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Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Trump's Credit Card Rate Cap
DETROIT, Michigan, Jan. 27 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary on Jan. 25, 2026:
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Trump's Credit Card Rate Cap
By Louis Rouanet
This is the politics of scarcity, not of affordability.
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On January 9, President Donald Trump called for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates--a drop from the 2025 average of 19.7%. This reflects growing political support within the fringes of both the Republican and Democratic Parties for such anti-market policies. In February 2025, Senators Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley also introduced legislation mirroring Trump's
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DETROIT, Michigan, Jan. 27 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary on Jan. 25, 2026:
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Trump's Credit Card Rate Cap
By Louis Rouanet
This is the politics of scarcity, not of affordability.
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On January 9, President Donald Trump called for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates--a drop from the 2025 average of 19.7%. This reflects growing political support within the fringes of both the Republican and Democratic Parties for such anti-market policies. In February 2025, Senators Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley also introduced legislation mirroring Trump'sproposal.
Supporters of price controls like to blame "greedy" corporations. Trump told reporters that credit card companies "really abused the public." Unfortunately, his proposal treats symptoms while ignoring the disease, and that will ultimately harm the very consumers it claims to protect.
An interest rate is a price. It reflects fundamental economic realities: the preference between present and future consumption, the risk of default, and the administrative expenses of lending. When the government caps this price below its market level, these underlying realities do not disappear. They are merely hidden from view, making it harder for private agents to plan efficiently and forcing lenders to find other margins of adjustment.
And adjust they will. When Congress capped debit card interchange fees--the transaction fees merchants pay to banks when customers use payment cards--in 2010, banks responded by cutting rewards programs on those cards entirely. Credit card companies facing a rate cap will pursue similar strategies: reducing rewards, increasing annual fees, tightening credit requirements, and lowering credit limits. That companies can adapt does not mean that the interest cap is not costly. Around 68% of the 21 million American families who regularly carry balances would likely see their access to credit curtailed or eliminated under a 10% cap.
Credit card companies essentially provide a zero-interest short-term loan to customers who pay their balance each month. Those who fail to do so often reveal poor financial habits, and higher interest rates serve as the market's mechanism for pricing this risk. By artificially suppressing rates, Trump's proposal subsidizes financial irresponsibility at the expense of prudent consumers. Since lenders cannot perfectly distinguish between customers who live within their means and those with unsustainable spending habits, they will respond by raising costs for everyone through higher annual fees, reduced rewards, and stricter qualification standards.
The victims of this redistribution will not be wealthy cardholders with excellent credit. They will be young people without established credit histories and lower-income individuals who, despite their modest means, manage their finances responsibly. A study of Chile's 2013 rate cap legislation for consumer loans found that the policy's impact fell hardest on "the youngest, least educated and poorest families." Another study found that this same policy reduced consumer surplus by 2.5% of average income, with the largest losses concentrated among riskier borrowers. The policy did not make credit cheaper for these groups; it simply excluded them from the market.
The proposed 10% ceiling is particularly reckless given America's fiscal trajectory. During the COVID-era inflation surge, prices rose by nearly 9% year over year. Should such inflation return--an increasingly plausible scenario given unsustainable deficit spending--a 10% nominal cap would translate to an inflation-adjusted interest rate of just 1%. Lenders would face catastrophic losses, and the credit card market as we know it could collapse.
Trump's proposal is not a serious economic policy. It is a visible gesture designed to signal concern about affordability while doing nothing to address its root causes. Yet every time price controls are attempted, supply dries up, leaving Americans worse off. Interest rate caps are not the politics of affordability; they are the politics of scarcity.
If the Trump administration genuinely wishes to help American consumers, it should focus its energy on deregulation, fostering competitive markets, and confronting the looming fiscal crisis. Adopting anti-market policies typically championed by the far left is not the path to prosperity. It is the road to credit rationing and lower economic growth.
