More SNAP Changes: Restoring Thrift

Posted on by Scott Tanner

Four years ago, the federal government orchestrated the largest year-to-year growth in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in history. While some cheered this expansion, many scholars argued that the maneuver that generated this increase shouldn’t have been allowed to happen. Fortunately, the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) gets SNAP back on track.

At the center of the issue is what’s called the “Thrifty Food Plan,” which is the formula the USDA uses to set SNAP benefits every year. In short, the formula is designed to determine the cost of a basic but nutritious diet, given the USDA’s dietary guidelines. For decades, the Thrifty Food Plan was adjusted yearly to account for the increased costs families saw in their grocery bills. But in 2021, the formula was changed to boost benefits by around 21%, far exceeding inflation.

The precise way the formula was adjusted is complicated and goes beyond the scope of this post, but suffice it to say that both the foods included in the calculation and their cost were changed to increase national SNAP expenditures by roughly $200 billion over ten years, all without an act of Congress. Historically, major changes to the Thrifty Food Plan beyond inflationary cost increases have been the result of legislation. Such a significant change without explicit approval led many to call for its immediate reversal, arguing the move violated federal law and years of precedent.

After several years of higher SNAP spending, the OBBB finally addresses the issue created in 2021. The law now ties Thrifty Food Plan increases to inflation and specifies how often the foods included in the calculation can be re-evaluated. While this may not seem like some groundbreaking change, it’s an important step to protect against future bureaucratic attempts to expand welfare benefits without congressional approval, and could ultimately save Missouri taxpayers money.

As I wrote recently, in an effort to improve SNAP’s program integrity, the OBBB will soon start putting states on the hook for a portion of benefit costs if they can’t get their payment error rates under control. Keep in mind that until the OBBB is fully implemented, the federal government covers 100% of all SNAP benefits. Meanwhile, states have overpaid recipients nearly 10% of the time. By changing the incentives, states now have a reason to lower their error rates, which should reduce wasteful spending. The Thrifty Food Plan change will also help states (maybe including Missouri) that become responsible for a portion of benefit costs (because their payment error rates are too high) from being subject to unanticipated large program cost increases in future years.

The Thrifty Food Plan changes will help rein in the administrative state and encourage states to be better stewards of taxpayer money. Missouri’s policymakers and taxpayers should welcome the return of thrift to SNAP.

Springfield Needs Charter Schools

Posted on by Mike Ederer

A version of the following commentary appeared in the Springfield News-Leader.

Of Missouri’s four largest cities—Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, and Columbia—Springfield will soon be the only one without charter schools. Charter schools are already thriving in Kansas City, and St. Louis and thanks to recent legislation Columbia will have its first charter schools up and running as early as 2026.

Springfield is missing out.

Charter schools are public schools that are exempt from some of the rules and regulations that apply to traditional public schools. In most Missouri counties, including Greene County, charter schools are not allowed to operate unless they are sponsored by the local school board—a requirement that effectively bans them. Senate Bill 727, signed into law in 2024, changed this requirement in Boone County, where Columbia is located. We need similar legislation in Greene County.

Why? There are several reasons—including that charter schools are popular with families—but the most important reason is that charter schools are more effective than traditional public schools. Academic studies consistently show students who attend charter schools outperform their peers in traditional public schools on state exams and are more likely to attend college. In some cases, the performance differences are substantial. A recent national study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University found that charter schools deliver additional academic growth equivalent to 6 extra days of instruction in math each year, and 16 extra days in reading, compared to traditional public schools. This same study shows that Missouri has some of the most effective charter schools in the country.

Charter school impacts are largest in areas where the local neighborhood schools are underperforming. Does Springfield have any low-performing neighborhood schools? Unfortunately, it sure does. At Westport Elementary School in 2024, only 24 percent of 5th-graders scored proficient or higher on the state English Language Arts test, and in math the number was just 14 percent. At Parkview High School, only 16 percent of students who took the Algebra I end-of-course exam scored proficient or above.

Now imagine your child is zoned for one of these schools and unless you move—perhaps not in your budget—this is where he or she will be required to attend. Charter schools give families in this situation new hope. Many charter operators intentionally open schools in neighborhoods where the traditional public schools are the worst—their mission is to provide educational opportunities in these communities that are not otherwise available. In many cities, the top charter schools have long waitlists.

If we want more Springfield children to have access to highly effective schools, permitting charter schools to operate in Greene County is one of the simplest ways to do it.

