Army Of Lobbyists Fails To Deliver

Posted on by Kacie Barnes (Galbraith)

If 17 lobbyists cannot get you what you want, then I do not know what can.

At the conclusion of the 2013 legislative session, Missouri senators shut down the tax credit that would have opened up millions more to Saint Louis NorthSide developer Paul McKee.

I would like to take credit for this. But unfortunately, there is no one who can really take credit for this happening. Making a bill become a law can often be a confusing and messy process. In this case, the Distressed Area Land Assemblage Tax Credit (DALATC) was set to expire this year, and there were bills proposed to extend the credit. At the last minute, however, the DALATC extension was tacked on to a different bill, House Bill 698. HB 698 was a hodgepodge type of bill including various tax credit provisions.  Eventually, a senator filibustered the bill so it did not pass. (Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst Patrick Ishmael has more detail about the legislature’s failure on this bill here.)

Is this going to stop or hinder in any way NorthSide development? Of course not. McKee’s project has already received more than $40 million in state tax credits, and the City of Saint Louis has promised close to $400 million more in local incentives. Plus, the project still has potential to tap up to $20 million in credits from the state before the DALATC expires later this year.

There is no doubt that McKee wanted access to the $45 million more that extending this tax credit would have opened up. But the project will just have to “make do” with the $440 million in government assistance it will receive.

Michelle Rhee: Radical: Fighting to put Students First

Posted on by Darin Morley

Educator Michelle Rhee joined Crosby Kemper III for a public conversation about her new book Radical: Fighting to Put Students First and explained her ideas for improving public education by ensuring that laws, leaders, and politics are making students – not adults – their top priority.

Rhee is past chancellor of the Washington D.C. Public Schools and the founder, CEO, and president of the New Teacher Project. In 2010, she founded StudentsFirst, a non-profit organization which works on education reform issues such as ending teacher tenure. This event was co-sponsored by the Show-Me Institute.

Love Is Hate, War Is Peace, General Tax Cuts Are Corporate Welfare

Posted on by Michael Rathbone

It seems the St. Louis Post-Dispatch thinks business tax cuts amount to corporate welfare. That is NOT corporate welfare. Corporate welfare is the government giving subsidies, grants, loopholes, and other forms of preferential treatment to specific businesses. The Export-Import Bank is an example of corporate welfare.  At the state level, various instances of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) count as corporate welfare. However, letting a person or business keep more of what he/she/it earns is not corporate welfare.

That is not how the Post-Dispatch sees it. They believe that all money is the government’s money and that we should be grateful for the few cents they leave us.

The substance of the Post-Dispatch’s argument against business tax cuts? They claim there is little evidence to support the assertion that cutting business taxes will result in increased economic activity. Except this study by Jens Arnold found that corporate income taxes were one of the most economically harmful taxes a country can impose. And this study by the Tax Foundation analyzed the economic literature and found that corporate income taxes are the most harmful to growth.

Even one of the articles they cite to support their position states, in regards to start-ups creating jobs, “their decision to create a new job would be based on whether the long-term cost of that new job would be offset by higher revenues and profits.” Well . . . if a company has more money after taxes (because their taxes go down), what will happen to their profits? They will increase.

Tax cuts aren’t everything, and even if House Bill 253 becomes law, it alone will not cause our state’s economy to go gangbusters. However, tax rates DO matter, and no amount of screeching from the Post-Dispatch will change that.

Lack Of Support For School Choice Is Puzzling

Posted on by James V. Shuls

Do you like riddles? Here is one for you: What is comprised of 197 members, is active for approximately five months, and is full of inertia? If you answered the Missouri General Assembly regarding education legislation, give yourself a gold star. The state’s legislative body just concluded the general session. In terms of education reform, they achieved very little.

The goal of the legislature should be to improve educational options for Missourians. They could accomplish this with meaningful school choice legislation.

As I noted in my recent essay, “Public Dollars, Private Schools: Examining the Options in Missouri,” greater school choice would be a net positive for Missourians. School choice puts the power back into the hands of the parents and it can save taxpayers money.

This year, however, the topic of school choice was rarely discussed in the House or Senate halls. Few school choice bills were even proposed, and the ones that were rarely received much attention.

A bill that would have fixed many of the problems in the current inter-district school transfer law never even received a hearing in the House Education Committee. The bill would have made it possible for many students to escape failing schools.