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Louis Rouanet is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he is affiliated with the Center for Free Enterprise.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/trumps-credit-card-rate-cap/
Denver Foundation: Community Response During SNAP Freeze
DENVER, Colorado, Jan. 27 -- The Denver Foundation issued the following news on Jan. 26, 2026:
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Community response during SNAP freeze
On October 31, 2025, Mayor Mike Johnston announced the launch of a "food assistance task force" to prepare for the surge in need as the federal government shutdown continued, delaying Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that nearly 600,000 Coloradans rely on. The task force would help ensure every Denverite who needs resources could access them, and that everyone who wanted to help knew how to do so. In his announcement, he included
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DENVER, Colorado, Jan. 27 -- The Denver Foundation issued the following news on Jan. 26, 2026:
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Community response during SNAP freeze
On October 31, 2025, Mayor Mike Johnston announced the launch of a "food assistance task force" to prepare for the surge in need as the federal government shutdown continued, delaying Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that nearly 600,000 Coloradans rely on. The task force would help ensure every Denverite who needs resources could access them, and that everyone who wanted to help knew how to do so. In his announcement, he includedThe Denver Foundation as a resource for those who were able to donate money.
We had activated our Critical Needs Fund, our fastest and most flexible way to respond to crises in our community, to support nonprofit food banks and providers who were keeping people and families fed.
A rapid community response
Donations to our Critical Needs Fund immediately came in through the generosity of the public and our donors. As the dollars came in, our team worked quickly to get them out to the community, granting a total of
With both the public's generosity and support from The Fund for Denver, our community's endowment, more resources reached organizations providing groceries and hot meals to our neighbors.
See the full list of organizations below.
At the same time, we were hearing from fundholders reacting to the same concerns, asking what organizations needed immediate support. Within days, they directed more than $358,000 from their donor-advised funds to organizations supporting food security.
Through our Critical Needs Funds and donor-advised funds, we granted $458,000.
Fast grantmaking, guided by need
While we prioritized getting grant dollars out the door fast, we were intentional in reaching people across different communities. We listened to understand which districts and populations were seeing the highest need.
We sent grants to organizations with large distribution systems supplying pantries and food providers across the state, and to community-based organizations that were getting food out quickly in ways that matched their communities' realities.
Our grants to large distributors, like Food Bank of the Rockies, supported their ability to increase their food supply, including protein, fresh produce, and other nutritious foods, and scale food distribution to their partners, especially in areas that saw increased need due to the SNAP pause (source). Neighbors also shared personal stories expressing their gratefulness for the food and support.
Our grants also went to places that aren't always front and center in food security conversations, including college campuses.
Of the grants awarded through our Critical Needs Fund, $15,000 went to six universities and community colleges. While attending a student dinner at Colorado State University Pueblo for our Reisher Scholarship Program, one of the students spoke about his concern for his peers on campus and college students across the state who rely on SNAP. College students are often an overlooked group of SNAP recipients and experience food insecurity at higher rates.
Reyna M. Anaya, Ph.D., vice president of student success at the Community College of Aurora shared, "It's our responsibility to show up for students and provide in different ways, and food security is one of those ways."
In the early weeks of November 2025, during the SNAP delays, Community College of Aurora saw a 35% uptick in recipients of its free mobile market, Foxy's Mobile Market.
"Our team did a good job in thinking ahead and being proactive, and always keeping the concept of sustainability in mind," said Anaya, staying committed to providing food to those who need it, including students, staff, faculty, and their families.
What made this response possible, for the Community College of Aurora and the broader community, was the many ways you showed up.
What your support made possible
Your time, your connections, and your resources helped keep food on the tables for our neighbors throughout the state. Thanks to you, organizations across Colorado were able to provide more meals and quickly adapt to our community's needs.
Nonprofits were there when we needed them most, just as they always have been. We're deeply grateful for everything they do to keep our community strong, and for people like you who believe in their work and help sustain it.
The following organizations received grants through our Critical Needs Fund:
* Arapahoe Community College
* Community College of Denver
* Centro Cristiano Amistad de Denver
* Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
* Colorado Food Cluster
* Community College of Aurora - Foxy's Mobile Market
* University of Colorado Denver - Milo's Market
* Denver Downtown Islamic Center
* Denver Public School Foundation Food Security Fund
* Denver Public School Northwest Community Hub
* Fax Partnership
* Food Bank of Rockies
* Front Range Community College
* The GrowHaus
* Denver Inner City Parish
* Kaizen Food Rescue
* Metropolitan State University Denver - Rowdy's Corner
* Project Access Inc.
* Southwest Food Coalition
* Southwest Improvement Council
* Sun Valley Community Kitchen
* There With Care
* ViVe Wellness
* WellPower
Ways to continue supporting emerging needs
If you'd like to support emerging issues in our community, our Critical Needs Fund is an efficient and effective way to support a variety of organizations. The Critical Needs Fund is our fastest and most flexible way to respond to rapidly changing landscapes and crises in our community.
