Page 944 – Show-Me Institute

Reading, Writing, and… Labor Studies

Posted on June 20, 2007May 5, 2026 by Sarah Brodsky

John Combest links to an article about the University of Missouri at Kansas City. UMKC is getting rid of its Institute for Labor Studies, which offered a certificate for people who want to be union leaders:

With the elimination of the institute, the only labor-education and worker-training program of its kind in the Kansas City area, Judith Ancel could be out of a job.

“I feel enormously disappointed,” said Ancel, who has run the institute since 1985 and is its only full-time staff member. “To destroy this labor education program is really depriving our citizens, most of whom are working people, of a dialogue that is not biased.”

Good for UMKC. It looks like this program was a waste of tax money. Not that private schools are always much better at avoiding fluff courses — my alma mater offers several majors with little academic content — but at least private schools have to find customers to pay full tuition.

The rationale for public schooling is that it gives students skills and knowledge that the rest of us benefit from. We’re then willing to pay for it in taxes because of the huge positive externality. Dialogue for union leaders just doesn’t help taxpayers enough to warrant the expense.

Gephardt and Health Care Reform … Bad Combination

Posted on June 20, 2007May 5, 2026 by Maurice Harris

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, an article discusses former Rep. Richard Gephardt’s visit to Springfield, IL, to tout Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s universal health care plan to legislative leaders who are still trying to put together a budget before July 1:

Gephardt, who has been traveling the country lobbying for universal
health care, emerged from a closed-door meeting with fellow Democrat
Blagojevich and Illinois legislative leaders after less than an hour. He touted the governor’s plan as part of a national movement toward
expanding health care and shifting costs from employers to society.

Now, as we all hopefully know by this point, universal health care is the biggest waste of money and time. While Blagojevich is wasting time trying to pass a huge program the state cannot afford, he should be reading Missouri’s HB 818 for practical reforms that give businesses and workers greater flexibility and affordablity for health care. Blago’s plan is a trap that Illinois cannot afford, and Illinois lawmakers should look for a plan that will help people across the board to obtain true choice in health care.

Let’s Make Everything Safe for Everyone Always and Forever!

Posted on June 19, 2007May 5, 2026 by David Stokes

One consistent article of modern government at all levels and parties is the constant need to protect people in every way imaginable. St. Charles County is getting in on the act with a bill (I can’t find a link to it) to regulate swimming pools, tanning salons, martial arts studios, fitness centers, and spas. Not all parts of this bill are bad, and by modern standards of government the regulations strike me as reasonable. Swimming pools are dangerous, as brilliantly demonstrated in the book "Freakonomics." What troubles me is the fact that the bill has so many silly aspects, like regulating martial arts studios — although, in defense of St. Charles, the proposed regulations don’t seem particularly burdensome.

Of course, that’s how they get you. Unburdensome regulations that nobody objects to set the precedent for regulation of an industry, occupation or business, and then when government ramps up the regulations you have already lost the first argument. There is a disturnbing comment in the article from County Councilman Dan Foust:

"It would be a great opportunity for the county to address something that could possibly be a safety hazard," said the bill’s sponsor, Council Chairman Dan Foust, R-6th District.

Please re-read this carefully with me. These new regulations are not deemed as absulutely necessary, they are just "a great opportunity" to regulate something, probably under the impossible-to-refute logic that it’s better to do something now than to wait for a tragedy to force us to act. Next, the items being regulated are not unsafe, they merely "could possibly be a safety hazard." Is there any aspect of life that is not deserving of government regulation — for our own safety — under Councilman Foust’s logic? What’s next, something completely crazy like doctors who have for years complained about lawsuits now suing to protect their own industry turf? Oh, wait…

State Takes Aim at the Start of School

Posted on June 19, 2007May 5, 2026 by Maurice Harris

In the Southeast Missourian (via Combest) an article discusses a new state law that would require school districts not to start earlier than 10 days before Labor Day:

School districts will have to do more work if they want to start school in mid-August next year. At a ceremony in Branson on Monday, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder signed a bill
requiring schools to begin their school year no sooner than 10 days
before Labor Day.

