate impacts, and political change, progress is becoming harder to sustain. Against this backdrop, the focus is increasingly on strengthening African capacity across health, education, and energy, and on African-led solutions and leadership, alongside the role of philanthropic capital. The Foundation's latest Impact Report highlights how we are reimagining progress through mission-driven action and partnerships." - William Asiko, Senior Vice President and head of The Rockefeller Foundation's Africa Regional Office
"In 2025, our work in Asia proved that frontier technology like battery storage and AI-powered farming tools are not just innovations -- they are essential lifelines. By reaching nearly 94 million people across the region, we are demonstrating how decentralized energy and climate-smart data can secure livelihoods even as the global climate becomes more unpredictable." - Deepali Khanna, Senior Vice President and head of The Rockefeller Foundation's Asia Regional Office
"During the first year of activity of the LAC Regional Office, we prioritized local partnerships and community-driven models to protect both the planet and the people across Latin America and the Caribbean. From using Artificial Intelligence to predict dengue outbreaks in Cali (Colombia) to reforestation efforts in Maranhao (Brazil), our US$59 million investment in the region is focused on building local resilience that can withstand global volatility." - Lyana Latorre, Vice President and head of The Rockefeller Foundation's Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office
The full 2025 Impact Report is available for digital exploration and download at impactreport.rockefellerfoundation.org.
* * *
About The Rockefeller Foundation
Investing $30 billion over the last 113 years to promote the well-being of humanity, The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on unlikely partnerships and innovative solutions that deliver measurable results for people in the United States and around the world. We leverage scientific breakthroughs, artificial intelligence, and new technologies to make big bets across energy, food, health, and finance. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/2025-impact-report-big-bets-real-results/
Reason Foundation Issues Commentary: BUILD Housing Package is a Step Forward for Illinois
LOS ANGELES, California, May 19 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary by Eliza Terziev, housing and land use policy analyst:* * *
The BUILD housing package is a step forward for Illinois
While the BUILD Act's proposed spending could harm the state budget, its deregulatory reforms are necessary to ease housing pressure across lllinois.
*
Illinois is facing a severe and ongoing housing shortage. Current estimates suggest the state is short 142,000 housing units, with all 26 Illinois metro areas seeing a drop in inventory since 2019, the highest being Bloomington at 75%. As ... Show Full Article LOS ANGELES, California, May 19 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary by Eliza Terziev, housing and land use policy analyst: * * * The BUILD housing package is a step forward for Illinois While the BUILD Act's proposed spending could harm the state budget, its deregulatory reforms are necessary to ease housing pressure across lllinois. * Illinois is facing a severe and ongoing housing shortage. Current estimates suggest the state is short 142,000 housing units, with all 26 Illinois metro areas seeing a drop in inventory since 2019, the highest being Bloomington at 75%. Asof February 2026, the average Illinois home value is over $285,000, up nearly 5% from just a year ago, and over 46% since January 2020. As of 2024, nearly one in three Illinois households is cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. In response to this mounting price pressure, Governor J.B. Pritzker proposed the Building Up Illinois Developments (BUILD) plan that is currently making its way through the state legislature.
This plan includes unnecessary spending in a state already strained by excessive government expenditure. However, the proposed deregulatory reforms have the potential to transform Illinois' housing landscape and create a more resilient housing market for both current and future residents. The Illinois Municipal League is opposing these efforts for fear of overriding local authority and is proposing its own alternative housing plan.
Given the severity of Illinois' housing challenges and the dangers of continuing to prevent housing market adjustment, the governor's housing package will help a great deal, and the concessions recommended by the Municipal League will make it less effective. While the spending is unnecessary and harmful to the state budget, deregulatory reforms are necessary to ease housing pressure for residents.
The housing package
Illinois's BUILD package includes multiple positive deregulatory measures that will make it easier to build housing. The full package is currently moving through the Illinois House in House Bill 5626, while each individual provision is moving separately in the Senate. Below are the Senate bills and their potential impact:
Senate Bill 4060: Missing middle housing
SB 4060 simultaneously addresses minimum lot size regulations and allows increased density across residential areas. In addition to not allowing a minimum lot size greater than 2,500 square feet for a single-family home, SB 4060 further allows the density increases described in Table 1 statewide.