If you are a fundholder at The Denver Foundation, you can support these efforts through your donor-advised fund. If you have any questions, please reach out to your relationship manager or our team at information@denverfoundation.org or 303.300.1790.
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Original text here: https://denverfoundation.org/2026/01/community-response-during-snap-freeze/
TPPF Unveils Bold Education Agenda to Empower Parents, Improve Student Outcomes, and Restore Excellence in Texas Schools
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 26 -- The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following news release:
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TPPF Unveils Bold Education Agenda to Empower Parents, Improve Student Outcomes, and Restore Excellence in Texas Schools
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The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) today announced a comprehensive education policy agenda for K-12 and higher education designed to expand education freedom, improve student outcomes, strengthen transparency and accountability, and restore academic excellence across Texas.
"The policy agenda for TPPF's Next Generation Texas campaign advances policies that put
... Show Full Article
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 26 -- The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following news release:
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TPPF Unveils Bold Education Agenda to Empower Parents, Improve Student Outcomes, and Restore Excellence in Texas Schools
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The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) today announced a comprehensive education policy agenda for K-12 and higher education designed to expand education freedom, improve student outcomes, strengthen transparency and accountability, and restore academic excellence across Texas.
"The policy agenda for TPPF's Next Generation Texas campaign advances policies that putparents first, ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly, and refocus schools and universities on delivering real results for students," said NGT Policy Analyst Kate Bierly.
At the K-12 level, the agenda prioritizes expanding Education Freedom Accounts to increase the number of Texas families who can access the educational options that best meet their children's needs. It also calls for clearer accountability and transparency through reforms that make student performance, spending, and outcomes easier for parents and taxpayers to understand, while ensuring school trustees have full access to district financial records and procurement documents.
The campaign also proposes major reforms to teacher preparation. These include shifting training away from abstract educational theory and toward practical classroom skills, recognizing real-world experience as a qualification for education leadership roles, and replacing ineffective university schools of education with high-quality, alternative certification programs focused on results.
"This policy agenda builds on the hard work of the Legislature and the State Board of Education to ensure that every step of the education system is oriented towards providing high quality instruction to students," said NGT Education Director Matthew McCormick.
"Texas has an opportunity to lead the nation in education reform by embracing bold, student-focused policies," said Bierly. "I look forward to pursuing an agenda that delivers better transparency, higher-quality curriculum, better-prepared teachers, and more engaged parents-because those are the key components of improving education outcomes and ensuring every Texas student has the opportunity to succeed."
Next Generation Texas Policy Agenda
Increase funding for educational savings accounts: Expand upon 2025 success by increasing the program's capacity.
Trustee Transparency and Oversight Act: Guarantees school trustees unrestricted access to district financial records and procurement documents to ensure oversight and fiduciary accountability.
Bring Real Accountability to Texas Schools: Ensure Texas schools are held to clear, outcomes-based standards by making student performance, spending, and results transparent
Giving Aspiring Teachers Real Prep: Reforms teacher preparation programs to emphasize practical teaching skills rather than just educational theory.
Work-Based Learning: A Future for All Students: Expands flexibility for high schools to use Career and Technology Education funds to support paid apprenticeships through community partnerships and non-profit intermediaries.
Simplifying the Public School Finance Formula: Seeks to simplify Texas' overly complex public school funding formula to improve transparency for parents and lawmakers.
Bring Home the Mississippi Miracle: Implement mandatory reading benchmarks from kindergarten to third grade to improve literacy rates.
Experience Matters Act: Recognize proven experience and skills as valid qualifications for state and education leadership roles, reducing unnecessary degree requirements that limit opportunity and talent.
Physical Fitness Requirements for K-12: Proposes stricter PE standards and daily fitness requirements in K-12 to address health and discipline.
Accreditation Commission: Establishes a Texas Higher Education Accreditation Commission to approve accrediting agencies based on student outcomes, with institutions losing funding if they fail to switch from underperforming accreditors.
Allow Military Experience to Substitute for a Bachelor's Degree in State Jobs: Allows veterans' military service to qualify in place of a college degree for Texas state jobs (excluding licensed professions), helping solve state labor shortages.
Close Down Schools of Education and Recommend Best Alternative Teacher Certification Track: Proposes eliminating university schools of education, which are seen as centers of ideological activism and poor teacher preparation, and replacing them with charter-style alternative certification programs.
