Families need options, now more than ever.

It seems perpetually lost in the debate that different people are experiencing the pandemic differently. There are families who need to take serious precautions. They or their child might have an underlying health issue that would make contracting the coronavirus dangerous. They may have frequent contact with elderly friends or family who might be at risk of complications should they catch COVID-19. Allowing them to use virtual education for the duration of the pandemic is the appropriate and fair thing to do.

Other families, however, are making a different calculation. They are looking at research that, at least to this point, shows little risk to children, particularly young children, and are weighing this very small risk against the serious risk of learning loss from a semester or year of low-quality online instruction. The parents might be young and healthy, with little contact with vulnerable people, and believe that they can use in person education safely and appropriately.

I wouldn’t tell either of these families that their decision is wrong, because each has to weigh the risks and benefits that apply to their particular circumstances. But we must always remember to look at both sides of the ledger: the coronavirus absolutely poses risks, but so does a year of lost schooling.

Our education system needs to support families, whatever decision they make. This means having both online and in-person options available to them. We need to support schools that want to open for in-person instruction and make sure that they have the capability to operate safely. If traditional public schools are choosing to delay opening or are opening solely as online schools, we need to support families that want to do something else.

The post More Education Options, Please appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Previously, both cities refused to publicly release the details of their bids, including what tax incentives they were offering, claiming that Amazon required confidentiality. Some have questioned whether that is a legitimate claim. But regardless, both cities should, in the name of transparency, release the entirety of their proposals. Maintaining faith in government requires no less.

3:50 pm:  CBS-St. Louis/KMOX News has posted St. Louis’ Amazon HQ2 proposal.

The post Release the Amazon Bids! appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

And as always, your commentaries are welcome in the comments below.

The post KMOX Interview on Mizzou’s Problems appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Pictured: Missouri’s Highway System – 8/6/2014

We have often commented that Missouri is “middle of the pack” in various state rankings. Not so with our state highway system. According to the Reason Foundation, our highway system is the eighth best in the nation, in part due to the good condition of our interstate highways and rural roads. The National Chamber Foundation has ranked our road quality seventh best in the nation, with only 6.3 percent of Missouri roads in mediocre or poor condition.

This is not surprising to those familiar with Missouri’s recent infrastructure expenditures. In the last 10 years, Missouri’s highway system added more lane miles while increasing the percentage of major highways in good condition to 88.5 percent and repairing a third of the state’s deficient bridges. And as transit supporters are wont to point out, Kansas City and Saint Louis hold first and second place on a list of cities with the most highway miles per capita. Missouri was able to perform so many projects in the last decade because it issued more than $3 billion worth of bonds and received more than $600 million from the federal Stimulus Act. That allowed the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to implement the “Smoother, Safer, Sooner Road and Bridge Program” and the “Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement Program,” among other projects.

When we look at Missouri’s highway infrastructure today, the reasonable conclusion is that the system is in good condition, the best it has been in decades. While Missouri’s highway infrastructure has specific needs (I-70 rebuild, Broadway Bridge), by no definition is the system “crumbling.” MoDOT does have a funding problem, but there is time to select the right funding solution. There is no imminent crisis which would force us to accept an unfair, and economically unsound, transportation sales tax.

The post Are Missouri’s Highways And Bridges Crumbling? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

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Related:

• Learn what happened when Olivette, MO, rejected a TIF

The post David Stokes on Crestwood and TIFs on KMOX appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

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The post Show-Me Discusses the Medicaid Expansion With Media All Across State appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Sure, Winter’s Bone received $260,000 under Missouri’s film tax credit program. And the film did receive great reviews. But the state actually paid more to the film More Than Puppy Love 2, the (apparent) sequel to More Than Puppy Love, a 2002 film that IMDB users panned. One wrote that “This just might be the worst movie ever made.”

I do not know what reviewers said about More Than Puppy Love 2, because I could not find any references to it. But I do know that state taxpayers paid more than $285,000 to have that movie made here in Missouri. I wonder if the puppy used in the film was counted as one of the “jobs” associated with the production of More Than Puppy Love 2. There have been more dubious job claims made when justifying film tax credits.