How can we make this happen? Following Boone County’s playbook, we need a champion for charter schools in the state legislature who will prioritize this issue in the upcoming legislative session. For Boone County, that champion was Caleb Rowden, a longtime charter advocate. Education legislation in Jefferson City is increasingly “omnibus” style, which means multiple different education policies are bundled into one bill. Rowden made sure that permitting charter schools to operate in Boone County, without the requirement that they be sponsored by the local school board, was part of the 2024 omnibus bill.

Will someone step up in a similar manner for Greene County? I sure hope so.

Charter schools are public schools, their students are public school students, and their teachers are public school teachers. They cannot charge tuition, they’re secular, and they’re open to all students (they must admit students by lottery if the number of applicants is greater than the number of available spots). We know charter schools work and that they’re popular with families.

Every year that passes without charter schools operating in Greene County is a missed opportunity for Springfield’s children.

 

Wildwood’s Big Mistake

Posted on by Scott Tanner

During my time at the Show-Me Institute, I have regularly cited Wildwood as an example of a city that exercised fiscal discipline and admirably avoided giving away tax subsidies. Unfortunately, I can no longer do that. Wildwood, like many other municipalities, has gone down the road of passing harmful, unnecessary tax incentives in the name of “growth.” The idea that subsidies are necessary in a prosperous place like Wildwood (a suburb of St. Louis) is absurd. And yet, here we have one more city feeling that it is the role of the city to reject some projects and (now) subsidize others, as if city officials can predict the future and know which projects will be successful and which won’t. (Hint—they can’t.)

The especially galling aspect of this property tax abatement by Wildwood—and many other deals like it—is that Wildwood does not levy a property tax. There is nothing wrong with that, but a city that doesn’t levy a property tax deciding on abatements that affect the school district, county, and other taxing districts that do depend on the property tax is terrible policy. You need to have skin in the game, and cities rarely have much skin in the game when it comes to property taxes. Missouri municipalities depend primarily on sales taxes, not property taxes. Again, there is nothing automatically wrong with that, but we don’t let school districts give out exemptions on local sales taxes (which they don’t impose), so I don’t know why cities get to abate property taxes.

The evidence that local tax subsidies fail in their ostensible goal of economic growth is overwhelming. Among the myriad problems:

  • Local officials can’t predict the future
  • Local officials allow politics to influence their decisions
  • Companies and developers rarely need the subsidy (they ask because the money is there for the taking)
  • Greater use of subsidies leads to increased local economic planning

Please read these reports and articles if you would like a detailed summary of these arguments.

It’s frustrating to see Wildwood go down this path. History shows that once a city approves one of these subsidies, the dam usually breaks, and they become common. I hope that doesn’t happen in Wildwood.

Correction: PortKC Ignoring Its Own Audits for Five Years, Not Four

Posted on by Scott Tanner

In a recent column for The Kansas City Star, I pointed out that the port authority of Kansas City, PortKC, has changed from managing commerce to just offering taxpayer subsidies across the city. In the midst of its transformation, several years’ worth of audits indicate that its financial controls were not up to snuff. I wrote:

But the concerns with Port KC don’t end with finances alone. A series of audits from 2021 through 2024 flagged serious internal control problems, including one where the finance director had full authority over journal entries, deposits and account reconciliation—with no oversight. Port KC has repeatedly promised to fix these issues and repeatedly failed to act.

PortKC’s most recent audit, dated April 30, 2025 (but which seems to have been posted to the website on August 29, 2025), contains the same financial concerns on page 52. Specifically, a “significant deficiency in internal controls over financial reporting.”

My column was published after the 2025 audit but before it was made publicly available. PortKC could not have effected any changes for the 2025 audit—but I wish someone at PortKC had alerted me that I was actually undercounting the years auditors were pointing out the same, unaddressed shortcomings. So much for claims of transparency.

Charters Have Outperformed Traditional Public Schools Post-Pandemic

Posted on by Scott Tanner

Charter schools are public schools that operate with greater flexibility than traditional public schools, as they are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing public schools. In theory, this autonomy should allow them to be more nimble and responsive to changing conditions. There is no better test of this than the COVID pandemic.

So how did charter schools perform during and after the pandemic? New research from Adam Kho, Shelby Smith, and Ron Zimmer, using student data from both charter and traditional public schools in Tennessee, suggests that they performed quite well.