Safe Schools and Fair Standards: Revises the legal definition of harassment in higher education to match Supreme Court precedent and protect campus free speech.
Contextualized Transcripts: Requires college transcripts to include class average grades alongside student grades to counter grade inflation and improve workforce competitiveness.
General Education Act: Mandates a core curriculum in Western civilization, civics, and liberal education principles for public universities, restoring foundational knowledge in higher education.
The Campus Intellectual Diversity Act: R equires public universities to host and publicly document regular, balanced debates on major public policy issues-while empowering student groups to request topics and preventing security costs from being used to suppress disfavored viewpoints.
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Original text here: https://www.texaspolicy.com/press/tppf-unveils-bold-education-agenda-to-empower-parents-improve-student-outcomes-and-restore-excellence-in-texas-schools
GentiBio Receives Grant from Breakthrough T1D and the Helmsley Charitable Trust to Support POLARIS Trial of GNTI-122 in Recently Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes
NEW YORK, Jan. 26 -- Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) a non-profit dedicated to funding type 1 diabetes research, posted the following news release:
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GentiBio Receives Grant from Breakthrough T1D and the Helmsley Charitable Trust to Support POLARIS Trial of GNTI-122 in Recently Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes
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BOSTON, Jan. 26, 2026-GentiBio, Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering engineered regulatory T cell (EngTreg) therapies, today announced that Breakthrough T1D, with support in part from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, has awarded a grant to support the company's
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NEW YORK, Jan. 26 -- Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) a non-profit dedicated to funding type 1 diabetes research, posted the following news release:
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GentiBio Receives Grant from Breakthrough T1D and the Helmsley Charitable Trust to Support POLARIS Trial of GNTI-122 in Recently Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes
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BOSTON, Jan. 26, 2026-GentiBio, Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering engineered regulatory T cell (EngTreg) therapies, today announced that Breakthrough T1D, with support in part from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, has awarded a grant to support the company'sPOLARIS clinical trial evaluating GNTI-122, an autologous EngTreg investigational therapy designed to preserve endogenous insulin production and provide a potential cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D).
The collaborative grant will support the clinical development of GNTI-122 through the POLARIS study, in adults recently diagnosed with T1D and advance GentiBio's mission to deliver disease-modifying therapies that address the underlying autoimmune drivers of the disease.
"This grant reflects the community's confidence in the promise of EngTregs to change the trajectory of T1D. With the support of Breakthrough T1D and Helmsley, we are accelerating our efforts to bring GNTI-122 to patients at a critical window, where preserving natural insulin production may have profound, long-term benefits. We are confident that this partnership will help us advance our goal of transforming care with therapies that address the root causes of autoimmunity and offer hope for a cure," said Andy Walker CEO of GentiBio.
"As the first clinical assessment of engineered, antigen-specific Tregs for type 1 diabetes, the POLARIS trial represents an important step forward for the field," said Josh Vieth, Ph.D., Senior Director of Research at Breakthrough T1D. "Advancing therapies that can change the course of type 1 diabetes for those living with the condition is a key priority for Breakthrough T1D, and we are excited to work with GentiBio, a T1D Fund portfolio company, and the Helmsley Charitable Trust in support of this important research. We look forward to the potential of these therapies for preserving beta cell function by rebalancing the immune system."
"GNTI-122 is an innovative and promising targeted therapy to delay the progression of T1D," said Dr. Maryaline Coffre, Program Officer at the Helmsley Charitable Trust. "Our support for this initiative exemplifies our unwavering commitment to improving the lives of people with T1D."
About GNTI-122 and EngTreg Therapy
GNTI-122 is a novel targeted autologous engineered regulatory T cell therapy (EngTreg) designed to restore immune tolerance and preserve pancreatic islet function by suppressing autoreactive effector T cells that drive disease. GentiBio's EngTreg platform delivers targeted, durable immunomodulation aimed at curing autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
About the POLARIS Study
POLARIS ( NCT06919354 ) is a Phase 1, open-label, single-dose clinical trial enrolling adults aged 18-45 years within 120 days of T1D diagnosis. Participants are assigned to sequential cohorts that evaluate dose levels of GNTI-122 and may include combination with low-dose rapamycin. The study assesses safety, tolerability, pharmacodynamic activity, and biomarker responses-including C-peptide, insulin use, hemoglobin A1c, immunophenotyping, and vector-based tracking of cell persistence-through 78 weeks of follow-up. For more information, visit polarisstudy.com or ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06919354).
