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October 30, 2018
A Colorado group campaigning to limit charges for what they call payday loans claims that "current law allows payday lenders to charge more than 200% interest for small loans targeted at customers who are often in dire straits." Does Colorado law allow payday lenders to charge more than 200% interest for small loans?
August 24, 2018
501(c)(4) nonprofit One Nation aired an ad criticizing positions on immigration taken by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D), who is running for re-election against Republican Patrick Morrisey. According to the ad, “Senator Joe Manchin voted for a bill that would have given amnesty to millions who broke our laws...and he opposed funding for Trump’s border wall.” What are the facts about Sen. Manchin’s record on amnesty and funding a border wall?
August 8, 2018
Use of the term administrative state has increased considerably since Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former chief strategist, declared in February 2017 that the new administration was seeking "deconstruction of the administrative state." Jeremy Peters, a reporter for The New York Times, claimed in a March 2018 article on judicial nominations, “The Trump administration has a new litmus test: reining in what conservatives call ‘the administrative state.’” Is the term administrative state used only by conservatives?
August 2, 2018
In a radio ad about ballot initiative petitions, El Paso County Commissioner Mark Waller said that the information of petition signers goes into a public database accessible on the internet. Is Waller's claim correct?
June 29, 2018
Shelley Berkely, a former member of the U.S. House from Nevada, claimed that Nevada Senator Dean Heller (R) changed several of his policy positions in order to accommodate President Trump. Does Heller's legislative record support Berkley's claim?
May 10, 2018
Cary Kennedy, a candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Colorado in the 2018 election, has made raising teacher pay a key component of her education platform. She claims that despite having one of the top-ranked economies in the country, Colorado teachers’ salaries are “among the lowest in the country." Is Kennedy's claim accurate?
April 10, 2018
Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock said Kyrsten Sinema, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate representing Arizona, has raised twice as much PAC money as Republican candidate Martha McSally, and claimed Sinema's leading contributors are banks. On the other hand, McSally has drawn three times the small dollar donations as Sinema, primarily from retirees, Morlock said. Is Morlock correct?
February 13, 2018
Nonprofit executive Alex Triantaphyllis (D), who is seeking the Democratic nomination to represent Texas' 7th Congressional District, claims on his website that "In recent years, nearly half of all Fortune 500 companies have been founded by immigrants or their children." Is Triantaphyllis correct?
February 5, 2018
Businessman Danny Tarkanian, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) in the Republican primary on June 12, 2018, said Heller “completely flipped” on his previous opposition to federal funding for abortion providers when he “promised on film that he would protect the funding of Planned Parenthood.” Is Tarkanian correct that Heller changed his position on funding for Planned Parenthood?
December 7, 2017
Michigan Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw Township, proposed a resolution to dissolve Michigan’s Board of Education, saying Michigan’s academic standing has “fallen precipitously” in national rankings over the past decade, and the board has failed to keep students from lagging “farther and farther behind.” Is Rep. Kelly correct that Michigan’s academic standing has fallen precipitously in national rankings during the past decade?
November 29, 2017
In a campaign video, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris King characterized Florida as being "at the back of the pack" in major economic indicators, but Gov. Rick Scott and members of his administration said the state has flourished under his tenure. Who is correct about Florida's economy?
November 21, 2017
In a column about Connecticut’s budget woes, Matt Walter, executive director of the State Government Leadership Foundation, claimed that Connecticut state employees "earn 42 percent more on average than the average private-sector worker in the state — the highest disparity in the country." Is Walter correct?
November 20, 2017
Gary Johnson, a former Libertarian Party candidate for president, recently claimed that "the largest group of American voters are actually neither Democrats or Republicans" and "the overwhelming majority would like to have more choices than just the two 'major' parties." Is Johnson correct about party affiliation and public opinion on the two-party system?
November 14, 2017
Tony Evers, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Wisconsin, was recently the University of Wisconsin Board of Regent's lone vote against a new policy on freedom of expression. Evers claimed that the policy "gives the university the means to expel a student for participating in any sort of protest," and "does not even provide a definition for the word 'disrupt.'" Is Evers correct?
November 7, 2017
Following Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, a video by media company ATTN: claimed, "Regulations for flood-proof buildings [in the U.S.] have actually been cut." Is that accurate?
November 2, 2017
The City of Hartford, Connecticut, is facing a $49.6 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2018. Regarding this shortfall, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin claimed: "[T]he much bigger reason for Hartford’s budget crisis is this: … More than half of our property is non-taxable." In response, Journal Inquirer managing editor Chris Powell wrote, "The mayor argues that the city is hobbled financially because half its land is occupied by government or nonprofit institutions and thus exempt from city property taxes. But state government already compensates for that by reimbursing half the city's budget." Are Mayor Bronin and Powell correct?
November 1, 2017
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) recently signed House Bill 40 (HB 40), which authorized public funding of abortion through Medicaid and state employee health insurance. In response, state Sen. Dan McConchie (R) claimed that Rauner had made a "public commitment...to veto this bill,” adding, “His flip-flopping on this issue raises serious questions on whether the Governor's word can be trusted on other matters." Did Gov. Rauner make a public commitment to veto HB 40?
October 31, 2017
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Rep. Evan Jenkins are running in the Republican primary for the chance to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in the 2018 election. Morrisey's campaign claimed in a press release that Jenkins has a "liberal record of supporting Hillary Clinton and voting for cap-and-trade."
October 30, 2017
New Jersey gubernatorial candidates Phil Murphy (D) and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R) addressed the state’s economy in a recent debate. Guadagno claimed, "There are more people working here on average than ever in the history of the state of New Jersey." Murphy claimed that "the labor market participation is at a 10-year low," and "we have fewer small businesses in New Jersey than the day that [Guadagno] and Governor Christie took over leadership in the state." Are the candidates’ competing claims about the economy accurate?
October 27, 2017
At a recent debate between Virginia’s gubernatorial candidates, Ralph Northam (D) asked Ed Gillespie (R), "Do you support universal background checks in the Commonwealth of Virginia?" Gillespie prefaced his response by stating, "As you know, there are universal background checks." Is that correct? Has Virginia enacted universal background checks for firearms purchases?
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