Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

Sports betting has expanded rapidly since 2018, but is it really the revenue generator many states claim it is?

In a new MI report, Charles Fain Lehman finds that sports betting accounts for just 0.2% of state tax revenue on average, while a growing body of research links legalization to higher rates of bankruptcy, debt delinquency, problem gambling, child maltreatment, and crime.

The report argues that the social costs of sports betting may outweigh its limited fiscal benefits, and that policymakers should prioritize public health and welfare over revenue when crafting gambling policy.

Read the full report: https://manhattan.institute/article/a-bad-bet-why-sports-gambling-tax-revenue-disappoints?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

New York City has a de facto multiparty system. Despite recent reforms like ranked-choice voting, its electoral rules channel political competition into lower turnout and intra-party factional fights, rather than contests between multiple distinct parties in the general election. Proportional representation (PR) offers a way to fix this problem.



In a new report for the Manhattan Institute, electoral system expert Jack Santucci and director of Cities John Ketchum examine how PR could reshape New York City's City Council elections. They find that the current single-seat district system produces two problems: right-leaning voters, being geographically dispersed, win far fewer seats than their vote share warrants (roughly 10% of seats on 22% of votes), while low-turnout Democratic primaries give organized factions like the Working Families Party outsized influence over who gets elected.



The report simulates two PR alternatives using 2025 council election data. Open-list PR (OLPR) would use the five boroughs as multi-seat districts, while mixed-member proportional (MMP) would retain current districts and add 20 citywide seats to correct imbalances. Both systems would bring seat shares closer to vote shares without dramatically changing who wins.

Read the full report: https://bit.ly/4avCzIS

Understanding How Proportional Representation Might Work in New York City On May 28, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the creation of a Charter Revision Commission (CRC), called the Commission on Government Efficiency, with a mandate to make government work better.[1] The CRC has an opportunity to address the democratic deficit produced by the city’s current electoral rul...

Why do states subcontract Medicaid to private insurers when government funds it, sets coverage and prices, and often doesn’t competitively bid contracts?

A new MI report by Chris Pope finds Medicaid Managed Care covers 77% of enrollees but shows little evidence of cost savings or better care. Instead, opaque contracting has enabled funding loopholes, including a $19B windfall in California over four years.

It also finds higher denial rates than Medicare Advantage and weak payment transparency—raising serious questions about how the system is working in practice.

Pope recommends closing funding loopholes, standardizing contracts nationally, requiring detailed spending disclosures, and allowing states to outsource claims administration directly to the federal government for greater accountability.

Read the full report: https://bit.ly/49q7R3s

Federal agencies often govern through informal guidance documents—not just formal regulations—creating what some scholars call “regulatory dark matter.”

A new MI brief by Alex J. Adams examines how HHS's Administration for Children and Families eliminated roughly 75% of its outdated or redundant guidance documents and implemented reforms to prevent future buildup.

Read the entire issue brief: https://bit.ly/3PRsM93