About GentiBio
GentiBio is a biotechnology company developing engineered regulatory T cell (EngTreg) therapies to restore immune tolerance and transform the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. By harnessing the natural power of Tregs and engineering them for precision, durability, and scalable manufacture, GentiBio seeks to deliver curative therapies for patients with significant unmet need. Learn more at gentibio.com.
About Breakthrough T1D
As the leading global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization, Breakthrough T1D helps make everyday life with type 1 diabetes better while driving toward cures. We do this by investing in the most promising research, advocating for progress by working with government to address issues that impact the T1D community, and helping educate and empower individuals facing this condition.
About the Helmsley Charitable Trust
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has granted more than $4.6 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. The Helmsley Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program is the largest private foundation funder in the world with a focus on T1D, with more than $1 billion to date committed to transform the trajectory of the disease and to accelerate access to 21st century care, everywhere. For more information on Helmsley and its programs, visit helmsleytrust.org.
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Original text here: https://www.breakthrought1d.org/for-the-media/press-releases/gentibio-receives-grant-from-breakthrough-t1d-and-the-helmsley-charitable-trust-to-support-polaris-trial-of-gnti%e2%80%91122-in-recently-diagnosed-type-1-diabetes/
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Housing Lessons from Spain
DETROIT, Michigan, Jan. 24 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Housing Lessons from Spain
How not to solve an "affordability" crisis.
By Mark Nayler
Spain's Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez began 2026 by announcing new measures to combat the country's housing crisis. Speaking on January 12 at the launch of the Campamento project, which will see 10,700 state-owned homes built on a former military site west of Madrid, Sanchez vowed to "continue intervening in the housing market."
New York's new leftist mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office
... Show Full Article
DETROIT, Michigan, Jan. 24 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary:
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Housing Lessons from Spain
How not to solve an "affordability" crisis.
By Mark Nayler
Spain's Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez began 2026 by announcing new measures to combat the country's housing crisis. Speaking on January 12 at the launch of the Campamento project, which will see 10,700 state-owned homes built on a former military site west of Madrid, Sanchez vowed to "continue intervening in the housing market."
New York's new leftist mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took officeon January 1, is on a similar crusade, and has promised to "stand up for the residents of this city." In a congratulatory message to Mamdani, Sanchez said that his victory "was a sign of where the energy resides today-with those who offer hope, not fear." Both leaders are on mission to reduce the severity of their respective housing crises-but have they correctly identified the cause of the problem?
Sanchez claims that Spain's property market has become a playground for greedy profiteers, who are denying Spaniards their Constitutional right to housing by pricing them out of markets. The "urgent and decisive" measures that he will pass in the next few weeks include tighter sanctions on tourism rentals and incentives for landlords to rent to long-term tenants, such as a 100% rebate for those who renew leases without raising rates.
Sanchez will push them through via Royal Decree, which means he won't have to secure parliamentary approval-but even this is no guarantee they'll become reality. Twelve of Spain's seventeen autonomous regions-including the major tourist destinations of Andalucia, Madrid, and Valencia-are controlled by the conservative People's Party, which might deem them off-putting for tourists (although Andalusia's government has already given localities the power to limit tourism rentals).
This is not the first time Sanchez has tried to tackle the housing problem, but his previous efforts have missed the mark. Last year he terminated the Golden Visa scheme, which gave automatic Spanish (and EU) residency to foreign nationals purchasing real estate worth at least EUR500,000. But Golden Visa transactions accounted for less than 0.1% of property sales in Spain, so their absence will have hardly any impact.
Sanchez has also proposed a 100% tax on non-EU citizens buying property in Spain, a draconian measure that would discriminate in favor of the 14% of Spaniards who own second homes (the highest such figure in Europe), most of which are only occupied during the summer. Fortunately, this proposal looks unlikely to become law.
Last April, Sanchez also announced that EUR1.3 billion of the EU's Next Generation Covid recovery funds will be spent on building 15,000 new social housing units, cutting construction time by up to 60%. That sounds encouraging, especially as only 3% of Spain's housing stock is social, compared to the European average of 9%.
But the EU has repeatedly expressed concerns about the opacity and lack of efficiency with which Spain has deployed its Next Generation funds. Nor is it guaranteed that the next Spanish government, which could be in place as early as next year, would carry on financing this project. The other obvious solution-incentivizing the construction sector by reducing bureaucracy-has so far not been pursued by Sanchez.
