3 Legislative Priorities for State Governments Next Session

As 2016 comes to a close, state lawmakers around the nation will look to set legislative priorities for the next couple of years.

Reforms to health care, education, and welfare will be top priorities for states around the country, Kathleen O’Hearn, director of policy advancement at the State Policy Network, tells The Daily Signal.

“I think states are still going to be primary drivers of reform in this country,” says O’Hearn, whose organization works with state-based think tanks on policy issues.

Conservative lawmakers across the country are setting their sights on President Barack Obama’s signature achievement, Obamacare. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

O’Hearn says states that did not expand Medicaid will be more likely to roll back Obamacare, while education and welfare reform efforts will be pretty widespread.

To get quality and affordable health care, “a lot of that will be untangling some of the harmful rules and regulations of [Obamacare],” O’Hearn said. “And untangling some of the things that were done at the state level to comply with [Obamacare].”

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Improving education in this country, while “giving more power back to the parents” and students, has been an important topic for state legislatures, O’Hearn said.

“Right now, we’re seeing a lot of welfare trapping our citizens in poverty dependence,” O’Hearn said. “We think there will be a new round of reform coming with this election.”

“We think there will be a new round of reform coming with this election.” —@StatePolicy

As to other state legislative priorities, O’Hearn noted that states have the opportunity to take a stance protecting free speech. She said:

I also think we have seen attacks on nonprofit and charitable organizations rise over the last several years—which is an affront to the free speech values this country was founded on. But I think there is also a real opportunity for states and state policymakers to take a proactive stance in protecting free speech and the right for Americans to support causes they believe in via legislation.

Citizens around the country voted this year on controversial state ballot measures including medical marijuana legalization, gun regulations, and minimum wage.

In other local ballot measure issues, voters in Albany, Oakland, and San Francisco, California, decided to impose a 1-cent per ounce soda tax on many sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas and energy drinks. Berkeley, California, implemented the nation’s first 1-cent soda tax in 2014.

In Boulder, Colorado, voters passed a 2-cent soda tax last week. Some health advocates argued the tax would reduce soda consumption. Opponents said it would limit personal dietary choices.