The caveat to this new law is that school districts who want to start earlier would have to have a public meeting and voter approval every year to set the start date of schools before the 10-day requirement. Again, the state is taking local decisionmaking outside of the school districts, which would know better than the state of Missouri when to start school to make sure their students receive the best educations.

Health Insurance Reform Paves Way for Consumer-Based Care

Posted on June 19, 2007May 5, 2026 by Jason Hannasch

Missourians have reason to applaud the legislative passage of Rep. Doug Ervin’s health insurance reform. With the signing into law of HB 818, Missouri now leads the nation in free-market health insurance reform. This reform will provide flexibility for consumer-driven health care that will allow the 58 percent of small businesses and organizations that currently don’t offer group coverage to make health plans available to their employees. And as consumers gain greater control over their own health finances, they’ll be able to save money and enjoy individualized health care.

Until a few days ago, Missouri’s health insurance laws were relics of the 1940s, biased toward big businesses with one-size-fits-all health plans. Most small businesses find that these group plans are too expensive, and have strict participation and compensation requirements. As vice president of the Show-Me Institute, I ran into this problem last year when I tried to set up a health savings account (HSA) qualified health plan for our organization. At the Show-Me Institute, we’re dedicated to researching and exploring free-market solutions to Missouri’s policy challenges. I wanted to use that same free-market approach in helping my employees gain access to health insurance by allowing them to select individualized health plans.

Although we could make pretax contributions to the health savings accounts, I found that the Show-Me Institute, as a small employer, was at a disadvantage when it came to the premiums. We couldn’t contribute directly to policy premiums of employees’ HSA health plans, and pretax contributions couldn’t be made either—not for the Institute or for employees. Considering all the red tape we were up against, it’s no wonder that only 42 percent of Missouri’s small businesses offer health coverage.

Because we couldn’t meet those requirements, our only option was to give employees bonuses for them to use toward paying premiums. HB 818 was the bipartisan solution to this health policy dilemma. This law puts employees in charge, freeing them to choose their own insurance policies. Employers can now contribute directly to employees’ plans without the burden of mandated contribution amounts. HSAs and individual health plans are portable, so employees are protected even in case of employment changes. HB 818 also gets rid of burdensome employee participation requirements, and even allows part-time employees to participate. For Missouri, these factors will contribute to reducing the rolls of the uninsured.

Despite the difficulties small organizations such as ours have encountered before now in providing HSAs, consumer-driven health care is a hit with Show-Me Institute employees. Rebecca Bruchhauser, our director of development, says her HSA has made a big difference in her health care decisions.

“Participating in a consumer-driven plan has allowed me to be more involved in my health care,” she says. “I’ve chosen new health care providers in order to benefit from greater affordability and quality. I strongly believe that HSAs are part of the solution to the crisis in health care.”

Tim Lee, until recently the Show-Me Institute’s editor, and now an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, points out that HSAs provide incentives for people to manage their health wisely.

“HSAs are important because they put consumers in charge of their health care,” he says. “People spend their own money more wisely than anyone else’s, so HSAs also cut costs. The legislature should be applauded for taking this significant step.”

The new HSA legislation makes the benefits of patient choice in health care available to state employees, small businesses, and many who were previously uninsured. As more Missourians reap the benefits of HSAs, our state’s health care system will become more responsive to consumers’ needs.

Jason Hannasch is vice president of the Show-Me Institute.

Cape Officials Consider Very Bad Idea …

Posted on June 18, 2007May 5, 2026 by David Stokes

As reported in the Southeast Missourian, city officals in Cape Girardeau are considering instituting some type of earnings or payroll tax. This is a very poor idea, unless their goal is to make Jackson more successful. If you want evidence of why this is a poor idea, I present a study done by the Show-Me Institute’s very own eminent economist and all-around great guy, Dr. Joe Haslag, on this exact topic.

