Today, the Let Voters Decide committee submitted more than 209,000 signatures to the Secretary of State to place the measure on the November 2010 ballot. More than double the required number of Missourians signed the petition to place this question on the ballot.

The committee collected signatures in seven congressional districts, rather than just the required six. More than 210,000 signatures filling 104 boxes and 20,646 petitions sends a clear message that voters from all across Missouri want the opportunity to vote on this issue.

When this measure goes before voters in November, a YES vote would give voters in Kansas City and St. Louis the opportunity to decide every five years whether they want to continue collecting the earnings tax. A vote to repeal would phase the tax out gradually, over 10 years.

For Missourians not in Kansas City and St. Louis, a YES vote in November would prohibit local politicians from imposing an earnings tax anywhere in the state.

Based on the large number of signatures gathered, it is clear that Missourians want a say on local earnings taxes, and they will have their voices heard again on November 2.

For more information on the initiative, go to www.LetVotersDecide.com.

Follow Let Voters Decide on Facebook and Twitter.

Workers in Kansas City are probably tackling RD-109, or RD-109NR for non-residents, while folks who live or work in St. Louis file Form E-1. Businesses also have to remit an earnings tax on profits. While many companies withhold the 1% tax for employees, any non-resident who worked part of the year outside the city may have overpaid, or may need to pay for work done inside city boundaries. In that case, filing becomes more difficult and it is up to the taxpayer to have documentation to support the dates he or she worked inside or outside the city.

These workers may soon have the opportunity to vote to sunset the city earnings tax. Here’s how that would happen:

The Let Voters Decide petition being circulated across Missouri will place language on the ballot that, if approved by voters, would trigger votes in Kansas City and St. Louis (the only cities in Missouri so far that levy a city earnings tax).

Current law doesn’t sunset the earnings tax, and for St. Louis and Kansas City residents it’s been 63 and 47 years respectively since they were engaged on this question of how best to raise city revenue. City economies, businesses, population, and industry have changed dramatically in the last half-century, so it is time to ask voters if the earnings tax is still the best way to raise revenue. Consider how often people get to vote on their local, state and federal elected officials, and that politicians are typically term-limited after 8 years. That opportunity to chart a different course, air new ideas, or simply reaffirm is what the Let Voters Decide petition aims to extend to Missouri voters.

The Let Voters Decide petition is gathering signatures across the state in order to qualify to place this language on the ballot. If Missouri voters approve that ballot initiative, it would prohibit new earnings taxes from being imposed on workers in communities that do not currently have one; and Kansas City and St. Louis voters would get a local vote every five years to decide if they would like to continue raising city revenue with the 1% earnings tax, or phase the tax out over a decade.

To learn more about Let Voters Decide, visit http://www.letvotersdecide.com, or connect on Facebook or Twitter.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Associated Industries of Missouri, and the Missouri Growth Association serve a variety of Missouri businesses and industries.

Small businesses employ about half of U.S. workers, and are responsible for 64% of net new jobs in the past 15 years [source]. Some organizations, like the MO Chapter of National Federation of Independent Business, just focus on Missouri small businesses and issues that they face.

The Missouri Department of Revenue is a constant resource for businesses or individuals looking for information or answers to questions about taxation and licensure, and for their annual report.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development looks at indicators of state economic growth in their Economic Conditions Report, and connects Missouri businesses with state resources.

A drive across the state reminds us that farming is a very important part of the equation for Missouri growth. The Missouri Farm Bureau Association looks closely at how farmers and Missouri’s strong agricultural sector will be affected by policies.

Part of Missouri’s health is attracting and retaining population and businesses. Missouri Association of Realtors is watching these trends closely.

These organizations are great resources for learning more about the economic status of Missouri, and getting a picture of the variety of indicators we can look at to move Missouri in the right direction.

The group, named Let Voters Decide, will soon start gathering the roughly 100,000 voter signatures needed to place the initiative on the November 2010 statewide ballot.

Attorney Marc Ellinger, a spokesman for the new group, explained that various versions of an earnings tax measure had previously been submitted for review by the Secretary of State, but only one of them is to be circulated and ultimately headed to the ballot.

“The statutory initiative measure we will pursue does not automatically repeal the existing earnings taxes in St. Louis and Kansas City,” said Ellinger. “It’s designed to give voters in those cities the right to decide for themselves, in local elections, whether they want to continue the earnings tax in their city or phase it out gradually over a period of ten years. The initiative also prohibits any new local earnings taxes in communities that don’t currently have one, so it protects people in the rest of the state from having a local earnings tax imposed in their city or town.”

