In November, Saint Louis–area voters will choose whether to increase transit sales taxes. Metro officials worry that raising fares would lead to significantly decreased ridership, but high fuel prices may counteract that trend. What’s the best method for funding crucial transit services — low, widespread taxes, or higher user fees?
Light rail transit is expensive to build, operate, and maintain, requiring regular infusions of new taxpayer financing as construction costs escalate and system components wear down and need to be replaced. Rapid-transit bus routes are more flexible and can provide better, faster, safer transit than light rail at a far lower cost.
Missouri nestles against eight states, so border wars of all sorts are common. Some are fun, such as this week's Missouri-Illinois football game. But others we can't afford to lose. That includes economic competition between Missouri, which has an income tax, and Tennessee, which does not.
Saint Joseph is considering licensing contractors who work within the city. However, occupational licensing adds costs and decreases competition without improving quality or safety. The free market is best served by competition, not by restricting how somebody can make a living.
The urge to help people who have experienced devastation from floods and other disasters is never misguided. However, the expectation of relief spurs more marginal home and business owners to locate in risky areas in the first place. Ultimately, government-subsidized reconstruction sets people up for more long-run damage.
Now that Bombardier has decided to build in Canada rather than Missouri, it’s worth examining whether tax incentives are a worthwhile strategy for economic growth. While legislators certainly had Missouri's best interests at heart, both economic theory and hard data show us that real growth stems from lower tax rates across the board.
The property rights of ordinary Missourians have eroded over the years. The founding principles that established our nation held that individual rights must be protected against the majority. This ideal once guided Missouri’s Supreme Court, as well. Missouri needs to cultivate a renewed respect for the freedoms of all.
Research shows that judicial independence and legal system quality matter for economic growth, and that a state’s legal system outcomes depend in part on how judges are selected. A comparison of judicial selection methods across states shows that the “Missouri Plan” fares better than alternatives like partisan and nonpartisan elections.
Although Missouri’s Textbook Transparency Act is intended to lower the costs of higher education, the actual provisions of this bill will not achieve that purpose. Informational mandates and regulation of the ways that textbooks can be sold would decrease marginal producer profits, in many cases passing those costs on to students.
Some municipalities in Saint Louis County have filed suit to overturn a state law granting counties more tax increment financing (TIF) authority. However, counties are better positioned than municipalities to make good decisions about the use of TIF, and have a history of using these and other tax incentives more selectively.
Although the economic growth benefits of tax credits are easy to see, it’s harder to see their drawbacks. Looking more carefully at the evidence and applying basic economics shows that lowering tax rates across the board is much more efficient at encouraging growth than singling out a few credit recipients at the expense of everybody else.
Tuition tax credits are the most effective policy solution for parents with autistic children. Insurance mandates wouldn’t provide sufficient coverage for specialized education, and most public schools aren’t set up to treat autism. Tax credits would help all autistic kids without placing excessive burdens on individual school districts.
Tax credits may seem like a great idea to encourage growth by enticing firms to relocate to Missouri, but the reasoning used to support this type of development is almost certainly wrong. The higher marginal tax rates created by targeted credits actually eliminate more jobs than are created by the tax credit beneficiaries.
Counties in Missouri have for decades had the power to levy annual license fees on any public establishment that hosts a pool table. A holdover from earlier times when pool halls were seen as social ills, the tax remains in many areas today. This amounts to an endorsement of some types of recreational activities, and a punishment of others.
Officials who use tax credits as a plan to spur economic development tend to rely on discredited economic models. SB 1234 is one such bill, designed to attract “mega-projects” and spur related job creation. Such tax credits will cost taxpayers millions of dollars, without any reliable way of predicting relevant economic growth.
Earnings taxes may seem small, but 1 percent can add up to a significant amount over time. This is one reason suburbs have flourished near large urban centers in Missouri. Nearby towns may offer a similar range of living and employment opportunities, but with a much lower long-term aggregate tax burden.
Local taxes tend to vary significantly throughout Missouri, but most people don’t have the resources to compare tax rates for cities and counties throughout the state. The Show-Me Institute has created a new tax estimator that provides users with the ability to make more informed decisions about where to work and live.
