Ethan Allen Institute at Ethan Allen Institute

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Posted by Ben Kinsley · July 20, 2020

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Posted by Ben Kinsley · July 20, 2020 · 113 reactions

Issues

Posted by Ben Kinsley · July 19, 2020

Education, Healthcare & Covid-19	Democracy, Elections & Accountability	Freedom, Justice & Rights
Climate, Energy & the Environment	Pension Reform	Taxes & Government Spending

The Ethan Allen Institute educates about and promotes issues that affect each citizen’s ability to participate in a free market with constitutionally limited interference from government. Some specific areas of focus include:

Vermont’s economic future, particularly the vitality and diversity of its competitive free enterprise sector.
The fiscal practices and condition of state government – taxation, spending, and borrowing.
State and local regulatory practices, and their effect on the economy and the rights of the people.
The improvement of education for all Vermont children, and particularly the expansion of competition and choice for all.
The preservation of free, accountable, democratic government, where public decisions are made at the level as close as possible to the people themselves.
The strengthening of Vermont community and family life, and the protection of local government from burdensome and costly mandates.
Respect for Vermont’s constitution and opposition to judicial activism.

School Choice — Better Value, Fewer Taxpayer Dollars.

This report from the EAI-sponsored Commission on Rebalancing Education Cost and Value proposes to improve educational quality whle spending fewer taxpayer dollars – by replacing the high-cost bureaucratic union-dominated public school system with a new era of parental choice and provider competition, including public, charter, virtual, faith-based and home school options. (December 2009 – 28pp)? Report in PDF format.

Off the Rails: Changing Demographics, Changing Economics, Accumulating Obligations: How Will Vermont Cope with a Challenging Future?

(October, 2008) This important report (pdf format, 19pp) is a condensed and more popularized version of the 2006 Arthur Woolf/Dick Heaps paper listed below. It shows with text and graphics the expected changes in the state’s productive work force 2006-2030, and the projected growth of state expenditures for K-12 education and human services over the same period. It presents five possible strategies for avoiding the dismal outcome that today’s public policies will lead to if continued 24 years into the future. It also contains three pages of recommended policy proposals for beginning to cope with the impending fiscal problem. The report (updated from the original version released in December 2006) includes the names of the 23-member Project Advisory Group. Report in PDF format

The Promise of Consumer-Driven Health Care: How Putting Consumers in Charge of their Health Will Improve Wellness – and Reduce Excessive Costs

(April, 2006) This 20 page report (pdf format) explains consumer-driven health care and the various tax-free savings options (HSAs, HRAs, FSAs). The report describes the results of twelve CDHC plans dating back to 1978 and the history of CDHC initiatives in Vermont. The report includes a page of useful references and web sites. Report in .pdf format