A bill that would have made it possible for students to enroll in a virtual course from another district or charter school never made it out of either the House or the Senate.

Even a bill targeted at helping autistic children failed to gain traction for most of the legislative session. It was finally folded into a conference committee substitute at the 11th hour. If the governor signs Bryce’s Law, it will establish a small, targeted scholarship program for students with special needs on the autistic spectrum.

It took eight years of continually pushing for Bryce’s Law to be passed — a small, targeted school choice program.

So here is another riddle: When will the legislature realize that all students could benefit from increased educational options? That riddle is truly puzzling.

Baby Steps On Teacher Tenure Reform

Posted on by James V. Shuls

The 97th Missouri General Assembly did nothing about school choice. However, the legislature was not completely inactive regarding education issues. On the topic of teacher tenure reform, for instance, the legislative body looked much like Bill Murray’s character in the 1991 film, “What About Bob?”— taking baby steps.

As Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfus’ character) tells Bob about baby steps, “It means setting small, reasonable goals for yourself. One day at a time, one tiny step at a time — doable, accomplishable goals.”

Bringing Saint Louis’ tenure laws in line with the rest of the state was a very “doable, accomplishable goal.”

As we have documented, the laws governing teacher tenure were much more restrictive in Saint Louis than they were in the rest of the state. In a presentation at the Show-Me Institute, Saint Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams said it took 100 days to remove a low-performing teacher. Throughout the rest of the state, administrators only have to provide teachers 30 days to improve.

I am glad that the legislature was able to achieve this baby step in the right direction. As a result, ineffective teachers will be removed from Saint Louis classrooms more rapidly. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, this is a very modest improvement, especially when much more could have been accomplished.

Twice, teacher tenure reform bills were defeated on the House floor. In my opinion, the bills simply went too far —replacing the current teacher tenure mandates with new prescriptive mandates for teacher evaluations.

We do not need overly prescribed teacher evaluations any more than we need antiquated tenure laws. What we need are school leaders who actually have the power to lead.

So instead of celebrating true tenure reform, we are left to celebrate the baby step of Saint Louis teacher tenure laws falling in line with the rest of the state. Baby Steps.

The Right Direction On Occupational Licensing In Missouri

Posted on by David Stokes

The Missouri Legislature passed Senate Bill 330 last week. I hope the governor signs it (I cannot see a reason for a veto). SB 330 makes several small but worthwhile changes to state licensing rules. Generally speaking, the legislation expands the practice areas of certain jobs, allowing them to do things they were previously prevented from doing. Nurses, dental assistants, and counselors now all have slightly expanded practice areas and slightly reduced regulatory control of their jobs. This is a good thing. Furthermore, there are now a few more ways to become licensed as a hearing instrument specialist in Missouri. This is also a good thing.

What is a VERY good thing is that we appear to be moving in the right direction on the larger issue in Missouri. To the best of my knowledge, we have not passed wholesale licensing requirements for a new occupation in Missouri for a few years. (I may be overlooking some, but I do not think so.) Last year, due to prompting by court rulings, the state significantly reduced the licensing burdens to open a moving company in our state. This year, we passed SB 330, with its entirely positive changes. At the state level, we have leaders such as Missouri Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Dist. 133) who care about the personal and economic harms when government makes choices that markets and customers should be making.

At the local level, we still see an expansion of licensing abuses, from street performer auditions and valet parking licenses in Saint Louis to totally bogus HVAC rules in Saint Louis County. But at the state level, we are doing the right thing. Remember, occupational licensing of most occupations benefits current practitioners at the expense of future competitors and the public. We need less of it in Missouri.

The Ayes Don’t Have It: Medicaid Expansion Fails In Missouri

Posted on by Patrick Ishmael

The proposed Missouri Medicaid expansion has reached the end of the line, at least for this year. When Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced he would pursue the expansion after last November’s election, I expressed my substantial reservations about both the cost and effectiveness of the program. And I repeated those reservations on television, on the radio, in print, before audiences, before the Missouri Legislature and on our blog again, and again, and again . . .

Suffice to say, I think that Missouri not expanding a broken Medicaid program is a victory for Missouri taxpayers. Kudos to the legislature for its steadfast opposition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and support for reforms that will actually help to make Missourians healthier. Unfortunately, the ACA just isn’t that vehicle.

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