Gas prices continue to skyrocket and lawmakers are considering a summer gas tax holiday, but attorney Michael M. Shapiro believes there is a better option. Learn the details in Let’s Talk About Energy.

School Spending — In the aftermath of the disclosure of a school superintendent who retired with more than $750,000 in severance and retirement compensation, Hank Butehorn of GOPUSA-NJ, argues that tax dollars are not going toward their intended purpose of educating New Jersey students. Read more in The 65 Percent Rule.

Sex and the Nation — In his current PolitickerNJ.com column, Hall Institute Executive Director Michael P. Riccards uses the new Sex and the City film to begin an intriguing discussion of Sexism and the Presidential Race.

Autism Court Ruling — A recent U.S. District Court ruling may lead to better services for children with autism. As Salvatore Pizzuro explains in New Jersey’s Children with Autism, the court’s decision is especially important for New Jersey, which has the nation’s highest rate of autism among children.

Visit the Hall Institute online at WWW.HALLNJ.ORG to read these articles and other topical material:

• Riccards on New Jersey 2008 — A blog on our state's expanded role in the 2008 presidential race.
• Rich Lee on Media — Musings on those who make the news and those who report it.
• Hall Institute Forum — Our public affairs television program.
• Hall Institute Radio Podcast Forum — Audio discussion of timely and topical public policy issues.
• A School Funding Scrapbook — Commentary on education issues and policy.
• White Papers
• Research Essays
• Op-Ed Articles
• Press Releases

The Hall Institute is a non-partisan, not-for-profit foundation established to explore social, economic, educational and cultural issues. Our weekly email newsletter is sent to organizations and individuals with an interest in the material posted on our website at www.hallnj.org.

Since its inception two years ago, the institute has emerged as a leading voice for public policy in New Jersey. More than 400 papers, on topics ranging from health care to education to property taxes, have been posted on our website.

In 2006, the institute presented an online Virtual Debate among the candidates in New Jersey's U.S. Senate race. Plans are underway for a 2008 Virtual Debate for this year's Senate race. We also are sponsoring NJ2008, a special section on New Jersey's role in the 2008 presidential campaign.

The Hall Institute also produces a 30-minute public affairs television program and recently acquired the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, a non-partisan think tank based in Berkeley, California.

In addition to our other activities, the institute also has published two books -- The State of the Garden State and Reaction and Reform in New Jersey. Both are compilations of the major papers posted on its website.

Located in Trenton directly across from the New Jersey Statehouse, the institute was established by George E. Hall, a successful business executive and a leading philanthropist who lives in Middletown, N.J.