From the Missourian article:

Councilwoman Loretta Schneider said the council could ask the legislature to change the law if it turns out that a payroll tax proves to be a viable option. "There certainly isn’t any harm in us pursuing it," she said.

Wrong. Right now, business owners considering moving to Cape or expanding in the area could be reading this article and giving surrounding communities further thought. That is the main problem with taxing something as fluid as income. It can move more easily than property.

Cape Girardeau has a low property tax. The city council has been reluctant to consider raising that tax.

I am certainly not going to say Cape should raise their property tax. Their budget issues, like just about every municipality’s, are almost certainly about growth in payroll and benefits for city employees. Their first choice should be to cut employees or programs. I never cease to be amazed at the number of things government people think are essential but really aren’t. Rearyard trash pick-up in Ladue and Clayton, to pick but one example. But if the people of Cape Girardeau, who know much more about their own city than I do, insist on raising taxes, an increase in the property tax would be a much better way to go. There are good state programs available to help the senior citizens that might be disproportionately hurt.

The Mayor of Cape Girardeau uses a common, but erroneous, argument for the payroll tax targeted toward commuters.

"They come in, they use our roads, our infrastructure. They use things that Cape citizens paid for, then they leave," he said.

Where to begin? First of all, commuters generally pay sales taxes wherever they work for lunch, happy hours, gasoline, shopping, etc. The businesses they work for pay commercial property taxes and business license fees in order to have the right to have someone come into Cape to work. The idea that commuters get a free ride on local taxpayers is absurd. You hear it all the time from city residents justifying it for St. Louis. They never even consider the very large numbers of city residents who work in St. Louis County and pay no earnings tax there, even though they still have to pay it to the city. Are city residents who work in Clayton getting a free ride from Clayton? I don’t think Clayton feels that way — and that is one of the many reasons why Clayton has been so successful.

Maybe They Should Attend the University of Phoenix

Posted on June 18, 2007May 5, 2026 by Sarah Brodsky

John Combest is, as usual, doing half my job for me. He links to an article in the Southeast Missourian about a proposed community college:

At this point, the focus is on identifying needed job skills and the post-secondary education required to develop such skills, superintendents said.

"Being one of the larger school districts in the area, we are very much interested in what is best for our students and also for the region," Jackson schools superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson said. "I will be interested to see what data will be generated."

This just isn’t so complicated as they’re making it sound. The skills people need in southeast Missouri are the same skills people need anywhere else. Private schools like the University of Phoenix have no trouble figuring out what people want to learn, even without the help of state studies.

On the Right Track?

Posted on June 18, 2007May 5, 2026 by Sarah Brodsky

An editorial in the Post-Dispatch praises Rick Sullivan, the executive officer of the new board in charge of the St. Louis public schools:

Mr. Sullivan also sent a positive signal by declining the salary to which he is entitled for his service. That underscores that his principal concern is helping the city’s schoolchildren — and that he is well aware of the financial challenges the district faces.

This move was politically smart, but by itself it doesn’t mean very much. There’s a mistaken idea that schools can’t help kids if they have any motive of profit or personal benefit. But for-profit and private schools do a pretty good job. It would be better if the executive officer accepted a salary and ran the schools like a for-profit business than if he made nice gestures but didn’t change the status quo. We’ll see whether Sullivan can be as effective as he is tactful.

The Proposed Official-Language Amendment

Posted on June 18, 2007May 5, 2026 by Sarah Brodsky

The Washington Missourian (by way of Combest) reports that Tom Schlafly has found a possible problem with the proposal to make English the official language of Missouri:

Schlafly, a history buff, noted that legislators took this action in the presence of of the Great Seal of Missouri, on which the state’s offical motto is written — in Latin — Salus populi suprema lex esto (The welfare of the people shall be the highest law.)

How would a proposed amendment effect (sic) Missouri’s official motto?

Despite the fact that our state motto is in Latin, we don’t see legislators conducting debates or cities holding meetings in Latin. They use English instead.

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