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Five Massive States Wins in 2024

All eyes are on D.C. these days, but bold and innovative ways to protect freedom and expand opportunity are popping up all over America.

Across the country, voters, legislators, and governors worked hard to advance reforms that take power away from bureaucrats and special interests and put it back into the hands of workers, families, and their elected representatives.

Here are five of those reforms from 2024 that other states should consider in the new year:

#1: Banning ranked-choice voting

One of the biggest moments in 2024 came from the voting booth: a resounding defeat of ranked-choice voting.

Ranked-choice voting is a scheme that leftist activists have been pushing across the country that requires voters to rank candidates in order of preference, with ballots going in the trash in order to create a fake majority outcome. It’s complicated and confusing—by design. It turns elections into a game that can be played and won by the Left.

The good news is that Americans don’t want ranked-choice voting.

Oregon tried to implement it and failed. Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, and Arizona tried and failed. Alaska was only a few hundred votes away from repealing its ranked-choice system. Missouri fully banned ranked-choice voting before activists could try to push it through.

The battle against this ridiculous voting scheme is far from over, but the states facing this issue in the coming year can look to 2024 for inspiration. Even better, they can follow Missouri’s lead and prevent ranked-choice voting from gaining any traction at all.

#2: Stopping universal basic income schemes

If you were given a guaranteed income with no strings attached, would you work?

For many, the answer is no, and that’s one of the main problems behind universal basic income.

Left-leaning cities across the country were introducing these universal basic income schemes with the hope of expanding them statewide. Despite claims to the contrary, universal basic income won’t help families—in fact, the dramatic increase in government spending can devastate family budgets. Dramatically increasing welfare spending will make the costs of food, housing, and clothing increase. After President Biden unilaterally increased food stamp benefits, grocery prices rose by at least 15 percent.

Fortunately, in 2024, Idaho and South Dakota saw the red flags with this scheme and outright banned universal basic income—preferring to encourage work over welfare to help families.

#3: Preventing big banks from punishing free speech

Debanking is a form of discrimination when big banks close the accounts of individuals or groups purely over their political or religious beliefs.

For example, Bank of America canceled the account of Indigenous Advance Ministries, a small, Memphis-based Christian ministry, alleging that the ministry was no longer aligned with the bank’s “risk tolerance.”

It’s a violation of civil liberties and in 2024, Tennessee joined a cadre of other states in standing up to megabanks and banning debanking. While the pressure from Washington, D.C. to financially punish non-leftist individuals and organizations will cease with the Biden administration’s departure, states should still take action in 2025 and prevent debanking from gaining any further momentum.

#4: Unemployment indexing

Unemployment indexing is simple: When unemployment is high and jobs are scarce, individuals may receive unemployment insurance benefits for a longer time while they look for work. On the flip side, when unemployment is low and jobs are plentiful, they have less time on unemployment. This reform allows states to protect their programs and resources for future economic downturns while reducing taxes and cycling workers off unemployment more quickly.

Indexing unemployment was a game changer for states like Kansas and Iowa, whose unemployment trust fund increased from just under $100 million to nearly $1 billion.

In 2024, Louisiana promoted work over welfare by joining the ranks of states that index unemployment. Its new law will take effect in January.  

#5: Blocking Medicaid expansion

Medicaid expansion was, is, and will continue to be a disaster of epic proportions. It’s shattered enrollment predictions, put hospitals at risk of closure, puts the truly needy at the back of the line behind able-bodied adults, and could kick millions more Americans off their private insurance.

In 2024, Kansas, Mississippi, and Wyoming continued to stand strong against pressure from activists and D.C. to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare. In total, 10 states have still not expanded.

This pressure will continue in the new year and beyond. Not only should these states continue to avoid the temptation to expand, but states like Montana also can and should move to end their nightmare and roll expansion back.

At FGA, we don’t just talk about changing policy—we make it happen.

By partnering with FGA through a gift, you can create more policy change that returns America to a country where entrepreneurship thrives, personal responsibility is rewarded, and paychecks replace welfare checks.