Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy is proposing an alternative to expiring health care subsidies that keep Marketplace premiums affordable for millions of Americans. Cassidy’s plan would redirect the savings generated by enhanced premium tax credits into tax-free “Health Savings Accounts.” Richard Williams, in a letter to The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate, explains why this won’t work: 

Insurance deductibles and premiums are opposing forces in health care, not unlike a seesaw. If deductibles go up, the premium goes down, and vice versa. Health insurers will increase deductible and premium costs to offset the loss of the tax credit revenue. The current tax credits allow ACA beneficiaries to purchase policies with low premiums. Beneficiaries are being notified that premium increases for 2026 will be significantly higher if the tax subsidies are not renewed by Congress. The increased cost of ACA insurance, even with a Flexible Spending Account, will result in many current beneficiaries dropping their coverage.

Opportunity zones don’t live up to the hype

Opportunity zones are designed to incentivize investments in disadvantaged economic areas. While this policy was included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the 2025 federal megabill, its history stretches back decades. Governing’s Alan Ehrenhalt provides a harsh critique of opportunity zones from the philanthropy organization Arnold Ventures:

It concluded that “after nearly eight years of generous tax breaks for investors and developers, it is time to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth: this well-intentioned program has primarily enriched wealthy investors while doing little to help the people it was designed to serve” and has “steered money toward projects promising the highest returns — luxury apartments, office buildings and hotels — rather than the community-serving businesses that distressed neighborhoods actually need.”

Ehrenhalt gives his own thoughts on opportunity zones:

Opportunity zones get buildings built. They bring new life, and often new commercial activity, to communities that have been in need of them. But they don’t attract many new factories or new jobs, and they don’t do much to lift people out of poverty. In this respect, they have fallen short of their promised results. In view of that, is the program worth the billions it is costing? Is there something else it has accomplished, something the studies can’t account for? Maybe.

Data center balancing act

States across the country are competing to attract data-center projects within their borders. Route Fifty’s Kaitlyn Levinson outlines policies, such as the responsible use of tax incentives, that bring benefits to the communities where these large, expensive projects are located: 

In Iowa, for instance, the Cedar Rapids City Council approved a tax deal with Quality Technology Services in January to build a data center campus in the city. Under the agreement, the $750 million project is not only projected to create more than 500 construction jobs over the next decade, but also generate $18 million that the company will pay to Cedar Rapids to help fund city improvement projects and nonprofit agencies over the next 20 years. 

A recent report from Good Jobs First explains how Louisiana is not being transparent in its use of data center tax incentives: 

In Louisiana, tech giant Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, is building the largest data center complex in the world. Yet, the public has no insight into how much in sales tax breaks Meta is receiving. 

Drew Hawkins of WWNO-FM recently explained how the construction of Meta’s Hyperion site is putting a dangerous strain on roads in the small town of Holly Ridge. 


The drawbacks of “buy now pay later” services

More Americans are using “buy now pay later” services this holiday season. While these services promote more strategic and flexible purchasing power, there are drawbacks for consumers. Farah Akbari, sophomore at Brown University, explains in a guest column for Stateline:

Behind their friendly designed platforms is a system that targets consumers, hurts credit scores, and encourages impulsive spending. … It sounds great, but the APR (the extra cost you pay for borrowing) can range from 0% to 36% depending on consumers’ credit score. A 2024 study from the Federal Reserve showed that buy-now-pay-later users tend to already have low credit scores, meaning that they are least likely to qualify for 0% payment plans. What looks like an easier way to pay ends up being more costly for target shoppers. 

Number of the Day

$23,140 – Annual Affordable Care Act premium increase for a 60-year-old couple with income of $85,000 living in Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District if enhanced premium tax credits expire at the end of this year. (Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)