For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been following “Schoolhouse Rock,” an education blog at Slate.com. Paul Tough, the blog’s writer, seems to be working hard to bring a balanced discussion of education reform efforts, and I think his work would be a useful information outlet to help anyone who is interested in fixing the failing schools in our own state keep up with what is being said about reform efforts nationwide.
Shout Out From Nasturtium Squids
Err… Tertium Quids, that is, a policy group based in Virginia. Today, at the State Policy Network‘s annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., I finally met Norm Leahy, vice president of public affairs for Tertium Quids (which I’m told means “third way” in Latin). Norm and I are both refugees from several years at U.S. Term Limits, although he left before I started my 5.5-year tenure there. Although we have lots of friends and acquaintances in common, we’ve never met before today.
As it turns out, Norm is a big fan of Show-Me Daily, and has linked to us from the Tertium Quids blog for quite a while. At any rate, in today’s SPN conference session about blogging, at which Norm was a panelist, he singled out Show-Me Daily as one of the best think tank blogs he’s seen. That’s no faint praise, because there are a lot of groups out there doing excellent work.
It’s been awhile since I spent much time in Virginia, although I did live there for a couple of years during my DC Beltway days. It’s good to know folks like Norm Leahy are holding down the fort.
Webster County at Risk of Being Sucked Dry by Ethanol
On Wednesday, an appellate court heard arguments about the proposed $165 million ethanol plant for Webster County. The Springfield News-Leader highlights the case. What it basically comes down to is an ongoing feud between Gulfstream Bioflex Energy (GPE) and The Citizens for Groundwater Protection (CGP). This is the second Missouri plant that the two groups have fought over, the first fight occurring in 2006.
The CGP is afraid of the amount of water the ethanol plant will suck from the surrounding area, a fear that is eerily similar to Spaceballs, although, to be fair, Spaceball One was after oxygen — not water. Besides the fear of water shortages in their personal wells, Webster County residents are also resistant to the amount of pollution the plant would create, making any remaining water unusable.
Does Missouri really need more ethanol right now? I won’t go into the details that have been outlined many times before, but ethanol is not the key for Missouri’s energy. Already, we are too bogged down by it with our E-10 ethanol mandate. The new plant will not only hit residents economically with increased fuel and food costs, but will also literally have their life source cut off.
Be sure to read the Show-Me Institute’s case study, “The Economic Impact of The Missouri E-10 Ethanol Mandate.”
Expect Road Delays
I apologize, Missourians. There will be road delays in the near future, and I’m not talking about traffic. According to an article in the Joplin Globe, the Federal Highway Trust Fund is running short on money, thus delaying or even canceling road/bridge projects in Missouri. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation has asked Congress for an $8 billion increase in funding for the Federal Highway Trust Fund, to assist with financing highway projects. If Congress can not accumulate the funds, Missouri could lose $252 million, translating to 8,770 jobs. Wow — as if our economy hasn’t already taken a hit.
This blow to our economy is something that I cannot take lightly. According to Scott Bachman, planner for MoDOT Joplin’s regional office:
“We’re hoping Congress will come up with a short-term solution, now that it’s back from the August recess. In the meantime, we’ll watch how much revenue comes into the highway trust fund and how much they pay out in ratio to the funding coming in.”
I’m sorry, but I do not want to wait in traffic and put the fate of our state’s roads in the hands of Congress. This would be a great opportunity for Missourians to flex our muscles and take the situation into our own hands. Tolling and private financing could be major options.
During one of my first weeks here in the Show-Me Institute office, one of our policy analysts (I will give you a hint) asked whether I knew the only tolled transportation facility in Missouri? Clearly, I did not know the answer. To my surprise, it was the Lake of the Ozarks Community Bridge, built in 1998. This is the only one. As a graduate student at Brandeis University (located in Waltham, Mass.), I am lucky to pass only two toll facilities (versus four or five) just to get into Boston! I really think we should keep our options open to public-private partnerships. Either that, or wait for Congress to find that pot of gold under the rainbow.
STL Crime Rate Up While Cops Pay for Health Care Choice
On the same morning that the St. Louis Police Board announced that crime rates were up in St. Louis for the first time in 20 months, the board also announced the force’s new health insurance plan. Officers now get a choice between a free plan with an attached co-pay, or the plan they already have for $20 per pay period. The Post-Dispatch discusses the board meeting in detail.
The new plan is a step forward for the STLPD, giving officers a choice in how to protect themselves from future harm — but the cost increase is quite dramatic. While the increased costs cannot be offset by wage cuts, as elementary economic theory would suggest, the police force could delay any future pay increases. Also, increased costs delay the chance of overtime pay for police officers even more.
Typically, increased health costs would cause the demand to work in a particular position to fall, but recruitment has always been strong with the police force. One worry arising from increased job costs would be retention. At what point do the benefits of working as a cop in St. Louis city no longer outweigh the benefits of being a cop in St. Louis County? Rather than dealing with the dangers of inner-city pressure, they could be giving me another speeding ticket on Shrewsbury. Why should experienced police officers stay in a jurisdiction with not only a higher level of danger, but higher health care costs as well, when there is always a rookie cop ready to replace them?