* * *
Table 1: Density requirements imposed by SB 4060
Lot size ... Dwelling units allowed by right
2,500 - 5,000 sq ft. ... 4
5,000 - 7,500 sq ft. ... 6
>7,500 sq ft. ... 8
* * *
Further, this law provides a framework for converting single-family homes to "middle-housing" types and ensures that the review process for these units is no stricter than it would be for single-family detached homes. Enacting SB 4060 at the state level would make substantial progress toward standardization and predictability in the law and pave the way for starter homes.
In 2025, the median age of a first-time homebuyer in the United States reached an all-time high of 40 years old. The lack of smaller housing options has greatly contributed to this delay in life milestones, and exclusionary zoning codes are the driver of this gap. Data on the average size of new single-family homes reveal that they have been shrinking since 2015, suggesting consumers are willing to make the tradeoff in size to have a shot at homeownership. Allowing markets to respond to signals of housing demand is key to a healthy, balanced housing market. Enacting SB 4060 does not mean every new development will be at maximum density, but this law allows communities that desire these units to more easily align lot sizes with residents' needs.
Senate Bill 4061: Single-stair reform
Building codes for multifamily housing in the United States are based on the International Building Code, and typically require multiple stairways for residential buildings taller than three stories. Although this provision is typically justified on fire safety grounds, evidence from countries that permit buildings with only one stairway shows no worse fire safety outcomes than those in the United States.
Maintaining this standard adds substantially to the cost of multifamily residential development. Buildings with four to six stories and one stairway can cost 6% to 13% less than a similar two-staircase building. By reducing the cost of taking on these projects, removing dual-stairway requirements can encourage multifamily development.
If enacted, SB 4061 would allow buildings up to six stories to have only one staircase, provided they have smoke detectors, sprinklers, and no more than four units per floor with an emergency exit for each unit. This reform would open the door for more efficient multifamily development in Illinois.
Senate Bill 4062: Impact fee standardization
Impact fees are one-time fees charged to new developments for the additional strain they place on public services, including fire, police, and roads. These fees are necessary to ensure that new development pays for itself, but can raise concerns regarding proportionality and regressivity. Impact fees are passed on to homebuyers, with evidence indicating they raise the cost of new housing dollar for dollar. Ensuring these fees are not overly burdensome, especially for smaller homes, can encourage new housing development.
SB 4062 would establish a standard, transparent statewide formula for calculating impact fees charged to new development, reducing the ambiguity and variability typically associated with these fees. Municipalities can charge less if they deem the formula's results too burdensome for new development. Like the other bills in this package, SB 4062 advances a predictable and fair regulatory landscape and streamlines the process of building a new home.
Senate Bill 4063: Simplifying plan review and inspections
This law would require municipalities in Illinois to complete building permit reviews within set deadlines: 15 business days for single-family homes and duplexes, and 30 business days for multifamily, mixed-use, and commercial projects. If these deadlines are not met, developers could hire qualified third-party reviewers or inspectors, and municipalities would have to accept their findings if they show compliance with local building codes. The bill is intended to reduce permitting delays and create more predictable approval timelines statewide while still maintaining safety standards.
States like Arizona that have passed permitting reform similar to SB 4063 have seen their timelines speed up, and this is promising for Illinois. The state has significant permitting delays and variable approval timelines, making it difficult to plan projects. Standardizing this process is a straightforward way to increase predictability and spur housing development in Illinois.
Senate Bill 4064: Parking reform
Illinois' SB 4064 would reduce and standardize parking requirements for residential development in the state. Under this law, no more than 0.5 parking spots could be required per unit in a multifamily development, and no more than one parking spot could be required per single-family home. For units smaller than 1,500 square feet, assisted living facilities, or affordable housing developments, municipalities would not be able to institute any parking minimum.
Excessive parking requirements drastically increase the cost of development, which is especially burdensome to low-income residents. For these households, requiring one parking spot per apartment accounts for 6% of the annual budget.
Enacting this law would not mean that parking disappears. SB 4064 would simply give developers greater flexibility to build housing that reflects the needs of residents, rather than adhering to a one-size-fits-all mandate. Expanding opportunities for more affordable housing options, including developments with fewer costly amenities like parking, is essential to creating choices for lower-income residents.
