More Setbacks for Limits to Eminent Domain

Posted on by Caitlin Hartsell

As I posted earlier on this blog, Missouri Citizens for Property Rights are trying to get two new constitutional amendments passed that would more strictly limit eminent domain in Missouri. Last month, a judge ruled that the submitted ballot summary was ruled inadequate, and both the secretary of state and the Missouri Municipal League have appealed this week.

Missouri Citizens for Property Rights was happy with the original ruling, which only made a minor change to a single bullet point. These new appeals, however, will serve delay the signature-gathering process still further. From a press release issued by the group:

“News of the appeal by the Municipal League is no surprise, but it’s incredible to think that the Secretary of State would further muddy the water with an appeal of her own.”, said Ron Calzone, chairman of MO-CPR. “They successfully defended all but a minor detail of the ballot title she wrote, so why not accept the judge’s decision and let the people exercise their constitutional right to the initiative process?”

Depending on how long the appeals process lasts, it could delay approval of the final ballot summary until it is too late for proponents to undertake an effective petition campaign. Hopefully, these legal setbacks will be quickly settled.

Tour of Missouri Losing Funding

Posted on by Caitlin Hartsell

The Tour of Missouri bicycle race is facing a $1.5-million budget cut from the Department of Economic Development. The race has a $3.3 million budget, so this reduction may be substantial enough to cancel the race, which is set to start on September 7.

Previous blog entries here at Show-Me Daily have questioned the value of endeavors such as this that require substantial government funding without providing much economic benefit. Cities have to pay extra to set up the race and provide security, an amount of subsidy that almost certainly eclipses the added tourism benefit.

As Show-Me Institute scholars have pointed out many times in the past, government officials don’t have the ability to spend taxpayers’ money in any better or more efficient way than do the taxpayers themselves. Especially considering current budget problems, spending $1.5 million on the Tour of Missouri is unlikely to better meet the widespread and differing needs of the people of Missouri than if officials were to let those taxpayers keep the money in their own wallets in the first place.

It would have been better to make this decision earlier, before contracts were signed and plans were made, granted. But budget cuts like this one are wise for the state, because current economic constrictions make it more difficult than ever for Missourians to make ends meet.

School All Year

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

The Chicago Tribune reports that more than 90 public schools in Chicago will switch to a year-round schedule. This won’t involve more time in class, because the usual summer break will be split up into shorter breaks at intervals throughout the year.

It’s a step in the right direction when districts experiment with new ways of doing things. It would be even better if they gave parents a choice between year-round school and a long summer break. Making the year-round schedule optional would prevent conflicts with parents who liked the old schedule better.

When a district gives parents a choice, it has an opportunity to learn about parents’ preferences. Do they value long vacations? Do they think year-round school helps students retain the material? It’s more pleasant for everyone if these preferences are expressed through enrollment decisions, rather than through angry phone calls after the district puts all families on a new schedule, whether they like it or not.

Missouri Will Likely Be Spared Cap-and-Trade Pain

Posted on by Abhi Sivasailam

David Catanese blogs over at ky3 political notebook that Sen. Claire McCaskill is highly unlikely to cast a yes vote for the cap-and-trade legislation that recently passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives (link via Combest):

“If there is going to be enough support for the bill, it will be a very gradual implementation as we move toward changing to wind and solar and other kinds of energy,” McCaskill told conservative Missouri talk radio host Mike Ferguson. “I’m going to be one of those trying to craft it in a way that is very gradual, that is not going to hurt a state like Missouri that is so coal dependent.”

McCaskill also said she’s in no rush on cap-and-trade because other world powers haven’t agreed to do their share.

“We need to be a leader in the world but we don’t want to be a sucker. And if we go too far with this, all we’re going to do is chase more jobs to China and India, where they’ve been putting up coal-fired plants every 10 minutes,” she said.

It is good that the Senate recognizes the harms that Missouri would incur upon passage of the cap-and-trade legislation as it is currently structured. We’ve been blogging about this often recently.  Cap and trade would significantly diminish the competitive ability of the state of Missouri. And I say this not as a global warming skeptic; I’m pro-environment. Still, this is not the way to go.

Missouri Can Do Without Second National Stimulus

Posted on by Caitlin Hartsell

Some U.S. senators have proposed a second stimulus plan, arguing that there has not been enough spending to jumpstart the economy. To her credit, though, Sen. Claire McCaskill suggested Missouri is not on board for the second round of spending:

“If we are trying to move anything on health care and we’re trying to move anything on climate change, then putting another stimulus on top of that is a backbreaker,” she told POLITICO. “It is a political backbreaker — for people from states like mine anyway.”

We don’t see eye to eye on government action regarding health care and climate change, but her “backbreaker” comment is right on target. Hopefully, Missouri will continue to resist further stimulus and massive national debt.

To Coin Money, Establish Post Offices, Declare War, Call Forth the Militia, and … Regulate Snacks?

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

I love the fact that the United States has 50 states rather than just one. The states differ in their regulations and policies, which means that people can choose to live in the state they prefer. Plus, we can learn about the effects of laws when we compare outcomes across states. These benefits of the 50-state system would disappear if there were only one state, or if all states had to do the same things.

That’s why I’m dismayed by this excerpt from a Reuters article:

The U.S. Agriculture Department would be given the power to regulate all food sold in schools–including vending machine snacks–when Congress renews child nutrition programs, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee said on Tuesday.

Is this the most egregious misuse of regulation I’ve heard of? No. But it doesn’t exactly fall under the enumerated powers, either. And a little regulation leads to a lot, as we can see from the article:

Agriculture Committee work on child nutrition will begin with a draft that gives the USDA the authority to oversee all food in schools, so nutrition programs are not “undermined” by junk food in vending machines, Harkin said at a confirmation hearing for the head of the USDA’s nutrition programs.

So, when the government imposes a regulation in support of some goal, it then has to ensure that nothing else you do conflicts with the goal. We have to oppose these little infringements before they grow and multiply. If you give a mouse a cookie … oh, wait — cookies are unhealthy snacks! Okay, if you give a mouse a carrot …

Great Privatization Success for Kansas City Animals

Posted on by David Stokes

Check out this article in the Kansas City Star, and these comments over at Toellner Tells It, about the recent privatization of the Kansas City animal shelter. I don’t have much to add, here; I agree with everything Toellner says. I got our family dog at a nonprofit animal shelter here in St. Louis, so it was great to read what an early success this move has been for the taxpayers and animals in KC.

First Things First

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

This AP story briefly reports on Missouri’s quest to secure federal stimulus money for broadband internet expansion. The state is accepting applications from contractors, and here are the criteria by which they’ll be judged:

The first is to ensure eligibility with the federal program. Then the state will check technical expertise and experience, and finally, applicants will be reviewed for their ability to meet the project’s requirements.

In other words, ability to bring in stimulus money is the first thing looked at. Last of all, the state considers whether the contractors can actually do the job.

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