Arnold v. Tourkakis was a rare opportunity for Missouri to protect its citizens property rights, but the state’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of eminent domain for private development — letting that chance sail by. Other property owners throughout the state must now face the sad reality that everybody’s homes and businesses are at risk.
Local governments often try to lure favored businesses with tax breaks or TIFs. But Saint Charles County rejects these incentives, and has been Missouri’s fastest-growing county in Missouri for three decades. It’s more important to create a favorable tax and regulatory climate across the board, attracting a wide base of business and development.
Missourians should consider the benefits of tolling and public-private partnerships for the state’s transportation infrastructure: up-front financing, quicker turnaround for some projects, and the assurance that those who actually use a new facility will help to pay for it — leading to fewer incentives to hike traditional gas tax funds.
The tremendous drawbacks of the light-rail plan approved by Kansas City voters required intervention by the City Council. Now, as officials attempt to balance competing transit goals, they should consider non-rail alternatives like additional bus–rapid transit lines and allowing private contractors to bid on the right to operate bus routes.
Many of us who have elderly family members living in nursing homes feel a natural urge to protect them through government regulation. But before passing new legislation, it’s important to determine whether the proposed regulations will actually have the desired effect of protecting Missouri’s elderly citizens.
On January 17, the Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments in City of Arnold v. Tourkakis. This case will decide whether the Missouri Constitution still offers property owners any meaningful protection against municipalities seeking to give their homes, businesses, or houses of worship to commercial developers.
Franklin County residents are considering adopting a charter form of government, which would give them the flexibility of increased local control. Charters in other Missouri counties have led to economic growth, population increases, and government stability. Would a charter be a positive change for the people of Franklin County?
Natural disasters and terrible weather inevitably lead to warnings about price gouging. But high prices during emergencies are simply a measurement of supply and demand. If prices aren’t allowed to rise, people who don’t really need scarce goods tend to buy more than they should, and businesses tend to produce less than they should, leading to shortages.
Every other year, Missouri reassesses all the property in the state. In larger and faster-growing counties, there are always a large number of complaints about the process. What should Missouri do, if anything, about its assessment system?
Despite a resounding defeat in circuit court, many Missouri school districts are appealing the “adequacy” school funding lawsuit that uses taxpayer dollars to sue taxpayers for $1 billion. But such a drastic increase in public school funding would come at the expense of the rest of the state budget.
Several commentators have claimed that a recent report by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute casts doubt on the effectiveness of Milwaukee’s school choice program. They apparently didn’t really read the report, which was written with a fundamentally flawed methodology — using national demographic data to make tenuous claims about Milwaukee parents.
Utah voters recently rejected a universal school choice plan because they believed the widely advertised contention that it would harm public schools. Other states’ experience with school choice demonstrates that those fears are utterly unfounded. Missourians dealing with failing public schools should find hope in the success of the nation’s enduring school choice programs.
A recent court decision denied school districts throughout Missouri from receiving $1.3 billion in additional public funding. The data shows no correlation between increased public school spending levels and increased student performance, so taxpayers should hope the decision is not appealed. Instead, Missouri needs to encourage a new educational approach — the power of choice.
Kirkwood is the only municipality within Saint Louis County that continues to operate its own municipal utilities. Would the citizens of Kirkwood benefit if Kirkwood sold its utilities to AmerenUE and Missouri-American Water Company?
Statistics demonstrate that increased educational spending in public schools does not correlate with enhanced student performance. Parents surveyed throughout Missouri, in every demographic, support some form of school choice. But it’s not only parents — teachers and their immediate family members say they support school choice, too.
The new “Insure Missouri” plan adds new layers of bureaucracy and centralized control to a system that needs exactly the opposite. If state government is going to subsidize health care for needy Missourians, it should convert existing entitlement programs into a system of vouchers that allow participants to purchase their own policies and establish health savings accounts.
Those calling to reform the payday loan industry are misguided in their attempt to help consumers. Interest rates for such loans are exorbitantly high, it’s true, but that’s because the borrowers tend to be high credit risks. Capping those rates would likely drive some desperate consumers to even more odious sources of credit. Programs to increase financial literacy would be a much more effective solution.
Gov. Blunt’s new health care plan is designed to insure low-income workers. While the plan is fundamentally flawed, it gets one thing right: A system of targeted subsidies would do a much better job of providing quality, timely health care to the needy than the universal health plans that are often proposed today.