Their analysis shows that during the 2020–21 school year, at the height of the pandemic, students in both charter and traditional public schools performed similarly—i.e., poorly. All schools were a mess during the pandemic. But in the two years that followed—the 2021–22 and 2022–23 school years—student learning in charter schools rebounded much more quickly than in traditional public schools.

To put these results in context, the authors note that charter schools were already outperforming traditional public schools in Tennessee prior to the pandemic. Given this, they interpret their post-pandemic results as follows: “in the first post-pandemic year . . . the [existing] charter school advantage . . . quickly resurfaced. In the second post-COVID year, the charter effect was even greater . . . suggesting that charter schools have been able to recover from pandemic-induced learning loss at a quicker and more substantial rate.” [emphasis added]

This evidence supports the idea that the less restrictive environment in which charter schools operate enables them to respond more effectively to challenging circumstances. The COVID pandemic was an extreme situation, but the same logic likely applies to the smaller, everyday challenges schools face.

Tennessee Lands Another Nuclear Project

Posted on by Scott Tanner

I really love my hometown of Clinton in East Tennessee. It’s a beautiful place where I grew up, went to school, and made so many wonderful friends. Plus, the fried chicken, sweet tea, and banana pudding are always magnificent.

These days, though, I have come to love St. Louis too. It is a big city with a small-town feel. I go to an amazing church, and there is always something new to do or see.

Growing up in East Tennessee, I know firsthand how much that region has been defined by nuclear innovation, a tradition that continues today. Recently, Oklo Inc. announced that it plans to build a $1.68 billion nuclear recycling facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which is a stone’s throw away from my hometown. This project joins a wave of planned nuclear investments in the region, including a multibillion-dollar uranium enrichment facility and the planned construction of a new small modular reactor (SMR).

While I am excited for East Tennessee, I also want Missouri to grow and thrive. Leaders here have recognized the importance of nuclear power, with Governor Kehoe stating that we need to build new nuclear at “business speed.” If Missouri wants to attract the same kind of investment Tennessee has, we should follow its example, starting with the creation of a nuclear advisory council.

What Could a Nuclear Advisory Council Look Like?

Just as Missouri should take note of Tennessee’s zero-income-tax advantage, we should also learn from its policies on nuclear energy.

In my recent report, Nuclear Energy’s Past and Present: Guiding Missouri’s Future, I detail how the formation of a nuclear advisory council—modeled after Tennessee’s—could help fortify our grid and attract needed investment to our state. A council would bring together the brightest minds to provide accessible information, engage with stakeholders, and foster key partnerships at no cost to taxpayers.

Our state already has unique assets that position us well for nuclear development, and a council could advise how to best use these strengths. It could also flag weaknesses in regulation, workforce development, or siting. Further, a council could help identify opportunities for utilities or even independent off-grid electricity providers if our state allows it.

Tennessee’s council, created by an executive order from Governor Bill Lee, has already helped signal resolve to interested developers and foster a more nuclear-friendly environment. Missouri has the ability to do the same.

Creating a nuclear advisory committee is a simple first step. Hopefully, another big nuclear investment next door can motivate Missouri to follow in Tennessee’s footsteps (and maybe we can also start making all iced tea sweet by default, please).

Interested in this idea? Read a more in-depth analysis in my recent report:

Connecting Nuclear’s Past and Present: Guiding Missouri’s Future

Check out these other related articles:

Forming a Missouri Nuclear Advisory Council

Missouri’s Nuclear Opportunity with Avery Frank

What Could New Executive Orders on Nuclear Mean for Missouri?

The Rise of Equitable Grading with Adam Tyner

Posted on by Susan Pendergrass

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Adam Tyner, national research director at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, about his new report, “Equitable” Grading Through the Eyes of Teachers. They discuss what “equitable grading” means, how widespread policies like no zeros, unlimited retakes, and no late penalties have become, and what teachers really think of these reforms, and more.

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts 

Listen on SoundCloud

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to Equitable Grading
02:33 Understanding Equitable Grading Practices
05:25 Teacher Perspectives on Grading Policies
08:10 Survey Findings on Grading Policies
10:49 The Impact of Grading Policies on Student Engagement
13:43 Concerns Over Lowering Academic Standards
16:28 Recommendations for Grading Reform
19:16 The Future of Grading Policies in Education

Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

Students Who Can’t Read Benefit from Third-Grade Retention

Posted on by Scott Tanner

This is the headline from a recent study I conducted in Indiana with my coauthor NaYoung Hwang. We study a statewide policy in Indiana that required students who failed a literacy test in the third grade to be held back. Students had two chances to pass the test—once in the spring of the third grade, and once during the summer after a mandatory remediation program. Students who failed both assessments were held back.