Senate Bill 4071: Accessory dwelling units
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are created on the same lot as a larger primary residence. They may be detached, such as backyard cottages, or attached, including units created within the main home, like basement apartments, or converted from existing spaces such as garages. ADUs are particularly attractive for adding new housing stock because they serve as infill, incrementally increasing density without an additional strain on local infrastructure. They can serve as student housing, affordable housing, and an opportunity for elderly relatives to age in place while maintaining their independence.
Where they have been allowed statewide, ADUs are widely utilized. California, for example, passed a series of laws that make it easier to build ADUs. Since 2018, when these reforms started, California has seen a massive increase in ADU permitting, indicating that residents are interested when the regulatory burden is not prohibitive (see Figure 1). Currently, Illinois has no statewide law allowing ADUs, so legality is determined on the municipal level. SB 4071 would allow ADUs on all single-family parcels and prohibit any additional regulations or parking requirements beyond those applicable to the primary structure, ensuring localities do not circumvent statewide rules.
Challenges by the Municipal League
The Illinois Municipal League (IML) has protested these regulatory changes since their initial proposal because they preempt local decisions on housing. In response, the IML proposed its own alternative, the Reducing Expenses and Advancing Local (REAL) housing package.
This package includes several notable requests. The first is the establishment of both a "Middle Housing Incentive Fund" and a grant program for comprehensive planning and zoning assistance, encouraging municipalities to increase their density allowances through financial incentives. The REAL housing package would further incentivize, but not mandate, the creation of by-right overlay districts where middle-density housing may be allowed by right. There is also a suggestion to create a blight-clearance grant program. The IML is effectively arguing that, rather than preempting exclusionary zoning practices outright, the state should subsidize municipalities to pursue weaker reforms on a slower timeline, with no guarantee of change.
Further provisions include setting a maximum commission on real estate transactions, exempting building materials from certain state taxes, limiting the use of artificial intelligence in housing, and price-controlling rent-related expenses, among others.
There is little evidence or economic suggestion that these kinds of regulatory interventions, particularly price controls and transaction limits, will meaningfully increase housing supply. Local governments have neither prevented nor resolved Illinois' current housing affordability crisis. Indeed, while preempting local authority is a last resort, decades of local housing policy decisions to restrict housing supply are the cause of the current crisis. If municipalities refuse to liberalize their land-use codes and allow more housing development, state preemption becomes necessary. Every community in Illinois is indeed very different, but the most granular decision-making level is not the municipality, but the individual parcel. Land-use decisions should be driven voluntarily by community members, developers, and markets, not by restrictive regulation. Illinois' housing policy should prioritize property rights and allow housing supply to adjust to demand. Evidence from across the country suggests that reforms like the BUILD Act, which liberalize land-use regulations, are an effective way to increase housing supply.
To establish a baseline, evidence from Florida shows that areas with more restrictive land use laws for residential development, including larger minimum lot sizes, more density restrictions, and more complicated approval processes, are associated with higher home prices. In contrast, Houston, Texas, while not without land-use regulation, has avoided traditional zoning and allowed greater housing flexibility than many peer cities. As a result, Houston has maintained strong permitting levels and experienced lower home price appreciation than similarly fast-growing cities.
Recent reforms in California, as previously discussed, enabled a boom in ADU development. In Florida, the Live Local Act, a slightly different program using state preemption to allow dense development, has seen over 62,000 units permitted under its provisions since it passed in 2023. If Illinois embraces deregulatory measures, it could see similar results.
Takeaways
The BUILD Act is far from perfect, most notably because of the $250 million in funding for housing programs, down payment assistance, and infrastructure grants. Including this funding undermines both the goal of impact-fee standardization, which would ensure new growth pays for itself, and the low-cost appeal that makes land-use liberalization an attractive policy proposal. However, the other deregulatory measures are essential for building a more resilient and adaptable housing market in Illinois.
While these laws may not pass this legislative session, their introduction marks a promising step forward for housing policy in the state. Adjusting Illinois' housing market is not a matter of minor tweaks and optional financial incentives. Creating a resilient housing market capable of overcoming current price pressures and future challenges requires a fundamental restructuring of land-use laws to establish a baseline of freedom and property rights enforcement to which all residents are entitled.
