“After a long and dreary winter, the streets of Washington are once again in bloom. While the most vibrant displays of color and renewal can be found around the monuments and Tidal Basin, spring has also brought some surprising flourishes of possibility to Congress.” - Jason Grumet, President of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC)

Grumet and the BPC are respected on both sides of the partisan aisle for their innovative approaches and efforts to reduce divisiveness and improve government effectiveness.

A collaborative effort between Patrick Miller of the University of Kansas and Pamela Johnston Conover of the University North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers new insight into the growing phenomenon behind political polarization in the United States. The study, titled Red and Blue States of Mind: Partisan Hostility and Voting in the United States, was published in Political Research Quarterly on March 30.

 

 

The Illinois General Assembly recently passed legislation that may open the gates for new medical treatments for patients who have received terminal diagnoses.

Introduced earlier this year by State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), House Bill 1335, also known as "Right-to-Try," allows terminally-ill patients to try new drugs that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

IVN readers need to hear the other side to the article,

3 Pitfalls of the Fair Tax Proposal, published by David Yee on April 16. By way of background, the FAIRtax® is a bill in Congress with 74 sponsors that repeals Subtitles A, B, and C of the Internal Revenue Code and phases out the IRS over a three-year period.

That last feature should be welcome news for those of you who just filed tax returns and did not receive a refund. Tax collection devolves to the states.

Editor's note: The article below initially said that Nebraska does not have a top-two system, which is true for many of its elections. However, it does have a form of top-two for state legislative races and the article has been updated to clarify this fact.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- WTOP reported Tuesday that District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser wants Freedom of Information Act exemptions extended to include footage taken from body cameras worn by city police. Bowser, who introduced the FOIA language in her budget bill, says the exemption would protect the privacy of city residents who interact with local police officers.