If you love film, or anything else creative, the last thing you should want is for it to receive taxpayer funding. Some of the best works of art, films, and books are controversial — as they should be. Censorship and the funding of saccharine works begins when taxpayer dollars allow politicians and bureaucrats to get involved in deciding what is, and what is not, art.

The post More Than Puppy Love 2: A Better Film Than Winter’s Bone? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Saint Louis City’s system violates due process because  tickets sent to alleged violators do not contain information about a court hearing date or the right to contest. That means, attorney Bevis Schock (a Show-Me Institute board member) told KMOX, that “. . . there’s no way the defendant, the person receiving the notice, understands that there’s a right to a hearing.”

Hopefully this ruling will help bring about the elimination of red light cameras in Missouri. In our state, red light cameras have not been shown to increase safety. But they are popular, perhaps because they can help a city raise a great deal of revenue from traffic tickets.

This latest ruling throws the continued operation of red light cameras in Saint Louis City into question. One Saint Louis attorney has said that he would advise family members to not pay red light camera tickets because the penalty for the ticket appears to be just threatening letters from a company in Texas.

In related news, at the most recent Columbia City Council meeting, city officials reported that the installation of red light cameras had resulted in more than a four-fold increase in tickets. The city has issued more than 3,500 tickets since the cameras were installed in September 2009, compared to an average of about 330 tickets before the cameras were installed.

And earlier this year, Kansas City found that red light cameras in its city had not increased safety, as promised. In fact, the study found that both accidents and fatal accidents had increased at a majority of intersections where red light cameras are installed.

For more information about the policy questions regarding red light cameras, watch Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst David Stokes’ recent vlog on the Saint Louis red light camera issue, or check out our “Policing By Camera” panel discussion with Lembke, Saint Louis Alderman Antonio French, and Redditt Hudson of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The post Another Judge Rules Saint Louis’ Red Light Camera System Unconstitutional appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Republicans are scaling back a plan offering tax breaks to spur international trade at the St. Louis airport. But it isn’t over yet.

KMOX Jefferson City Bureau Chief Phil Brooks says House leadership is expected to try to re-insert the $300 million cut by the Senate and then attempt to ram the bill through the Senate.

More undoubtedly to come. Stay tuned.

The post Will the Missouri House “Ram” $300 Million of Aerotropolis Cash Back Into the Bill? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Wednedsay, Patrick Ishmael was on with Mark Reardon on St. Louis’ KMOX in a 5-minute radio hit. That segment follows:

The post Talking Aerotropolis: Audrey Spalding with Greg Knapp on KCMO, Patrick Ishmael with Mark Reardon on KMOX appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Full Interview

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“As you start stripping away carriers that automatically won’t be part of the Saint Louis equation,” Webber said, “I think any expert that isn’t on the payroll of the proponents of this project would probably come up with a likelihood of [Aerotropolis] being successful at something under 1 percent.”

In response to a question about local cattle farmers flying their herds overseas, Webber told Brennan that a livestock export facility built in Kansas City was used fewer than 10 times after it was constructed two decades ago. Atlanta had constructed a similar facility for transporting horses, used during its 1996 Summer Olympics, but even in that international hub, he said, use for the facility plummeted after the games to levels similar to those of Kansas City’s livestock facility.

And Webber was particularly skeptical of the warehouse component of the legislation, which constitutes the bulk of the tax credits.

“When you see the projections as wildly exaggerated as this is, you don’t only smell a rat. You smell a rat that’s wrapped in week-old fishpaper,” Webber said.

“So, when you start talking about folks going from 100,000 square feet of proven need for warehouse space to asking for 27 million [square feet], you’ve got to think this thing is really rotten.”

Be sure to listen to the full segment.

The post “You Smell a Rat That’s Wrapped in Week-Old Fishpaper” appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

I received a text message from one friend after the show stating that he planned to be the first person in Missouri history to appeal his assessment in order to get it higher, not lower, per our joke about that on the show. So, it is good to know that I accomplished something this morning.

The post Property Taxes in Saint Louis County appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

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It began with a flurry of blog posts and some radio gigs, and it grew from there. Late last month, Audrey and I stopped by The McGraw Milhaven Show on The Big 550, KTRS in Saint Louis, and the Mike Ferguson show on 93.9 FM “The Eagle” in Columbia. We talked about how the Aerotropolis proposal would be more of a boondoggle than an investment.