The recent movement to regulate the sales of “hot fuel” at gas stations would actually raise fuel prices — not lower them. Gas stations are competitive in local markets, so the price for fuel in warmer months is already bid down slightly as a result of heat-expanded fuel in storage tanks. Requiring pumps to dispense more fuel per “gallon” would increase the price of each unit sold.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that race-based school assignments are unconstitutional has some worried that we could be in store for de facto public school segregation. Those who want to maintain and increase diversity in public schools should take a serious look at school choice, through which parents and students from all backgrounds can benefit from the best schools.
The recent Supreme Court opening has raised to new prominence the simmering dispute over the true non-partisanship of the Missouri Plan. The system has worked very well for Missourians, taking some of the politics out of judgeships and efficiently filling vacancies. However, a few important changes could make the plan work even better.
Although a circuit court judge recently struck down a controversial midwifery provision from a health insurance reform law, the measure deserves to be resurrected. Evidence shows that midwives provide safe, effective care to their patients. Expectant mothers are capable of making their own decisions about the type of care they wish to receive without state interference.
The increasing trend of adequacy lawsuits in Missouri school districts focuses on the wrong solution for improving public schools. An infusion of money into schools with poor performance records reinforces programs and policies that don’t work. Instead, a climate that encourages school choice and parental involvement will lead to performance-enhancing educational competition.
William Poole, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, speaks at a luncheon commemorating the life and accomplishments of economist Milton Friedman.
After years of infighting, antagonism, and micromanagement, the Saint Louis School Board has been superseded by a state-appointed transitional board. Although many area residents view the newcomers with suspicion, the new board has a chance to make long-needed changes to the face of public education in the Saint Louis area if they keep a few things in mind.
Missouri suffers from a teacher shortage in many subjects, such as math and science. Missouri’s teacher certification requirements, which keep professionals from other fields out of teaching, contribute to the shortage. A more flexible alternative certification process modeled after Florida’s would help school districts find qualified teachers.
An amendment to the Missouri Constitution has been proposed to designate English as the state’s official language. The amendment is unnecessary because official business is already conducted in English, and immigrants continue to learn English as they have in the past. Public policy in Missouri should address more pressing concerns.
The Missouri Department of Transportation is using new ideas and innovations to deliver quality transportation to the residents of Missouri. MoDOT deserves a great deal of credit for changing the manner in which it works for Missouri and for its creative thinking in how to address the state’s transportation needs.
The Show-Me Institute’s vice president demonstrates, from personal experience, how Missouri’s new health insurance reform makes it easier for small businesses to help their employees set up and fund health savings accounts.
Attempts by the state to pick and choose which industries deserve to prosper in the Missouri economy will choke off the real sources of economic development and impose costs on taxpayers by increasing marginal tax rates. Growth stems from wide-ranging market activity, not state command-and-control.
A long-awaited free-market step on the path to cover those without health insurance came out of Jefferson City on Friday. Gov. Matt Blunt signed HB 818, making Missouri the first state to permit pretax contributions from small business owners to their employees’ individually selected policies. Unlike other health care reform “solutions” that require more government intervention and bureaucracy—third-party or one-payer systems, employer mandates, tax hikes, and cost shifting—this law offers a common sense approach to health care reform.
The Missouri Legislature’s bill to reform workplace health insurance provides a common-sense approach to health care reform, rather than more government intervention and bureaucracy.
Although students who take courses online have diverse needs, Missouri’s new Virtual Instruction Program gives students few options. Missouri students would benefit if they could choose between competing virtual schools.
Proposals for a new bridge connecting Missouri and Illinois focus on supply when the real problem is demand. By efficiently pricing the use of scarce road space, driving during peak times will drop to manageable levels — without significant taxpayer expense.
With the obvious distress in the Saint Louis public schools, it is time to rethink some aspects of public education. Those students wealthy enough to afford it already have access to school choice. Saint Louis can improve its public schools by expanding these choices to all students.
Public education, particularly in Saint Louis, is in a state of distress. Ineffectual leadership, failed reform initiatives, and declining student performance are just some of the symptoms of a much larger disease that could seriously cripple the future of this country. Recent attempts at reform can be divided into two categories: reshuffling the administrative deck and throwing more money at the problem. Clearly, neither of these solutions has succeeded. It is time for a more fundamental change.
