On December 7, 2023, Brenda Talent joined Mike Ferguson in the Morning on NewsTalkSTL to discuss the 2024 Blueprint: Moving Missouri Forward.

Download the 2024 Blueprint here.

The 2024 Blueprint: Moving Missouri Forward explores 16 policy areas in which common-sense reform could immediately and positively impact everyday life for Missourians. Issues covered range from education and health care to unemployment insurance and budget reform. Each article identifies a problem that affects the citizens of our state, provides background information and analysis, proposes one or more solutions, and then boils the solutions down into actionable recommendations. We believe that the proposals our policy team has assembled can put Missouri on the path to a healthier economy, a better public education system, and a more vibrant and flourishing civil society.

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• Blog: Kansas City: Genuinely World Class
• TV: Wendell Cox on KC Competitiveness
• TV: Wendell Cox and Crosby Kemper III on KCPT’s Ruckus
• Radio (beginning at 23 minute mark): ‘How To Listen To Jazz,’ A World-Class Kansas City, And The Weekend To-Do List
• Radio: Wendell Cox appeared on KCMO radio with host Mike Ferguson
• Video: Kansas City: Genuinely World Class

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Show-Me Institute Education Policy Analyst Dr. James Shuls joins Mike Ferguson’s Missouri Viewpoints to talk about Common Core. Watch the complete half hour show at Missouri Viewpoints.

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Watch the complete half hour show at Missouri Viewpoints.

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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.

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Show-Me Institute Policy Analysts Audrey Spalding and Christine Harbin will be on the Mike Ferguson show on Columbia’s 93.9 FM “The Eagle” around 4:30 p.m. today. We will talk about the testimony that we delivered before the Missouri Senate Jobs, Economic Development and Local Government Committee on Wednesday, about the Aerotropolis proposal.

The written version of our testimony is available on our website. This is a topic that we have discussed frequently lately here on the blog.

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I hope the SNL editors research and footnote the types of benefits offered to the Show-Me Institute’s employees, if any, and that Harbin discloses her participation, if any, in them. My guess is that she would refuse to disclose which benefits she receives, much like the GOP Congress refused to do this week.

The commenter guessed incorrectly. Even though I don’t consider it to be relevant to my argument, nor do I consider it to be the responsibility of the Springfield News-Leader to investigate it before running an editorial, I’m happy to clarify the health care benefits that I enjoy. This is no secret — it’s something that I mentioned yesterday when I was talking about health care policy on the Mike Ferguson show on the Eagle 93.9 FM in Columbia. It’s a characteristic of my generation — we tend to be very willing to disclose details of our finances.

I have a health savings account (HSA) and a health insurance policy with a $5,000 deductible. My monthly premium, which I pay out of pocket, is around $100, which is manageable. I work at the Show-Me Institute because I am committed to the ideas of liberty and individual responsibility — certainly not because I receive a lucrative benefits package, because I don’t. If I simply wanted a fat paycheck, I would get a job in the private sector or become a school superintendent.

Insurance policies are not one-size-fits-all, particularly in health care. Although high deductible insurance plans and HSAs work very well for healthy 20-somethings like John Payne and me, I’ll readily admit that it is not something that works best for everybody. However, a plan that works best for everybody doesn’t exist. A so-called Cadillac insurance plan with a low deductible, for instance, would be a poor fit for me at this time in my life. This is precisely why health care should remain in the free market — it preserves consumer choice and ensures that individuals can select the policies that fit their needs. We can see that when the government increases the number of mandates, the cost of coverage rises.

Show-Me Institute staff and scholars have highlighted the advantages of HSAs previously. As one particular benefit, my policy is portable (i.e., it’s not tied to my employer). Therefore, if I were to leave the Show-Me Institute, my health care coverage would be unaffected. From my perspective as a young person, an additional benefit of an HSA is that it serves as a tax-sheltered savings account. Unlike flexible savings accounts, which expire every Dec. 31, the money that I put into my HSA rolls over each year. Furthermore, if I don’t spend the money in my account by age 65, I can withdraw it without penalty like I would with a traditional IRA.

