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Without small donors, voters aren’t left with much
If one change could profoundly elevate American politics, it is how campaigns are funded. The relentless need for fundraising incentivizes candidates to exhaust the generosity of small-dollar donors and, at the risk of diminishing their values and policy objectives, rely heavily on a limited number of wealthy contributors. After all, for politicians who have gotten […]
Missouri lawmakers should make it easier to access Earned Income Tax Credit
Missouri’s 2024 legislative session recently concluded, and the 2025 session is seven months away. With significant turnover in both chambers, next year’s lawmakers can deliver easy and affordable wins by ensuring all who are eligible for public assistance actually enroll to receive those benefits. To narrow the gap between eligible and enrolled, incoming state lawmakers […]
Missouri’s working families deserve proven tax cuts
In a too-rare display of bipartisan productivity, the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 last month. Among the bill’s most impactful features is the expanded federal Child Tax Credit. The $2,000 credit had its refundable maximum of $1,600 per child per tax year increased to $1,800 […]
Make public education a key industry for Missouri
Amidst a worsening teacher shortage, with 40.5% of the state’s educators leaving their school districts after three years, last fall’s Teacher Recruitment and Retention Blue Ribbon Commission recommended, among other steps, increasing salary and tuition assistance. Yet in the recently wrapped legislative session, the Missouri Senate failed to act on the House’s bill to raise the state’s minimum teacher salary from […]
Missouri should consider the Rocky Mountain road to universal school lunch
Better grades, improved health and higher lifetime earnings are why Missouri should join the growing list of states that provide universal school meals to all public school students. In 2017, researchers at Syracuse University published a study on the impact of free school lunches on all New York City middle school students. The findings showed […]
Missouri deserves a creative program for supporting businesses, reducing unemployment
Early last month, Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation to lower the state’s income tax rate at an annual cost of more than $500 million — shorting Missouri taxpayers out of a greater return for their money. Tax dollars that could have staffed up school districts facing teacher and staff shortages, improved facilities and equipment for […]
Electing better leaders can start with requiring greater financial transparency
Eighteenth-century French diplomat Joseph de Maistre famously articulated, “In a democracy, people get the leaders they deserve.” In light of The New York Times’ recent coverage and Business Insider’s ongoing “Conflicted Congress” investigation into violations of 2012’s STOCK Act, electing better leaders can start with requiring greater financial transparency to quickly reveal potential conflicts of […]