* * *
A previous version of this story misstated the amount of spending under the Build ACT, which has been corrected to $250 million.
* * *
Eliza Terziev is a housing and land use policy analyst at Reason Foundation.
* * *
Original text here: https://reason.org/commentary/the-build-housing-package-a-step-forward-for-illinois/
New landscaping report sets out opportunities and challenges in improving access to UK health data
LONDON, England, May 19 -- Wellcome, a charitable foundation, posted the following news release:* * *
New landscaping report sets out opportunities and challenges in improving access to UK health data
*
With an in-depth mapping of the organisations and technical architecture already in place, the report sets out the opportunities and challenges ahead in bringing the UK's new Health Data Research Service (HDRS) to life.
The review maps the many different formats of data held across different types of repositories, and the data layers and processes that exist from clinical settings to interfaces ... Show Full Article LONDON, England, May 19 -- Wellcome, a charitable foundation, posted the following news release: * * * New landscaping report sets out opportunities and challenges in improving access to UK health data * With an in-depth mapping of the organisations and technical architecture already in place, the report sets out the opportunities and challenges ahead in bringing the UK's new Health Data Research Service (HDRS) to life. The review maps the many different formats of data held across different types of repositories, and the data layers and processes that exist from clinical settings to interfaceswhich researchers can access. It looks at both technical and organisational constraints, setting out potential options for HDRS to approach this landscape in order to simplify access for researchers and speed up medical research while ensuring patient privacy.
Commissioned by Wellcome, the independent report has been authored by a consortium of health data, policy and information governance experts led by Emrys Health. The review has been informed by extensive interviews, workshops and written evidence from those involved in managing health data for research across the four nations of the UK.
With financial backing from the UK government and Wellcome, HDRS is being set up to simplify the process for approved researchers to analyse the UK's health data at scale and deliver new trials and treatments for patients. The UK has world-class health data, set in one of the world's largest publicly funded health systems. But there are technical and organisational barriers to maximising the benefits this data can bring for medical research.
The authors write that health data is too often "trapped" in systems that are difficult to access. Researchers struggle to join up data that is hosted in separate organisations or geographies, with data formats and processes varying even within NHS trusts. Scientists' time is wasted due to poorly linked infrastructure and unpredictable processes, while the lack of a joined-up system also makes it harder for hospitals to find and recruit the right patients as trial participants. This fragmentation slows down clinical trials and reduces R&D investment.
Shining a spotlight on technical architecture, the report builds on previous work which has set the scene for the creation of HDRS and efforts to improve the environment for clinical trials in the UK, such as the Sudlow Review, Goldacre Review, and O'Shaughnessy Review.
John Chevers, technology lead at Wellcome, said:
"We've supported the creation of the Health Data Research Service because we know just how much incredible potential there is in UK health data to unlock new discoveries and treatments for disease. There is already great work on this in areas across the UK, but with greater ability to analyse it at scale, our health data could help us learn so much more about health in the UK, and also help us to make breakthroughs that can benefit people around the world.
"We commissioned this independent report to help inform the Health Data Research Service as they start to make decisions about how best to go about this. It is a comprehensive and highly practical analysis that will be a reference work for UK health data research for a long time to come."
Will Browne, Director of Emrys Health, said:
"The UK has a long history as a leader in health research, yet we face fierce global competition. Our report highlights the unique capabilities we have today, while identifying the missing pieces that limit our potential. A high-performing health data research service will need strong national standards, simplified data integration, and streamlined data access. This is much easier to say than to deliver, but we cannot continue to allow systemic friction to stand in the way of breakthroughs in patient care."
Mallory Durran, Director of Applied Research at Nesta, said:
"The UK's rich health data is central to developing the next generation of medical treatments. Funding, governance, and technology must scale securely to realise the potential of our research talent. The Health Data Research Service provides a unique opportunity to advance the UK's leadership in life sciences, translating data-driven innovation directly into improved patient care, from disease detection and prevention to developing clinical trials for treatment."