Tourism might have exacerbated Spain's housing problem, but it's not the root cause. The gap between sluggish supply and explosive demand has resulted in a deficit of around 700,000 homes. As a result, rental rates have doubled and house prices risen by 44% since 2020. In its last Financial Stability Report, released in November, the Bank of Spain identified historically low construction levels as a key factor in the deficit.
Another report concluded that, "without the pressures caused by the accumulated housing deficit, house prices across Spain as a whole would have increased by 3.7% per year on average [between 2021 and 2024], rather than the 6% rate observed." Only about 120,000 new homes are being built in Spain every year, a sixth of the rate before the 2008 financial crisis and just over half the number required to satisfy demand, according to a 2024 report.
Still, it's easier to blame tourists. The residents of popular destinations such as Barcelona, Malaga, and the Balearic and Canary Islands have recently staged protests, in some cases firing water pistols at visitors and holding placards telling them to "go home." Regional governments are trying to curb tourism, in the hope that fewer visitors will make local housing more affordable.
Amongst the most stringent measures are Malaga's three-year freeze on tourist rental licenses, and the mayor of Barcelona's promise to eliminate all of the city's 10,000 holiday apartments by 2028 (even though, according to the Barcelona Association of Tourist Apartments, these account for less than 1% of the city's housing).
Wanting to control tourism is an understandable reaction to Spain's housing crisis-but it won't, by itself, solve the problem. Measures that could be perceived as hostile to international visitors are also risky in a country where tourism accounts for around 13% of both GDP and employment. Last year, Spain once again beat its own record, attracting 97 million international visitors and EUR135 billion in tourist spending.
An emerging trend might alleviate some of the strain on coastal hotspots and cities: between 2019 and 2025, visitors to sparsely-populated rural areas in northern and central Spain rose by 60%, compared to 45% in established destinations.
Like Sanchez, Mamdani has a fine line to walk-in his case between landlords and tenants, rather than tourists and residents. About 67% of New Yorkers are renters, over half of whom spend at least 30% of their income on rent every month. The city's landlords also face rising costs and, in many cases, diminished income.
On his first day in office, Mamdani signed three Executive Orders aimed at the city's housing problem: one to reinstate the Office to Protect Tenants, to be headed by Cea Weaver, an activist who in 2017 called home-ownership a "weapon of white supremacy" (a now-deleted tweet that she claims to regret); and two others creating task-forces to speed up construction projects.
Mamdani also wants to freeze rates on the city's one million rent-stabilized properties, home to an estimated 25% of New York's population, and build 200,000 more affordable (i.e., heavily subsidized) units over the next decade. Critics warn, however, that private investors will be deterred from constructing new rent-controlled housing by the prospect of low returns; while New York's public funds, ironically, might be eroded by Mamdani's proposed moratorium on stabilized rent hikes.
Weaver, who played a key role in creating New York's Housing Stability and Tenants Protection Act of 2019, is also divisive, even on the left: some see her as a fearless advocate of renters' rights, while others say she's too radical. According to her critics, the 2019 legislation didn't help tenants-instead, by making renovation unaffordable for landlords, it condemned renters to live in dilapidated and potentially dangerous buildings.
The proposed new housing measures from Sanchez and Mamdani may look promising to struggling renters, aspiring homeowners, and residents of tourist hubs. But the challenge for both leaders is to create more affordable housing without punishing tourists, landlords, or the private sector-because they're all needed as part of the solution.
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Mark Nayler is a freelance journalist based in Malaga, Spain, and writes regularly for The Spectator and Foreign Policy on politics and culture.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/housing-lessons-from-spain/
Southeastern Legal Foundation Files Brief Urging Supreme Court to Stop California's Gender Transition Policies
ROSWELL, Georgia, Jan. 23 -- The Southeastern Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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Southeastern Legal Foundation files brief urging Supreme Court to stop California's gender transition policies
Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), recently filed a Supreme Court amicus brief with other organizations supporting families and teachers standing up to California's unconstitutional and outrageous gender transition policies. The state requires schools to hide children's gender transitions from their parents. In one instance, the concealment went so far that one family did not know
... Show Full Article
ROSWELL, Georgia, Jan. 23 -- The Southeastern Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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Southeastern Legal Foundation files brief urging Supreme Court to stop California's gender transition policies
Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), recently filed a Supreme Court amicus brief with other organizations supporting families and teachers standing up to California's unconstitutional and outrageous gender transition policies. The state requires schools to hide children's gender transitions from their parents. In one instance, the concealment went so far that one family did not knowtheir daughter was undergoing a gender transition until she attempted to commit suicide. Together with 64 organizations, SLF is supporting parents and teachers asking the Supreme Court for an emergency order stopping California from imposing its dangerous policies any longer.