The state school board in Jefferson City was a scene of pandemonium on Thursday, as angry Saint Louis residents protested a vote that would lead to a state takeover of the troubled city school district. Both sides in the debate make good points. On the one hand, state education officials are concerned about a dysfunctional school district that has been failing to provide kids with an adequate education. On the other hand, some Saint Louis residents are understandably worried that without local representation, the district will not be responsive to the concerns of the district’s students and their parents.
Most industries are open to all firms willing to make the necessary initial investments to enter the market. If I want to open a bar in my neighborhood, can clear the zoning restrictions, and have the necessary capital to rent a space, fill it with booze, and market it to my prospective customers, then that bar will open, with me as its proprietor. This open process creates an environment in which businesses compete for customers, encouraging the innovation that leads to higher quality and lower prices. Requiring a prospective bar owner to obtain a permission slip showing a need for another bar in their neighborhood would obviously be ridiculous. Unfortunately, this is exactly the requirement made by the state of any entrepreneur looking to offer health care services.
What does every city with a recent eminent domain controversy in Saint Louis County have in common? They are all “point-of-sale” cities, which keep the majority of sales taxes they collect under the County’s complicated sales tax distribution formula. Legislation has been introduced in Jefferson City that would exacerbate the problem. It would change the way sales taxes are distributed in Saint Louis County and revert back to the system that existed prior to 1994, which would have even greater potential for eminent-domain abuse. Abandoning the so-called “Westfall Plan” would be a mistake with serious repercussions for economic development.
As time marches on, the pace of technological advancement marches along with it: the hand-written letter becomes an email, the horse and buggy becomes the automobile, and the pen and paper become the word processor. These advancements are mirrored in the media services industry by the ability to use iPods and cell phones to access programs once available solely through the home television set. Though the options for accessing media services outside the home have increased dramatically, the cable television market has remained largely stagnant. This stagnation results from current policies limiting competition amongst cable providers. Changing these policies will benefit consumers in the form of lower prices and better service.
Two of Saint Louis County’s most recognizable municipalities are engaged in discussions of a merger. Clayton, the county seat and region’s second downtown, and Richmond Heights, the area’s shopping and transportation nexus, have been considering a merger since November 2004. A Joint Study Committee was established consisting of equal representation from both cities, and that committee is closing in on issuing its final recommendations. If the JSC recommends moving forward, both cities’ elected bodies would have to agree to put the measure on the ballot, and then voters of both cities would have to approve the merger. A merger would benefit the residents of both communities and improve local government services for the residents and businesses.
A few decades ago, cable TV looked like a monopoly that was here to stay. Missouri passed cable franchise laws, which require cable companies to go through a time-consuming process to obtain permission to operate from local governments. One rationale was that franchise laws would protect consumers, but now that new technologies have sprung up that offer alternatives to cable, those outdated laws actually keep potential competitors out of the market. Missouri should pass cable franchise reform so consumers can enjoy lower prices and better service.
The Saint Louis school board has descended into chaos. The previous superintendent, Creg Williams, was ousted in July after just 15 months on the job. Board president Veronica O’Brien championed the selection of Diana Bourisaw as Williams’s replacement. But just three months later, the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the two women were no longer on speaking terms. Shifting political alliances and personality conflicts have produced six superintendents in the last five years. This has made it difficult for superintendents to set long-term goals, and made it impossible for the fractious school board to hold anyone accountable for their results. It is simply naïve to imagine Saint Louis schools will improve amidst this kind of discord and leadership turnover. What the district needs is decisive, consistent leadership.
Imagine if the law required every restaurant to serve its customers a four-course meal. Cafeterias and fast-food chains would be out of business. Eating out would become more expensive. There would be fewer restaurants to choose from, and a lot of people might just stay home for dinner. The only people who would benefit from such a law are the owners of upscale restaurants. They’d make out like bandits as the law put their competition out of business.
