Solving Insolvency

Criminal Justice

• In an op-ed for Route Fifty, Jennifer Doleac, executive vice president of criminal justice at AV, explains that “truth in sentencing” laws are counterproductive and can undermine public safety because they remove the incentive for people to engage in programming and activities that reduce recidivism.
   
• The Los Angeles Daily News reports on how and why some states are seeking waivers from the federal government that would allow them to provide Medicaid services to incarcerated people who are soon to be released to their communities.
   
• The for-profit bail industry is a major player in efforts to discredit and roll back state and local policies that reduce or eliminate the use of money to determine whether someone should be released on bail, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

• In an op-ed for The Hill, the University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics Executive Director Rachel Werner outlines the bureaucratic nightmares the dual eligible population often faces when navigating care. 
   
• Wake Forest Law Professor Mark Hall published a preliminary report exploring Mission Hospital’s financial performance following its acquisition by HCA Health Care, finding patient care profits in 2022 were about 3.5X more than before the hospital was purchased, in NC Health News.
   
• In Health Affairs, AV grantees from PORTAL and Tufts CEVR propose an implementation framework for CMS Medicare drug price negotiations that encourages aligning the price of the drug with its value.
   
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expanded its patent listing challenges, targeting over 300 potentially bogus patent listings for blockbuster prescription medications, including brand-name treatments for asthma, COPD, diabetes, and weight loss. 

• In The New York Times, Jessica Fu describes how scammers have been able to drain account balances of beneficiaries of government programs such as food stamps as a result of lax security standards. (free link)
   
• Adam White discusses the possible impacts of the upcoming Supreme Court decisions in Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo on the scope of federal agencies’ flexibility in implementing the law in Law & Liberty.
   
• House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) writes in The Hill about the vast problem of improper payments in government programs.

• AV grantee Tennessee SCORE found a mixed picture of student outcomes in Tennessee’s postsecondary institutions in its latest report.
   
• University of Tennessee Professor Robert Kelchen dives into the relationship between heightened cash monitoring, one of the federal government’s tools for higher education accountability, and institutional outcomes.

• A revolving acquisition fund could help facilitate affordable housing projects in wealthier neighborhoods, argues Patrick McAnaney in a Greater Greater Washington op-ed.
   
• Heatmap News lists the ten make-or-break projects of the energy transition.
   
• Colorado is on the verge of passing a bill that would require most cities to allow accessory dwelling units — or ADUs — on the same property as a single-family home, Colorado Newsline reports.

• On Monday, May 13, at the American Enterprise Institute in D.C., AV Executive Vice President for Public Finance George Callas will moderate a panel of speakers on reform options for the federal debt, as part of an all-day event. View the agenda and register to attend online or in-person.
   
• On Thursday, May 23, at the Cannon House Office Building in D.C., George Callas will be one of the featured speakers at the Tax Foundation's half-day conference on Understanding the Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). See the full speaker list and register to attend in-person or online.

• The largest wildlife crossing (over an LA highway) now has a Lego model.
   
• Twinsies! But at the art museum.
   
• Tino, a 160-pound newborn giraffe, is making his Houston debut.