Liberty Thought of the Week
Paul Hamby
Downsizing Missouri Government
Doge has taken the country by storm with Elon Musk and Donald Trump on a mission to remove waste, fraud and excessive regulations from the federal government.
A similar movement is happening right here in the Missouri Legislature.
A ‘Government efficiency’ committee has been set up in The Missouri Senate. They are taking citizens’ suggestions on how to reduce fraud and waste in our state government. Chaired by Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman and Vice Chair Brad Hudson. The senate now has an online portal where you can send suggestions for programs to eliminate or report fraud. The easiest way to find it is to google ‘Missouri senate government efficiency portal’
The Missouri House of Representatives Government Efficiency committee is chaired by Rep Ben Baker. The vice chair is Rep Don Mayhew. Go to house.mo.gov Click on the committee; Government Efficiency and send them your suggestions for Downsizing Missouri Government.
Now, we have seen similar efforts back in 2010, where the suggestions went to an online portal, but they were never acted on. That was a PR stunt by the former head of the Missouri Senate. To make sure your voice is heard, also send your suggestions to your local newspaper as a letter to the editor and post them on social media. Send a copy directly to your state rep and state senator, too.
We did a recent informal survey asking for suggestions to Downsize Missouri Government. Here are a few responses:
Eliminate all tax credit programs. Tax credits distort markets by having the Missouri State Government pick winners that it will subsidize and making losers out of the rest. Tax credits are usually arbitrary, with amounts, percentages, and limits set by policymakers making guesstimates or worse by lobbyists for the state’s wealthiest seeking special favors.
Eliminate programs where different state agencies duplicate services. An example is university campuses that duplicate study areas with low demand and very high costs. College funding continues to rise while college results have dropped dramatically in the past 2 decades.
Eliminate personal vehicle inspections. 13 other states do not currently require inspections on personal vehicles. Last week Missouri House Bill 799, sponsored by Rep Jeff Farnan of Stanberry, passed out of committee. This bill would eliminate non-commercial vehicle inspections. Some proposals would still require dealers to complete an inspection to sell a used car as is current Missouri law.
Add or enforce time limits on welfare / unemployment. How many times were unemployment benefits extended during the last recession? There is good evidence that government intervention during recessions has the unintended consequence of extending the length of the recession.
Missouri Governor Kehoe proposed a budget of nearly 54 billion dollars. A significant increase from last year’s budget of 51.7 billion. We do not have the money for that and if it stands, Missouri will have to dip into our reserves to balance the budget. There is a better way. Cut the fat, waste and fraud in Missouri.
Next week, we will cover more ideas for Downsizing Missouri Government. Share your ideas with your state reps and senators as indicated above, then send me a copy of your ideas; paul.hamby@protonmail.com