A little more than two weeks ago, Audrey and I both testified about the Aerotropolis proposal before the Missouri Senate Jobs, Economic Development and Local Government Committee. The written version of our testimony is available on our website. You can also watch the video of our testimony here on Show-Me Daily:

Note the part where Sen. Ron Richard said, “I’ve got business people and friends of mine that live in Saint Louis that are begging for something new and creative. So we take a chance.” He has it completely backward. Tax credits aren’t new and creative. Neither is draining more money into Lambert. Aerotropolis is more about subsidizing business as usual than taking a chance.

Audrey and I penned an editorial explaining how Sen. Richard was mistaken. It ran in the Southeast Missourian and the Columbia Missourian this week.

Late last Monday night, lawmakers made many changes to the bill. The amount of tax credits dropped from $480 million to $360 million. We’re still talking about a lot of money, though. State lawmakers combined Aerotropolis with a bill that would otherwise limit tax credits. It’s schizophrenic public policy, and it doesn’t make sense. I’ve called for limiting tax credits for a long time, so I am disappointed that state lawmakers are negating the benefits of limiting tax credits by combining them with a policy that would expand them. It’s like the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of tax credit legislation.

Next, we split up to reach more people. Audrey went back on the McGraw Milhaven Show on The Big 550, KTRS on Wednesday. The audio archive of the interview is available here. Audrey reviewed how the bill has changed, and how it will do even less to encourage international trade. Meanwhile, I spoke to KMOX radio about how it’s a bad deal for taxpayers.

Yesterday morning, I was a guest on the Charlie Brennan Show on KMOX. I had a great time. I talked Aerotropolis with: Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, director of Lambert–St. Louis International Airport; Rodney Crim, director of the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC); and Steve Johnson, executive vice president of economic development for the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA). An archive of the audio is available online. I argued that, if building cargo warehouses next to the airport is such a good idea, private entrepreneurs will pick up their shovels. They would have broken ground already — they wouldn’t be waiting around for tax credits.

Later that day, the Show-Me Institute’s executive director, Brenda Talent, released an open letter to Missouri Speaker of the House Steven Tilley. She encouraged him to remove the Aerotropolis bill from the current legislative agenda. I wonder: What’s the rush? Why are state legislators frantic to get Aerotropolis enacted in the final days of session? What’s the harm in studying the issue a bit longer?

This morning, I enjoyed talking with Steve Helms on “Morningline,” on KWTO AM 560 in Springfield. We discussed the fact that the Lambert airport is already drowning in debt — to the tune of more than $900 million. Much this is left over from the failed $1.1 billion runway expansion from not too long ago. I wonder: Is draining even more money into the airport the best use of taxpayer dollars? Couldn’t Steve’s listeners in Springfield spend their tax monies on things closer to home?

Even though it’s Friday, we’re not taking a break from our media outreach. KWMU Radio ran a commentary of mine a couple times today, and the St. Louis Business Journal ran an editorial written by Audrey Spalding and me.

I wonder what next week will bring for Aerotropolis. Stay tuned to the Show-Me Institute team — we’ll continue to track the issue and provide up-to-date analysis on what it will mean for Missourians.

The post “Aerotropolis” Roundup appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

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• An op-ed printed in the Kansas City Star.
• Commentary on KWMU 90.7 NPR in St. Louis.
• Debate on KWMU in which Dr. Howard Wall discussed his new essay documenting the economic harm of local earnings taxes.
• Our op-ed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• I have appeared on the air with Mark Reardon at KMOX, Darla Jaye at KMBZ, and Jamie Allman at 97.1 FM to discuss the issue.
• Further interviews and comments on the earnings tax will be airing today on KMOX, tonight on Fox 2 news, and Sunday morning on the Jaco Report.

I encourage everyone who votes on Tuesday to cast the most informed ballot you can. If Show-Me Institute research helps you decide either way, we are fulfilling our educational mission.

The post The Earnings Tax Debate: Argle-Bargle or Foofaraw? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Full Interview (MP3)

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