The group of parents and teachers, represented by Thomas More Society, have asked California and their school districts for religious exemptions from being forced to comply with the state's gender policies. Some parents even expressly requested that their children' schools notify them about their children's requests to change genders. But their requests have gone ignored, forcing them to turn to the Supreme Court for help.
SLF argues in its brief that parents are in charge of their children's upbringing, not schools. And just this past year, the Supreme Court affirmed in Mahmoud v. Taylor that parents have the fundamental right to raise their children as they see fit. Yet schools across America continue to hide children's gender transitions from their parents, with courts divided on the issue.
SLF writes, "Time and again parents, teachers, and even school districts themselves have brought challenges to school gender transition policies. Now, the Supreme Court has a duty to grant certiorari and rule on the merits for parental rights."
SLF President Kimberly Hermann states, "Parents are sick and tired of states and school districts insisting that they know how to raise their children better than their own parents do. Too many families are being torn apart by radical and unconstitutional gender policies like California's, and it's time the Supreme Court intervene."
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View brief here: https://slfliberty.org/case/mirabelli-v-bonta/
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Original text here: https://slfliberty.org/southeastern-legal-foundation-files-brief-urging-supreme-court-to-stop-californias-gender-transition-policies/
Reason Foundation Issues Commentary: Missouri can embrace open enrollment for students while addressing school funding concerns
LOS ANGELES, California, Jan. 23 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary:
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Missouri can embrace open enrollment for students while addressing school funding concerns
A robust open enrollment program can benefit students, improve public schools, and help shore up school district budgets.
By Aaron Garth Smith, Director of Education Reform
K-12 open enrollment is on the rise, with 16 states now ensuring that families can enroll their students in public schools across school district boundaries when seats are available.
Research across diverse states, including Florida,
... Show Full Article
LOS ANGELES, California, Jan. 23 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary:
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Missouri can embrace open enrollment for students while addressing school funding concerns
A robust open enrollment program can benefit students, improve public schools, and help shore up school district budgets.
By Aaron Garth Smith, Director of Education Reform
K-12 open enrollment is on the rise, with 16 states now ensuring that families can enroll their students in public schools across school district boundaries when seats are available.
Research across diverse states, including Florida,Colorado, Texas, California, and Wisconsin, shows that students who use open enrollment tend to transfer to higher-performing schools. They also use open enrollment for a variety of reasons, including to access different instructional models, specialized and advanced coursework not available at their residentially assigned school, or to escape bullying.
While Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and others have adopted strong open-enrollment laws in recent years, Missouri lawmakers have not followed suit. One of the biggest obstacles seems to be financial concerns raised by school district officials about how to accommodate incoming transfer students and make up for the loss of outgoing students.
The following analysis addresses three frequent fiscal objections to public school open enrollment and explains why they shouldn't prevent the Show-Me State from embracing a strong policy that benefits public school students and school districts alike.
Objection #1: Local education dollars don't follow transfer students to their new school districts.
The most common financial concern is that receiving school districts wouldn't receive full per-student funding for enrolling transfer students.
"Many of the states that have this [open enrollment] are more reliant on state funding," claimed Otto Fajen, a lobbyist for the National Education Association.
While it's true that local education dollars don't follow open enrollment participants, this doesn't mean school districts aren't fully compensated for the costs of serving the incoming students. That's because state funding generated by a transfer student typically exceeds the student's marginal cost.
Open enrollment participants-just like students moving from another school district or state-would be added to the receiving school district's membership count, thereby increasing state funding for attendance. Except for hold-harmless districts (addressed below), all school districts would receive at least the State Adequacy Target (SAT) multiplied by the receiving school district's dollar value modifier. The SAT, which is subject to appropriation, is $7,145 per student in 2025-26.
Under Missouri's school finance formula, transfer students who are eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch, are classified as Limited English Proficiency, or have an Individual Education Plan, could generate additional state funding for receiving school districts, depending on the concentration of those students they already serve.
