Week in Review: Arthur Brooks says "Look to Arizona!"

Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute and respected leader in the liberty movement, visited Phoenix on Thursday for a special event with the Goldwater Institute and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. Brooks spoke about the future of conservatism and how to bring America together—and the lesson that a successful state like Arizona offers for the rest of the nation:

“Doug Ducey is my favorite governor. I wish he were my governor. And the Goldwater Institute is my favorite state think tank. I wish we had it where I live, too. It’s easy for me to stand up here and say how lucky you are, but it’s true.

“It is so frustrating in Washington, D.C., with the polarization and the bitterness, the hatred, the disrespect… But when people say there’s no hope for America, I say ‘You’re looking in the wrong place!’ Don’t look at Washington, D.C., don’t look at the reality show. Look at places where things are working to lift people up. Look to Arizona!

Watch Arthur Brooks’ full remarks here, and stay tuned next week for an exclusive interview with Arthur Brooks.

Celebrating National School Choice Week

All students should have the ability to be educated in a way that gives them the best chance to succeed, and that’s why the Goldwater Institute joined with countless Americans across the country in celebrating National School Choice Week.

One important tool for school choice is Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), an idea pioneered by the Goldwater Institute and available today in Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee.With an ESA, the state deposits part of a student’s funds from the state education formula into a private account—money that can then be used toward tuition, tutoring, and other educational tools. 

In celebration of National School Choice Week, we looked at how ESAs work, why parents support ESAs, and debunked fabrications about fraudin Arizona’s ESA program. We also spoke with Goldwater Institute education policy director Matt Beienburg, who explained how one important moment showed him the power of innovation in education. Read these stories and more on our In Defense of Liberty blog. 

How Courts Could Free Even More People from Unions in the Year Ahead

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a huge victory for free-speech rights when it ruled that governments can’t force their employees to give money to a union in the landmark Janus v. AFSCMEcase. 

Because of that decision, some five million government workers in 22 states, who had been forced to give part of every paycheck to a union just to keep their jobs, are now free to choose what political advocacy groups they will and won’t support with their money. The decision also means that government unions can’t count on forced fees to fund their political agenda as they did in the past.

There’s more the Supreme Court can do, though, to bring more freedom to more Americans. Goldwater Institute senior attorney Jacob Huebert explains in a new article for The Daily Caller.