The bottom line is that it is important to preserve choice in health care. Overall welfare would decrease if families and individuals weren’t free to choose the policies that best fit their particular lifestyles and budget constraints.

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Currently, a bipartisan group of more than 20 state attorneys general and elected officials are asking a judge in Florida to invalidate the federal health care reform law. Missourians should encourage their attorney general, Chris Koster, to join this multistate lawsuit, which resumes on Jan. 10. In my view, the precedent that Missourians set by approving Proposition C could be continued if Attorney General Chris Koster joined the lawsuit.

The following are some facts related to the lawsuit:

• Twenty attorneys general are challenging the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the health care reform law that Congress passed earlier this year, in a courtroom in Pensacola, Fla. They are arguing that the law is unconstitutional and would set a dangerous precedent.
• The case involves two arguments. The first is that the requirement for all Americans to purchase insurance is unconstitutional. The second is that expanding the eligibility requirements for Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for the poor, threatens state sovereignty and will burden state budgets.
• The states party to the suit are Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, South Dakota, Indiana, North Dakota, Mississippi, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and Alaska. Additional states, such as Wisconsin, are considering joining.
• Americans are divided in their support for the health care legislation. Only 42 percent of Americans say they have a generally favorable view of the law, while 41 percent say the opposite, according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation in December 2010.

Missouri voters were the first to oppose this attempt by the federal government to take control over health care. As Missourians, we live in a democracy. We should have a government that represents the demonstrated wishes of Missourians in this matter, thereby advancing liberty with responsibility by promoting market solutions for health care policy.

I will discuss the effort to encourage Attorney General Koster to join the Florida lawsuit on the Mike Ferguson show on the Eagle 93.9 FM tomorrow, Jan. 6 at 5:00 p.m in Columbia. I encourage our readers to tune in or listen online.

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For anyone who can’t make it to the Show-Me Forum, consider tuning in to Mike Ferguson’s radio show on Monday afternoon between 4:20 and 4:40, when Mr. Ferguson will interview me and Mrs. Brooke Gray, an equine dentist who has found herself in the crosshairs of the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board.

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(Headline reference here, which is meant both to celebrate the Rush concert in Saint Louis this Sunday, and to annoy my colleague David Stokes.)

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I certainly agree with McDavid that it is inappropriate to use SWAT teams for nonviolent crimes — but, unfortunately, that is not one of the reforms already implemented by the Columbia Police Department. That said, the department is moving in the right direction, even if not quickly enough for my taste. New regulations for SWAT raids include: an order that search warrants be served within a “reasonable” period (usually eight hours) after they are issued; eliminating the power for the SWAT commander or narcotics sergeant to order such a raid, instead requiring a department captain’s order; and, continual surveillance of the area to be searched before the raid to ensure that the intelligence is correct and that, say, the suspect’s young child is not in the home.

I think there are three major policies missing from these reforms. First, there should be a public record of every instance in which a SWAT team is used, and for what purpose. Without such a record, it will be impossible for the public to hold the police department accountable for any departures from the other policies. (I contacted the Columbia Police Department earlier today to ask whether such a record exists, or whether it will be required in the future, but have not heard back from them yet.) Second, there is no change to the department’s policy on using lethal force against animals. They could consider using non-lethal methods of subduing an animal, such as pepper spray. At the very least, though, a more thorough definition of “aggressive” behavior seems warranted. Finally, the use of SWAT-style raids should be legally confined to violent situations. Unless officers can prove that there is a high probability that the suspect is armed and likely to resist, a SWAT raid designed to confuse and terrify is more likely to lead to violence than prevent it.

It is again worth mentioning that events like this are hardly isolated incidents. Just last month, a police officer in Bellefontaine Neighbors in North Saint Louis County shot and killed a dog under the false impression that it was a different dog that had been reported to be vicious and on the loose. The state of Missouri should institute stricter guidelines for both SWAT teams and the use of lethal force (even against domestic animals) in order to avoid tragedies like these in the future.

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