Our study shows that retained students improved tremendously in terms of their on-grade academic performance. They did not suddenly become top performers in their new third-grade classrooms, but they moved meaningfully toward the middle of the performance distribution. The positive effect of third-grade retention on test scores persisted through at least seventh grade, which was as far as we could track with our data. We also found no evidence of harmful side effects. In particular, retained students were no more likely to be subject to school discipline and had no changes in attendance after their retention.

How do we know the retention itself is responsible for the improvement in test scores, and not something else? We used what researchers call a “regression discontinuity design” to estimate the retention effect. This approach compares students whose test scores fall just above the cutoff for promotion with those just below. When we compare students very close to the cutoff, the only difference between the ones on different sides is whether they were held back—in all other respects, they are the same, at least on average. This design mimics random assignment, and gives us strong confidence that the improvements we observe were caused by retention.

Our findings in Indiana corroborate similar findings in several other cities and states showing that early-grade retention greatly improves academic outcomes without negative behavioral consequences. Retention in later grades is more problematic. This has led researchers to theorize that the negative stigma and weakened sense of belonging associated with retention are problems that affect older students, but not younger ones.

It is increasingly well understood that grade retention for struggling readers is an important part of a robust early literacy policy (e.g., see here). If students can’t read by the end of the third grade, it is in their best interest to be held back while they catch up. Missouri currently has a weak and ineffectual retention policy that as far as I can tell, is not in active or meaningful use. We should update our state retention policy to make it objective and rigorous, and stop socially promoting children who can’t read.

Is Consumer-Regulated Electricity Going Worldwide?

Posted on by Scott Tanner

Electricity demand from data centers is exploding. This surge has spurred an intense buildout of new generation capacity, as businesses and governments are seemingly scrambling for solutions.

In my recent report, Connecting Nuclear’s Past and Present: Guiding Missouri’s Future, one of the policy solutions I offer to meet electricity demand is consumer-regulated electricity (CRE). In short, CRE would allow for the creation of private energy entities, disconnected from utility grids, in order to serve the largest customers more efficiently.

A recent article on this topic caught my eye. The article mentions that delegates at the World Nuclear Association summit in London discussed forming private energy clusters, disconnected from the grid, to meet surging demand from data centers.

Doesn’t that sound familiar?

Bringing Energy Clusters (or CRE) to Missouri

A few weeks ago, New Hampshire’s governor signed into law House Bill 672, which allows for “off grid electricity providers”—independent and disconnected from the main grid—to generate, transmit, distribute, and sell electricity.

Whether you call it CRE, off-grid providers, or private energy clusters, the concept is similar: enabling private energy systems to serve large industrial customers with less delays, less red tape, and less pressure on the main grid and ratepayers.

Poland and the Netherlands are beginning to consider the use of energy clustering to meet industrial energy needs. The previously mentioned article identifies a few potential benefits from energy clustering:

  • It would allow large customers to take their electricity from a co-located generation source
  • If a thermal energy source like nuclear is used, large customers could use its industrial heat (high-temperature steam used in industrial processes like manufacturing)
  • The energy developer would benefit from simplified project finance
  • Both consumers and developers would avoid long transmission lines
  • These clusters would also help reduce the burden on grid resources, which are at a premium in most markets and in Missouri

CRE gives large customers the option to use an energy source of their choice, so long as they meet the still-applicable regulations (such as the Clean Air Act for fossil-fuel plants).

As we have seen with the drastic actions of Meta, Microsoft, and Google, there is a market for this type of arrangement as these huge customers have sought connection to nuclear reactors. States and countries are taking notice of these market conditions and are bringing the free market into the energy sector.

Missouri needs to reduce pressure on the grid and attract investment. In the upcoming legislative session, lawmakers should seriously evaluate how CRE—or private energy clustering—could benefit consumers, energy developers, and ratepayers in our state.

Want to read more? Check out these related articles:

Connecting Nuclear’s Past and Present: Guiding Missouri’s Future

New Nuclear Energy: Business-Speed and Business Friendly

Mission Impossible and Nuclear Energy

One Way Missouri Could Keep its Grid Reliable

Weighing Consumer Regulated Electricity to Meet Energy Demand Growth

Missouri Needs to Be Prepared for Growing Energy Demand

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