Read the report: http://wellcomeopenresearch.org/documents/11-291
***
Original text here: https://wellcome.org/insights/articles/new-landscaping-report-sets-out-opportunities-and-challenges-improving-access-uk
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Good Trade Deals Make Good Neighbors
DETROIT, Michigan, May 19 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by political theorist Jake Scott:* * *
Good Trade Deals Make Good Neighbors
Ecuador and Colombia are forced to call a tariff truce.
*
Chances are, if you're involved with or even mildly interested in politics, you've seen The West Wing; and, if you haven't, you should probably watch it. At the very least, watch Season 2, Episode 16, "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail." In the midst of a protest against the expansion of the World Trade Organization, White House Communications ... Show Full Article DETROIT, Michigan, May 19 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by political theorist Jake Scott: * * * Good Trade Deals Make Good Neighbors Ecuador and Colombia are forced to call a tariff truce. * Chances are, if you're involved with or even mildly interested in politics, you've seen The West Wing; and, if you haven't, you should probably watch it. At the very least, watch Season 2, Episode 16, "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail." In the midst of a protest against the expansion of the World Trade Organization, White House CommunicationsDirector Toby Ziegler delivers a little soundbite that has been shared a lot in recent years:
You want the benefits of free trade? Food is cheaper. Food is cheaper, clothes are cheaper, steel is cheaper, cars are cheaper, phone service is cheaper. You feel me building a rhythm here? That's 'cause I'm a speechwriter and I know how to make a point. It lowers prices, it raises income. You see what I did with "lowers" and "raises" there? It's called the science of listener attention. We did repetition, we did floating opposites, and now you end with the one that's not like the others. Ready? Free trade stops wars. And that's it. Free trade stops wars! And we figure out a way to fix the rest!
Toby's "one that's not like the others"--free trade stops wars--is a bit more simple than the nuanced reality of international trade's impact on nations' relations with one another; but it certainly seems as though the institutions, if not the principles, of free trade have actually managed to resolve diplomatic tension between two Latin American countries--Ecuador and Colombia.
After a recent Andean Community (CAN) ruling, Ecuador and Colombia have been forced into a climbdown from an escalating trade war that has been heating up since the beginning of 2026..
The escalation began in January when Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador, announced a 30% tariff on all Colombian products--labeling it as a "security fee" given Colombia's "failing to contain illegal mining and the trafficking of cocaine" and citing the Colombian government's apparent "lack of reciprocity and firm action" on border drug trafficking. In return, Colombian President Gustavo Petro denied the accusations and promised a retaliatory, equivalent 30% tariff on all Ecuadorian goods, whilst also temporarily suspending electricity exports.
While the situation stayed at this point throughout February while the tariffs were themselves implemented, Ecuador raised the tariffs in March to 50% on Colombian exports, increasing yet further to 100% by the beginning of April, and coming into effect on May 1st.
The escalation, at this stage, took on an intensely personal turn: the increase to 100% came after Petro publicly called Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas a "political prisoner," after he was imprisoned following a controversial raid on Mexico's embassy to Ecuador in the capital of Quito. Simultaneously, Colombia formalized differentiated tariffs across 190 Ecuadorian products, in steps of 35%, 50%, and 75%.
Finally, in an attempt to cool everything down, the Andean Community ordered both countries to end all reciprocal tariffs within ten business days on May 8, 2026. The order followed the CAN ruling that the measures imposed by each had violated the Cartagena Agreement of 1969, as well as the principle of intra-community free trade.
But the disagreement between the two countries is not economic only; politics, as ever, has played a major role in this escalation. Noboa, whose party the National Democratic Action (ADN) is right-leaning and generally more conservative, has sought increasingly closer relations with US President Donald Trump whilst alienating the socialist Petro (who was elected in 2022 as Colombia's first left-wing president) over the region's drug trafficking problem.
CAN, formed in 1969 following the Cartagena Agreement and composed of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru--since then expanding to include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay as associate members and Chile leaving in 1976--is explicitly set up to deal with trade in goods and services, the regulation of a customs union between members, a common market, and even foreign policy.
Originally called the Andean Pact, CAN was driven by a desire for regional economic self-sufficiency and protection from larger global powers, at a time when the Latin American nations really were members of the "Third World," caught between the Free World and the Soviet Bloc and its allies.