With regard to St. Louis and Kansas City, Ellinger explained that the initiative requires local “sunset” votes on the existing 1% earnings tax in each city every five years starting in 2011. The tax would continue as long as the majority of voters continue to approve it in those local votes. If, in a future local election, the majority of local voters in St. Louis or Kansas City vote against continuing the earnings tax, it would be phased out in their city gradually, over a period of ten years, at the rate of one-tenth of a percent per year.

Ellinger said the primary initial funding for the Let Voters Decide campaign has been provided by retired Missouri businessman and philanthropist Rex Sinquefield. Travis H. Brown, who heads up the Pelopidas L.L.C., a consulting firm that represents Sinquefield, will serve as Chairman of Let Voters Decide.

The drive toward dynamic economic growth for the Show-ME State economy is an important one to institute. That’s why we were fortunate to have Dr. Art Laffer of Laffer & Associates present his views on how Missouri’s economy can grow by replacing our state income tax with a broad-based sales tax system.

New York was the subject of a study by Stanford professor Caroline Hoxby. By comparing the progress of students who were accepted to a Charter school by random lottery and those who were not accepted and remained in public schools, Hoxby was able to create a reliable comparison between similar students.

The results showed children who attended Charter schools performed better in math and English. The key component of Hoxby’s study is that the school is the only difference between the two groups she studied. Parents were equally motivated, the children were equally qualified, and the lottery was random.

For Charter founders, teachers and board members, these findings reinforce their day-to-day experience working with individual students. The research dispels the myth that Charter successes have only been because they “cream” the best students. But research is not only valuable to prove a theory true, but also to direct next steps.

Missouri is one of the states that Dr. Hoxby’s study identifies as hosting Charter schools whose students showed significantly higher gains than their public school counterparts. This kind of definitive research is vitally useful in crafting a good education policy – one that produces measurable results.

But how will this information filter into policies, especially considering Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s (@arneduncan) recent tour promoting swift, serious education reforms on the state level? A study conducted by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory specifically examined how policymakers access and apply research evidence. Through focus groups and surveys, they found that research played a minor role in policy-shaping discourse.

“Study participants asserted that political perspectives, public sentiment, potential legal pitfalls, economic considerations, pressure from the media, and the welfare of individuals all take precedence over research evidence in influencing decisions. In focus groups and interviews, participants did not mention any ‘breakthrough research’ nor did they cite any findings that they felt had a dramatic effect on practice or policy.” ( p. 0iv)

Part of their research examined how researchers might present their findings to policymakers in a more useful format. Participants identified a lack of sophistication in finding, analyzing and applying data, as well as an apprehension about the accuracy of research. That is certainly understandable in a culture rich with data and research: sifting through a great wealth of often dense, technical research to find applicable, trusted, complete research requires rigor and time.

“Both policymakers and practitioners expressed a preference for brief reports (no more than one to two pages), in a larger font, and written in nontechnical language. They also identified a need for research that is locally relevant and credible, includes case studies, and offers analysis across multiple studies.” (p. Oiv)

The authors stressed that research has many auxiliary or indirect paths to influencing public policy. For instance, there is a heavier reliance on research by school administrators as they form local policies. Research may be highlighted by the media, or used by the reform-minded to frame a policy conversation. But in any of these scenarios, policymakers stressed that in order for it to be useful in sculpting reform policies, they had to receive that information from a trusted intermediary.

The Hoxby study in particular is a seminal piece of research that has already found a life in the reporting of major national newspapers, such as the New York Post, the Washington Post and the New York Times. The challenge in Missouri will be to help explain how this study applies to Missouri students: what the current Charter school environment looks like in Missouri, and how we can use policy as a bridge to increased achievement.

“Clearly, the formulation of policy is a balancing act among what is right, what is known, what is desired, and what is possible,” (p. 1) note the study’s authors, and good research can fortify that framework to result in truly effective reforms.

Additional Resources:

Caroline Hoxby was in St. Louis earlier this year to talk about her research on Charter School performance.

Charter School Research and Economics Part 1


Charter School Research and Economics Part 2


STUDIES MENTIONED ABOVE:

Caroline Hoxby’s Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States

NREL: Toward a Research Agenda for Understanding and Improving the Use of Research Evidence

This weekend’s opening events included a “Queens of Jazz” concert at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis with Grammy nominee Ann Hampton Callaway and St. Louis’ own jazz queen, Denise Thimes, and the Opening Ceremony on Saturday. The Opening events had players draw colored scarves to determine their pieces for the opening round. They also hula hooped while playing chess, made moves with life-sized chess pieces, and participated in ‘bounty blitz’ matches! Two-time U.S. Women’s Champion Anna Zatonskih impressed crowds by defeating 5 challengers simultaneously – while blindfolded.