Importantly, school district costs don't increase or decrease in direct proportion to enrollment. For example, many schools have unused capacity and can enroll additional students without hiring more teachers, purchasing curricula, or constructing new facilities.
School district costs spike only when enrollment reaches a tipping point-such as when classes are full, or a building runs out of space. That's why every state's open enrollment policy considers school capacity, allowing districts to set transfer caps based on factors such as programs, buildings, class sizes, and grade-level capacity. As a result, school districts aren't required to accept transfer students if doing so would necessitate hiring new teachers, renovating buildings, or taking on other costly line items. This means that revenue from transfer students should more than offset marginal costs.
Objection #2: Some districts will lose funding from outgoing students faster than they can trim costs.
In the short term, school district costs can be difficult to trim in response to funding losses from enrollment declines.
For instance, public schools can't easily reduce teaching staff if enrollment losses are spread across several grade levels-they still need a teacher whether there are 25 students in a classroom or 20. But adjusting budgets to reflect declining enrollment is part and parcel of K-12 finance, with tools such as forecasting, revenue reserves, and leveraging staff attrition helping to smooth out changes. But there are other important factors to consider.
Research shows that open enrollment incentivizes school districts to improve, with many underenrolled districts seeing the opportunity to attract transfers to strengthen their budgets.
For example, a report by California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) found that school districts that lost students to open enrollment responded by engaging stakeholders and making programmatic changes that improved student retention and attracted transfer students. A separate LAO report found most of the districts opting into the state's voluntary program were rural, with the median district generating 22% of its enrollment from transfer students alone.
Studies from states such as Ohio, Colorado, and Texas had similar findings, showing open enrollment helps rural districts and drives overall improvements.
Another consideration is that Missouri's school finance system includes a generous declining-enrollment provision that helps mitigate the financial strain if a district experiences enrollment declines.
Rather than funding school districts based on a single year's enrollment count, as many states do, Missouri allows districts to use the higher of the current year's Average Daily Attendance or the first or second preceding school year's Average Daily Attendance. While this approach has drawbacks, its primary benefit is greater budget predictability, which helps school districts with declining enrollment.
Objection #3: Hold-harmless school districts won't be compensated for enrolling transfer students.
Missouri has two provisions that complicate how K-12 dollars are allocated to public schools: a large school hold harmless (LSHH) funding guarantee and a small school hold harmless (SSHH) funding guarantee. School districts with a prior-year Average Daily Attendance (ADA) greater than 350 are guaranteed at least their per-pupil state aid amount received in 2005-06 (LSHH), while those with a prior-year ADA of 350 or less are guaranteed at least their state aid amount in the higher of either 2004-05 or 2005-06 (SSHH).
Missouri's hold-harmless policies were originally adopted to facilitate the transition to a new funding formula, but decades later, they serve no purpose and would complicate funding for transfer students.
For Missouri's 167 hold-harmless school districts (about 30% of all districts), the LSHH and SSHH policies override the state's funding formula, resulting in more state aid than they would otherwise receive. While other school districts receive full state funding for each new student, hold-harmless districts' revenue is tied to what they got two decades ago.
This means that under an open enrollment program, LSHH and SSHH districts would receive partial or no state aid for transfer students, leaving them with additional costs without state funding to offset these expenses.
Nevertheless, because hold-harmless districts are at a fiscal advantage, it's reasonable to expect them to participate in open enrollment even with reduced or no additional per-student funding. After all, they already receive more state aid than what's provided under the state formula.
But if lawmakers want to address the concerns of the LSHH and SSHH districts, they could do so with a provision that guarantees full state formula aid for each enrolled transfer student. Importantly, only students who transfer between hold-harmless districts represent a new cost to the state, since students transferring from non-hold-harmless districts already generate state funding for their home school districts. This would be a prudent compromise if it meant more public school options for Missouri's students.
Conclusion
Funding concerns are a key barrier to adopting a statewide open enrollment program that would give students more public school options. But policymakers should rest assured that these objections are either unfounded or easily resolved. Research shows that adopting a robust open enrollment can benefit students, improve public schools, and help shore up school district budgets. Missouri can adopt a strong open enrollment policy that addresses districts' funding concerns and allows students to choose the best school for them.
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Original text here: https://reason.org/commentary/missouri-open-enrollment-students-while-addressing-school-funding/