As a result, it not only has the authority and power to rule on trade conflicts between members, but also has precedence over national law and applies directly without requiring further ratification. Evidently, it cannot address the political conditions that lead to such crises as that between Ecuador and Colombia, but it can at the very least force the two nations to cease escalations.
At a time when the barriers to trade are going up, and the most recognizable trade bloc in the world--the European Union--is overregulating the economies it was established to safeguard and facilitate trade between, the ruling by CAN is a welcome reminder that free trade is one of the most effective guarantees of international peace in history. The EU is a particularly egregious example of this squashing of trade: in the space of five years between 2019 and 2024, around 13,000 acts were created in the EU (compared to roughly 3,500 laws from Washington, DC). Likewise, Meta dedicated something in the region of 600,000 engineering hours and over 11,000 employees to compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act.
CAN may not be able to resolve the political conditions that led to this trade war escalation; it will evidently struggle to combat regional drug trades, it does not by itself inculcate respect for the rule of law, and it certainly cannot prevent the Colombian President making comments on the legality of Ecuador's own internal politics. Nevertheless, CAN is at least able to remove the friction between nations and their economies through institutionalization of free speech, and fostering a culture of international trade.
* * *
Dr Jake Scott is a political theorist specialising in populism and its relationship to political constitutionality. He has taught at multiple British universities and produced research reports for several think tanks.
* * *
Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/good-trade-deals-make-good-neighbors/
FIRE sues DHS for information about alleged database of ICE protesters
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, May 19 -- The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression posted the following news release:* * *
FIRE sues DHS for information about alleged database of ICE protesters
*
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2026 -Americans deserve to know whether their government is maintaining a secret database of people who have criticized the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Such a database would sweep in people simply exercising their First Amendment rights by peacefully protesting, speaking out online, or lawfully filming law enforcement. And just the possibility of winding ... Show Full Article PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, May 19 -- The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression posted the following news release: * * * FIRE sues DHS for information about alleged database of ICE protesters * WASHINGTON, May 19, 2026 -Americans deserve to know whether their government is maintaining a secret database of people who have criticized the Trump administration's immigration policies. Such a database would sweep in people simply exercising their First Amendment rights by peacefully protesting, speaking out online, or lawfully filming law enforcement. And just the possibility of windingup on a secret federal watchlist will undoubtedly cause would-be critics to think twice before opening their mouths.
It's unclear if such a database exists. But several ominous comments by federal law enforcement officials in recent months suggest it does.
* In January 2026, "border czar" Tom Homan, discussing people who have allegedly interfered in ICE operations, told Fox News' Laura Ingraham: "One thing I'm pushing for right now, Laura, we're going to create a database... we're going to make them famous."
* Around the same time, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Maine referred to a "nice little database" after a woman monitored his movements on her cell phone.
* Meanwhile, CNN reported on a memo sent to agents in Minneapolis asking them to "capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form."
To find out more, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. The agencies have failed to respond. So today, FIRE is asking the court to enforce the law by requiring disclosure of all documents responsive to our request.
"Americans deserve to know more about this database, starting with whether it exists," said FIRE attorney Jacob Gaba. "The First Amendment prohibits the government from retaliating against peaceful protesters, including by putting their names and faces in a shadowy database."
Attorney Jeffrey Gutman, who represents FIRE, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for D.C., seeking the release of documents responsive to our public records requests.
Even if the database doesn't exist, officials' saber-rattling poses a serious free speech issue. The government can't use threats and scare tactics to dissuade Americans from exercising their constitutional rights.
"Both scenarios present a serious threat to Americans' First Amendment rights," explained Gaba. "Either there is, in fact, a database of people exercising their right to criticize the government -which would be a frightening and unconstitutional abuse of power -or officials are just engaging in loose talk that intimidates people into silence. Both outcomes are unacceptable in a free society."
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought -the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates Americans about the importance of these inalienable rights, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, and provides the means to preserve them.
CONTACT:
Jack Whitten, Communications Campaign Specialist, FIRE: 215-717-3473; media@fire.org
***
Original text here: https://www.thefire.org/news/fire-sues-dhs-information-about-alleged-database-ice-protesters