This November, Missouri voters will vote on Proposition B, which would raise the state’s minimum wage to $6.50 per hour. Proponents of the ballot initiative claim that the wage hike is necessary to ensure that poor Missourians can make ends meet. What they don’t mention is that most minimum wage workers are not poor, and that most poor workers don’t make the minimum wage. Missouri consumers would pay for the wage hike through higher prices, and many of the benefits would go to middle-class teenagers. It would be far better to focus on targeted policies like expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, which puts more money in the pockets of low-income workers at a far lower cost to Missouri consumers.
Missouri’s urban public schools don’t do a good job of preparing minority students for life and work. And unfortunately, many minority families in St. Louis and Kansas City can’t afford homes in suburban school districts, nor can they afford to send their kids to private prep schools or tutoring as many wealthier families do. Minority teens who aren’t doing well in the public schools may feel that the only alternative is to drop out. But some Kansas City schools are beating the odds.
Missouri policymakers have not waited for the U.S. Congress to enact a new federal immigration policy.Starting August 28th, new laws will punish businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants by barring them from participating in public works projects for three years, and by making those businesses ineligible to receive state loans.The new measure also prohibits illegal immigrants from being admitted to public institutions of higher education.
Imagine you sign a two-year lease with your landlord. After the first year, you decide you're tired of paying rent and would like to buy the property instead. You make him an offer, which he rejects as too low. In response, you go to the board of aldermen and ask them to declare the apartment blighted, condemn it, and turn it over to you for redevelopment. It might sound absurd, but something very similar is happening right now in Saint Louis. The story demonstrates just how ripe for abuse Missouri's eminent domain laws have become. And there's little reason to think the eminent domain bill the state legislature passed in May will prevent such abuses in the future, because the "blight" loophole being used by the city was not closed by the legislation.
Last November, Clayton business owner Dan Sheehan learned from the newspaper that his property suffered from "age, deteriorated condition, and outmoded design." That was a surprise to him because the property is located in one of the most prosperous neighborhoods in St. Louis and is home to four thriving small businesses, including his own. If the buildings were "deteriorated" and "outmoded," their customers didn't seem to notice. Yet the city of Clayton has begun making plans to seize Sheehan's property — and four others on the 7700 block of Forsyth — using eminent domain.
One year ago today, in the case of Kelo v. New London, the Supreme Court ruled that local governments have wide latitude to transfer property from one private party to another for purposes of "economic development." The public was outraged. In response, politicians across the nation pledged to enact state legislation to strengthen property rights. Last month, the legislature passed House Bill 1944 into law, which Governor Blunt touted as "protecting the rights of responsible property owners."
In January of 2004, the city of Arnold unveiled a plan to re-develop a large chunk of Arnold commonly referred to as the Arnold Triangle. The plan envisioned 250,000 square feet of retail space, a Dierbergs Market and a Lowe’s store. Unfortunately, there were 52 homes and businesses already occupying the area. They don’t pay as much in taxes as the city expects to get from the big box retailers, and the city has decided to remove them in favor of wealthier businesses. One of the property owners the city wants to displace is dentist Homer Tourkakis.
Missouri schools suffer from a shortage of math and science teachers. Rigid salary requirements prevent school districts from attracting new teachers in these shortage areas. Missouri should allow districts to use hiring incentives to address the math and science teacher shortage.
Last summer, Missouri’s elected officials promised to crack down on eminent domain abuse. Last week’s legislation falls far short of that promise. It makes some changes to the process of eminent domain takings, but it fails to curb “blight” takings, which are the primary justification for the abuse of eminent domain.
Missouri’s cable franchise law restricts competition and leaves consumers with few choices. Since the Texas legislature passed cable franchise reform, Texas consumers have benefited from better service and lower prices. Missouri should enact similar legislation to attract investment and increase competition.
The summer of 2005 was not a good one for Sharon Fitzgerald. On Memorial Day, she learned she had inoperable lung cancer. Three days later, she got a knock on her door. It was Jonathan Browne, head of real estate developer Novus Equities. He wanted to buy her house. And he made it clear that this was an offer she couldn't refuse. "He told us that if we didn't sell, he'd just use eminent domain and take our home anyway," said Sharon, "What could we do? With my health and everything and the chance to lose our home anyway, we didn't really have a choice."