Rounds began Sunday, and continue through October 13th. Rounds begin daily at 2 p.m. at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, 4657 Maryland Ave., St. Louis, Missouri.

This morning, the club’s founder and chess advocate Rex Sinquefield joined his coach, Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade on the Charlie Brennan show on KMOX. Listen to hear the interview on the Women’s Championship, Chess events around the city and the benefits of playing chess:

[pro-player type="MP3"]http://www.pelopidas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/RS-and-JS-on-Charlie-Brennan-KMOX-10.6.09.mp3[/pro-player]

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The proposed legislation helped expose reimbursement issues to the Missouri General Assembly and now these same issues have significant relevance to the national healthcare debate.

Whereas this is a step in the right direction, it is important to note that small groups of providers, like surgery centers are equally impacted.  Now is the time for Surgery Centers to be recognized for the value they bring to the healthcare system.   “Invite and Write” are the two activities critical for surviving this battle in a contentious financial war.   Invite your State Representative to your facility and write Governor Nixon’s office  TODAY thanking him for understanding our issues and taking unprecedented action as a active supporter of Missouri ASCs.

Governor Nixon has shown sincere interest in being an advocate for physicians in the healthcare reform debate.  The executive order is strong direction and pushes the ball to the opposite side of the 50 yard and we need OFFENSE.  The Department of Insurance doesn’t have the patient and professional staff perspective detailing the effect delayed payments from health insurance companies. Ultimately it limits access care, urban and rural communities the same.  Identical to a student missing a full day of school unnecessarily, healthcare boils down to patients making the most of the time they spend with doctors in and environment safe, convenient, and affordable.

This communication is missing in Jefferson City.  It is an important piece to solving the puzzle that is healthcare reform. When surgery centers and individual providers can focus on their patients first, then citizens can expect increases in access and continuity of care to basic health services.

One in particular that I loved having an excuse to walk past was the Wainwright Building: terra cotta brick, unusual ornamentation and bizarre wood-frame windowsills were a pleasure to walk past. There are many beautiful buildings downtown, but every square-inch of the Wainwright Building was visual candy.

Unlike many office buildings that have an appealing ground floor but very utilitarian, basic successive stories, the Wainwright Building’s rising stories visually draw the eye up with Corinthian columns that run the entire length of the building, while the building frieze of intricate ornament makes the building itself a column. Rather than implementing architectural garnishes to hide the unattractive nature of high-rise buildings, the architect Louis Sullivan made the form follow the function – a design credo Sullivan penned in his article “The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered”, ushering in a new era of architecture that sought to solve problems instead of covering them up or working around them.

Louis Sullivan, born today in 1856, is credited as the father of modern architecture, and was mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, whose famous architecture shows the Sullivan influence. His geometric designs incorporated in iron or into the stonework are a work of art in their own right. Sullivan’s style fell out of favor later in his life, and many of his buildings were demolished or destroyed over the years, while most of his smaller, more discreet designs remain largely unknown and under-appreciated, though they firmly represent the idea he was trying to impress upon architecture.

Historian Carl Condit spoke of the Wainwright building as “a building with a strong, vigorously articulated base supporting a screen that constitutes a vivid image of powerful upward movement.” [1] Sullivan’s impression, it seems, touches many points in architecture and beyond.

Sullivan’s often misquoted “form ever follows function” is a great way to frame questions even outside of architecture. Architecture has always solved the simple problems of meeting the objectives and specs of a project, but Sullivan, and later Wright, found other problems from the aesthetics of a skyscraper to issues particular to a waterfall or a budding metropolis.

Buildings define a city, and even become a way of branding. It’s hard to think of Sidney without the Opera House, Paris without the Eiffel Tower, and to me the Wainwright Building is one of the treasures that shape downtown St. Louis. Its beauty and form has kept St. Louisans looking up since its creation, and hopefully we’re continuing that spirit of problem solving that looks beyond the obstacle at hand to fundamentally change the way we look at things.

Photos by: Whitewall Buick under a Creative Commons license.

1. Condit, Carl W. (1973). The Chicago School of Architecture: A History of Commercial and Public Building in the Chicago Area, 1875-1925. University of Chicago Press.