Experts in the News

President Biden's American Families Plan includes a provision that could exacerbate the "marriage penalty" — the fact that dual-income families pay higher taxes when partners marry and jointly file their tax returns than people filing as individuals. Fellow Joyce Beebe explained in an article for The Hill. 

A new White House task force is examining how partisan politics have interfered with science. Fellow Kirstin Matthews discussed how to keep the two apart.

Energy fellow Jim Krane discussed everything from the oil industry's response to climate change to the geopolitics of energy, energy security, and post-pandemic energy demand in a recent interview. Krane is the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies.

While a new study says voting restriction bills could cost Texas' tourism industry, state Republicans aren’t looking much at the economic impact because they believe it’s overestimated, said political science fellow Mark Jones.

Drug policy fellow Katharine Neill Harris testified before the Senate State Affairs Committee in support of HB 2593, which would reduce penalties for possession of some marijuana concentrate. “Under current law, possession of any amount of the [concentrate] is a felony, in the same category as drugs like heroin, meth and cocaine, and there is no rational basis for this classification,” she said. “HB 2593 would create a more reasonable penalty for the concentrates by treating them like other parts of the marijuana plant. It would also remove the stain of a felony conviction, the negative consequences of which affect all areas of a person's life and severely limit their education and job prospects.” Neill Harris is the Alfred C. Glassell, III, Fellow in Drug Policy