Supporters of a subsidy of the Truman Sports Center say that the proposal will spur economic growth. In fact, a tax would hurt Kansas City by taking money away from other local businesses. It would mainly benefit the owners of the Chiefs and the Royals. The proposed subsidy is unfair to taxpayers and loyal fans.
For 30 years, the city of Saint Louis has lagged behind its suburbs in economic growth. The city’s earnings tax drives businesses and residents out of Saint Louis and penalizes workers who remain in the city. Repealing the earnings tax will attract economic development and generate greater revenue for the city.
Governor Blunt is to be commended for his focus on accountability and student instruction. But dictating how schools spend their money is the wrong approach. Instead of focusing on accountability to the state, he should be supporting school choice, which makes schools accountable to their customers: parents.
Some activists are demanding that the government force the cable industry to offer its television channels “a la carte.” That may sound good in theory, but in practice it’s a bad deal for consumers. Customers’ bills aren’t likely to go down very much, but they’ll get a lot fewer channels for their money
The passage of Referendum C last month in Colorado has editorial boards swooning. Colorado voters had "good reason" to suspend their state’s revenue limit, cheered the St. Louis Post-Dispatch while the New York Times proclaimed that "Colorado Got Its Government Back." In their eyes, the victory of Referendum C proves that Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) was a failure and cripples efforts to enact similar proposals in other states. However, these editorial boards greatly overstate their case. An honest appraisal of the past 13 years shows that TABOR was a success in Colorado and that similar limits have a bright future in Missouri and across the country.
Municipalities currently have the power to regulate cable TV service in their community through the use of franchise agreements. Increasing competition has made that system unnecessary, and, ironically, it has become a major impediment to competition. Missouri should follow the lead of Texas and replace it with a streamlined, state-wide franchise system.
We teach our kids that however much we may hate losing, that doesn't make it ok to lash out at the other team or at officials. Rep. Jeffrey Roorda (D-Barnhart), it seems, never learned that lesson. He blames the Cardinals' loss on bad decisions by the umpires, and he's decided to express his frustration through legislation. He wants to extend the state's athletes and entertainers tax--some call it the "jock tax"--which levies taxes on out-of-state athletes who play away games in Missouri, to include the umpires as well. His proposal isn't just bad sportsmanship, it's bad public policy too.
Here we go again. In a bitter 6-4 vote, before a standing-room-only crowd, the Kansas Board of Education adopted new curriculum standards last week that cast doubt on the theory of evolution. Whatever one thinks of the theory of evolution, there's a larger issue at stake. The dispute in Kansas isn't ultimately about the merits of the theory of evolution, or whether all the alternatives are, as opponents argue, based on religious faith. The bigger fight is about who gets to impose their beliefs on whom. It's just the latest symptom of a deeper illness that necessarily afflicts a school system where all the educational decisions are made by government bureaucrats.
Missouri's asset forfeiture laws avoid a conflict of interest by prohibiting law enforcement officials from keeping forfeiture profits. Instead, the money is dedicated to a public education fund. And under Missouri law, seized property cannot be auctioned off until its owner has been convicted of a crime. But some law enforcement officials don't like those sensible safeguards for property rights.
It's true that the McRee Town was in distress. Some buildings had problems so serious that condemnation and demolition was the only option. But the use of eminent domain to seize and demolish entire city blocks was unfair, unnecessary, and wasteful. It destroyed badly needed affordable housing and uprooted dozens of poor people, most of whom were forced to start over in another bad neighborhood. A better renovation plan for McRee Town would have focused on helping those already living and working in the neighborhood by expanding the stock of affordable housing.
A group calling itself the Coalition for a Healthy Future wants to more than quintuple Missouri's cigarette excise tax, to 97 cents a pack, and use the proceeds to help finance Medicaid, the government health care program for the poor. The proposal, which the group hopes to put on the November 2006 ballot, is bad policy. It's regressive, and it's unfair to smokers. Voters should reject it, just as they rejected a similar tax hike in 2002.
Tuesday's recall of St. Louis Alderman Thomas Bauer puts all Missouri public officials on notice: voters won't put up with politicians who abuse the power of eminent domain for the benefit of well-connected private developers. Voters in the 24th Ward were outraged after Bauer attempted to seize several homes and businesses at the corner of Manchester and McCausland in order to make room for a QuikTrip gas station.