With setting up health savings accounts (HSAs), the STLPD is in an odd position. Because of the nature of the job, all police officers will be in harm’s way on a daily basis. The usual solution — moving out of harm’s way — isn’t an option for the fuzz, so premiums for cops are naturally going to be higher than, say, premiums for a butcher or pharmacist. Though the move toward free-market health care might be an awkward one for the St. Louis Police Department, any cost increases will be offset by the value of freedom of choice.
The Show-Me Institute’s vice president, Jason Hannasch, writes about the benefits of HSAs here.
Keeping Tabs on Kids
It’s striking how many education reforms are gaining ground in the other cities while being completely ignored in Missouri. One such experiment is paying kids to do well on tests. (Education Next reports that it works.) This past week the L.A. Times published a story about another innovation: technologies that allow parents to track their children’s activities at school. Here are a few possible uses:
Increasingly common Web programs let parents track lunch-money spending, schoolwork habits and tardiness.
“There’s this black box — a child goes away and comes home, what happened during this time?” said Shelley Pasnik, director of the nonprofit Center for Children and Technology in New York. “Now, new information and communications technology allows for the mystery of what transpires on any given day to unravel.”
Public schools in Los Angeles will give parents access to school lunch data starting in 2009.
This technology should a boon for districts that want parental involvement. Parents will be able to stay up to date, and all the “have your parents sign and bring back to school” sheets of paper will get to stay in a forest somewhere. As for the concern that this will put too much pressure on kids, asking them to spend their lunch money on lunch and then show up for class doesn’t sound like an exorbitantly high expectation. If you want to see kids who are really under pressure, watch the Chinese and Indian kids in 2 Million Minutes.
It’s Official Language Season Again
An article in the Kansas City Star reports on the recurring official language proposal that we can’t seem to get rid of. Voters will decide this November whether to tack an amendment onto the Missouri Constitution making English the language of “official proceedings.”
The article quotes a Somali refugee who wants to learn English, but who is not yet fluent. This man’s story highlights how ineffective the amendment would be. Here you have someone who really wants to speak the language of the country where he lives. He’s already motivated by his own desire to learn. He doesn’t need a law or the state constitution to tell him what he wants, and no legal change will ease his struggle to master English.
Besides, neither he nor any other non-English-speakers conduct official proceedings in our state. Those proceedings are now conducted, as they always have been, in English.
Several states have adopted similar amendments without ill effects; it doesn’t help, but it can’t hurt, either, right? The problem is, cluttering up the state constitution with a few meaningless amendments opens the door to a whole herd of other meaningless amendments. Missouri has official invertebrates, desserts, and everything in between. Do we want all that official stuff in the constitution, too?
Close Call for Missouri’s Renewable Energy
An article from today’s Kansas City Star details the close call faced by the group Missourians for Cleaner and Cheaper Energy (aren’t we all), when its proposed “Clean Energy Initiative” was nearly skipped over for the upcoming election. It was almost taken off the November ballot because the Secretary of State had rejected too many petition signatures. Luckily for the concerned group, a Missouri judge agreed with them and ruled that the initiative would be placed back on the ballot.
After spending a summer working for the city of St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, it is no surprise that a petition could be rejected in the final moments of its processing. Petitions are mostly signed on the street by people in a hurry, so legibility is not their first concern. My handwriting isn’t glorious, of course, but wow — some people’s signatures would have pharmacists scratching their heads. Plus, there is always the percentage of jokers out there who think it’s hilarious to put down fake information. Frankly, I think the odds are very slim that anyone named “McLovin” are in favor of any petition being placed on a ballot.
The Clean Energy Initiative was not the only petition blocked by the Secretary of State for lack of valid signatures. Two petitions dealing with eminent domain abuse were also dropped. To gain a place on the ballot, a petition must have at least as many signatures as 5 percent of the number of votes in the last gubernatorial election, from at least six of the nine congressional districts in Missouri.
This news comes in the same week that Ameren proposed a 12-percent increase in its rates. With today’s energy costs, Missourians need to be aware of any options they have when it comes to their energy sources, and have the opportunity to voice their opinions.
When expressing those opinions, Missourians should make sure to write neatly.
Show-Me Institute Releases 2007 Annual Report
The Show-Me Institute today released its 2007 annual report, providing a thorough summary of the institute’s many policy victories and research accomplishments during its second full year of operations. Here’s an excerpt from the introduction by R. Crosby Kemper III, the institute’s chairman, and Rex Sinquefield, the institute’s president:
Our second full year of operations was a time of both tremendous growth and phenomenal success. We haven’t won every battle, but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop fighting — or even slow down. Missourians deserve to have their tax dollars spent wisely, and the work of the Show-Me Institute is an instrumental part of making that happen. We want to make the best in policy research readily available to everybody who cares about the future of the state. As we lay the economic groundwork for an honest and accurate analysis of Missouri policy, we’re putting valuable tools of knowledge and insight into the hands of those who want to work toward a more prosperous future. We invite you to help us make 2008 even better.
We had hoped to release this a few months ago, but a string of delays kept pushing it back in our schedule. We’re planning to begin working on the 2008 annual report in the next month or two, so that we can have most of the content ready by year’s end, then add the financials and other finishing touches in early 2009. That should allow for a much earlier release date next year.
In the meantime, though, take a few minutes to read about the dizzying variety of things we accomplished during 2007. I know the board and staff share my own sense of pride and satisfaction in the work we’re doing. Slowly but surely, we’re helping to make Missouri a better place for everyone.
