Show-Me Institute

The Show-Me Institute, or SMI, is an American think tank based in St. Louis, Missouri that promotes public policies that advance free market principles.[5] Founded in 2005, the organization focuses on economic and good governance issues in the state of Missouri. The stated mission of the Show-Me Institute is "improving the quality of life for all citizens of Missouri by advancing sensible, well-researched solutions to state and local policy issues."[6] The Institute opened a branch office in Kansas City in 2014.

Show-Me Institute
Show-Me Institute
MottoAdvancing Liberty With Responsibility by Promoting Market Solutions for Missouri Public Policy
Founder(s)Rex Sinquefield,[1] Crosby Kemper III,[2] Michael Podgursky[3]
Established2005[1]
FocusEconomic policy in Missouri
ChairmanCrosby Kemper III
Executive DirectorBrenda Talent[1]
BudgetRevenue: $1,733,597
Expenses: $1,419,361
(FYE December 2015)[4]
Address5297 Washington Place
Saint Louis, MO 63108
Coordinates38.651629°N 90.273276°W / 38.651629; -90.273276
Websiteshowmeinstitute.org

Policy positions

Although SMI does not typically take "institutional" positions, the research of SMI analysts tends to converge in support of small government principles that maximize both economic efficiency in the Missouri economy and individual freedom for Missourians.

Taxation

SMI research supports low broad-based taxes and a move away from income taxes as keys to economic growth in Missouri. The first paper published by the institute, written by Joseph Haslag in 2006, explored how the 1 percent earnings taxes of Kansas City and St. Louis damaged growth in those cities.[7] An essay published in 2012 by Patrick Ishmael and Michael Rathbone called for the elimination of the corporate income tax through the elimination of economic development tax incentives.[8] In 2019, Patrick Tuohey and Graham Renz explored tax increment financing, community improvement district and other local taxing districts, finding that the districts could often be formed with little public input and that many districts lacked sufficient oversight of the revenues collected.[9]

Spending

Research by Ishmael and Adam Millsap, published in 2017, explored the relationship between state & local government spending growth and private sector gross state product (GSP) growth. The paper raised concerns about the compounding effects of deadweight losses caused by state governments driving larger and larger portions of their GSP, observing that "[in] a state where government expenditures grow faster than the private sector economy as a whole, the amount of resources the government controls increases over time."[10] The paper included the author-named "IM Index" ranking of states from 2004 to 2013, which compared states based on their overall exposure to these spending and deadweight loss risks.

Health care

The institute is skeptical of socialized medicine and has criticized the Affordable Care Act. Researchers have written in support of block-granting Medicaid and proposals that would financially incentivize non-long term care beneficiaries to shop for services and voluntarily leave the program.[11] The institute has also written against certificate of need laws[12] and in support of health savings accounts,[13] direct primary care,[14] licensure reform[15] and insurance market deregulation.[16]

Government transparency

Researchers have supported the expanded use of digital recording, including video and online streaming, of government hearings, including the allowance of outside recording devices when government organs decline to record proceedings themselves.[17] Researchers have also advocated for greater local government transparency, particularly for spending records of municipal, county, and special taxing districts.[18][19]

Education

Researchers have supported a variety of school choice initiatives,[20] including education savings accounts,[21] support for charter schools,[22] and greater flexibility in merit pay for high performing teachers.[23]

Workforce development and labor policies

SMI researchers have supported the expansion of apprenticeship programs and a diversification of the state's educational portfolio to better fund blue collar career tracks.[24] Institute researchers also support the early-20th century consensus view on government labor unions, viewing collective bargaining in the government sphere to be inherently problematic.[25]

Board of directors

As of 2019:[26]

  • Crosby Kemper III, executive director of the Kansas City Public Library and former CEO of UMB Financial Corporation
  • Rex Sinquefield, co-founder and former co-chairman of Dimensional Fund Advisors
  • Michael Podgursky, professor of economics
  • Louis Griesemer, Chairman of the Board of Springfield Underground, Inc.
  • W. Bevis Schock, attorney
  • Joe Forshaw, past president and CEO of Forshaw, a family-owned business
  • Stephen F. Brauer, chairman and CEO of Hunter Engineering Company; former ambassador to Belgium
  • Jennifer Bukowsky, attorney
  • James G. Forsyth III, president and CEO of Moto, Inc.
  • Robert M. Heller, former judge
  • Megan Holekamp, real estate broker at Janet McAfee Inc.
  • Gregg Keller, political consultant
  • Gerald A. Reynolds, former general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary for LG&E and KU Energy
  • Kevin Short, co-founder and managing partner/CEO of Clayton Capital Partners

Affiliations

The Show-Me Institute is an affiliate of the State Policy Network, an American network of free-market oriented think tanks.[27]

References
  1. Wagman, Jake (September 2, 2010). "Brenda Talent tapped to lead Show-Me Institute". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  2. "Crosby Kemper III".
  3. "Michael Podgursky".
  4. "Show-Me Institute" (PDF). Foundation Center. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  5. "Former Sen. Talent's wife joins Show-Me Institute". Columbia Missourian. Associated Press. September 2, 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  6. "About the Show-Me Institute". Show-Me Institute. Archived from the original on 14 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  7. "How an Earnings Tax Harms Cities Like Saint Louis and Kansas City".
  8. "Cutting the Ties That Bind: End Missouri's Corporate Income Tax".
  9. "Taxes and Taxing Districts on the Rise in Missouri".
  10. Ishmael, Patrick; Millsap, Adam (2017-09-19). "State and Local Government Spending Growth and Private Sector GSP Growth: An Examination of the 50 States and the District of Columbia". SSRN 3039566. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "Move Missouri's Medicaid Program Forward, Not Backward".
  12. "End Certificate of Need in Missouri".
  13. "Free-Market Health Care Reform in Missouri: A Primer".
  14. "Where Obamacare Leaves Questions, Direct Primary Care May Offer Answers".
  15. "Demand Supply: Why Licensing Reform Matters to Improving American Health Care".
  16. "Why Insurance is So Expensive".
  17. "Recording Public Hearings? Let the Sunshine in".
  18. "Government Spending Records Should be Free and Open to the Public".
  19. "How Easy is It to Get a Sunshine Request Fulfilled? It Depends".
  20. "States with School Choice Reap the Benefits".
  21. "Missouri Education Savings Account: Customization, Choice, Competition, College".
  22. "Charter School Expansion".
  23. https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/educational-freedom-miscellaneous/support-merit-pay-spreading
  24. "An Emerging Policy Frontier: Workforce Development".
  25. "Rise of the Roosevelt Law: Is Reform in Government Unions Coming to Missouri?".
  26. "SMI Board Members".
  27. "Show-Me Institute".
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