Contract Out State-Run Shuttle
The State of Illinois runs a shuttle between Chicago and its capital city, Springfield, for state officials.

A new report suggests that the state could save $828,000 by making those folks travel like the rest of us--on commercial aviation.
(permalink)

Less Than Half of School Dollars Go into Classroom
The Illinois Department of Education is recommending that the state increase its funding of K-12 schooling by 9 percent.

Governor Rod Blagojevich replies: get more money into the classroom first. "When the state board of education only invests 46 cents of every single dollar that goes into the education of a child, they ought to first look at fixing their problems when they go back to taxpayers and ask them for more of their money."

While Blagojevich be posturing--Robert Schiller, state superintendent, says that some of the recommended increase goes towards the governor's goal of increasing per-pupil spending by $250--he is onto something. In the board's defense, Schiller said (quoting the Daily Herald here, not Schiller) "46 cents per dollar goes to the classroom, while the rest pays for heating, transportation, retirement costs, health care and myriad other things."

Looks like there ought to be some hard thought going into making the budget go farther by finding ways to spend less money on whatever it not involved in teaching.
(permalink)

Jesus Told Me to Raise Your Taxes
The story is nearly a week old now, and the sentiment behind it is even older, but Governor Jennifer Graham has suggested that it's an obligation of Christians to pay higher taxes.

Granholm cited the words of Jesus that "'Whatsoever you do to the least of these, so also you do unto me."

She defended her remarks, saying "I'm just saying that in order to have a more compassionate society, we have to keep that in mind."

Forget for a moment that Jesus was speaking to his followers, not secular governments. The governor is right in one thing. We--civil society as well as the political sector--ought to consider the most vulnerable among us.

As for public policy, well, giving heed to "the least of us" as well--at it often leads to less rather than more government involvement in civil society. (See, for example, the excellent work of the Institute for Justice in fighting against regulations that hamper businesses that serve the poor.) It can also, in today's context, include expanding opportunities for the poor in ways that do not increase the size of government. Increased school choice is one excellent example that quickly comes to mind. Right now, a system of government-monopoly schooling dooms millions of children to an inferior start to life in the work force.
(permalink)

If You Enjoy Neon Signs ...
Remember those "silly laws," such as "no walking your pet porpoise on city sidewalks?" The reason for such laws, if they ever existed, has usually been lost to time.

One law that appears to fit into this category is a Michigan law (or rather, regulation) that forbids the display of neon signs inside bars and restaurants. The signs are OK outside--people driving or walking by a an outside window can read a pink neon tube urging passers-by to "Drink Duff." But once they enter the establishment, these signs are forbidden.

Until now. Attorney General Mike Cox has said that such a ban is an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. An official with the Liquor Control Commission says that the rule "probably" stems from "the repeal of prohibition."
(permalink)

Primary Seat Belt Laws: A Change in Law Enforcement on the Road
Eric Peters nails the problem with "primary" seat belt laws, which allow the police to pull motorists over for the simple act of not wearing a seat belt.

"Moving violations -- things for which the police can pull you over and issue a ticket -- have until quite recently been based on the premise that whatever it is you're doing could endanger the other drivers out there. Otherwise, it was hands-off."

Driving without a belt, he writes, "is akin to being overweight or smoking; clearly not good for you -- but of no direct consequence to others."

The camel under the tent nose, as it were, is the issue of insurance costs, especially for health insurance. But there are many other steps that can be taken to reform insurance before we go down this road.

(permalink)

Living primitively May Cost You More in Illinois
Here's an example of how a state budget crunch may be just what is required to bring about better public policy. The state of Illinois may raise the overnight camping fee in state parks from $9 to $20 for "the sites with the most amenities." Fees have not increased in over a decade. Compare that with your stay at the Hampton Inn. The increase is expected to bring in $2 million more for new and better facilities. Huge RVs, which are increasingly popular (Americans are getting fatter; their travel trailers are keeping up) in camps, and they use more electricity. It's only right that they pay more of their costs. Fees for sites with electricity will increase the most; those without will go up only $1 under the proposal.

How do state officials know that they are not charging enough? Says a spokesman of the DNR: "At many of our sites, demand is much higher than we have space for."

(permalink)

Charter Schools Popular in Minnesota, Michigan
Charter schools--taxpayer funded schools operated outside the usual management and bureaucracy of government schools--got their start in Minnesota, back in 1992. Today, roughly 2,700 charter schools across the country serve 680,000 students.

While other states have, since 1992, surpassed Minnesota in charter school enrollment, officials there are expecting rapid increases. For one thing, the scope of who may obtain a charter for a school has widened; the legislature gave that ability to non-profit groups in 2001. (Among the groups starting schools: Volunteers of America.) The president of a charter school trade group as well as an official in the state's ed department cite increased public comfort with the idea of charter schools.

This idea is certainly growing; it took until 2002 before enrollment reached 10,000. Enrollment for 2004 is expected to reach 15,000.

Meanwhile, Daniel L. Quisenberry offers praise for Detroit's charter schools in the Detroit News. "Students attending Detroit charter schools open at least six years outperformed the local traditional district in seven of 10 grades and subjects tested on the 2003 MEAPs. They almost matched the remaining three scores. What’s more, charter seventh- and eighth-graders soared past their peers by eight to 20 percentage points in each subject."

Thanks to the Michigan Education Report for the tip.
(permalink)

Where Have You Gone, Reinhold Newbury?
Observers of foreign policy sometimes note (and lament) the passing of America's major political parties the "Scoop Jackson Democrats" (in favor of some form of a social welfare state AND a strong national military defense).

In the theological realm, there was Reinhold Newbury, the subject of a recent Boston Globe article. It's not a very good introduction to the man, a theologian who died in 1971, but it does give a decent 25 cent portrait if you haven't heard of him. Founder of the ultra-liberal American for Democratic Action, he was also a hawk on foreign policy.

"Newbury had come to his core perception, variously elaborated over the years, of the many-sided egotism of human beings -- which is only compounded in groups .... Reading Saint Augustine, Newbury increasingly saw his view expressed in the doctrine of the sinful nature of humankind .... As a young man Newbury had been slightly influenced by Marx, but characteristically he saw early the self-deceptions in the Marxist movement: moral cynicism on the one side, combined with uncritical idealism about the proletariat, the party, and the Soviet Union on the other."

His concern over justice lead him to endorse a strong role for the state--an institution that does not have the most spectacular history when it comes to justice. On the other hand, his turn from pacifism was a recognition of the harmful use to which the state can be put.

As a graduate student, I was discouraged from considering the moral dimensions of international politics. But Newbury stood as a witness to the imperative of doing so. His relative appreciation for the justice of the United States in the world is something that was needed in his days, in my grad school experience, and today.

[Thanks to Milt Rosenberg of WGN-AM for the link. "A theologian who made a difference."
(permalink)

Import Workers or Export Jobs?
Some states are debating whether to bar companies that use off-shore labor (or even out-of-state workers) as contractors.

Bruce Bartlett, on the other hand, asks "Outsource? Of Course."

The departure point for his column is IBM's announcement that it is sending some programming work to India. Bartlett puts the blame on Congress, which shrunk the H1-B visa program (for high-skilled foreign workers) from 195,000 to 65,000 people.

The result? Another case of good intentions causing bad consequences: "So now, instead of having Indian workers come here, where they spent much of their earnings, companies are contracting with them to work in India, which is where they now spend their earnings."

Bartlett goes on to describe the benefit to the U.S. of outsourcing, for both workers and consumers.
(permalink)

Paperless Government?
Paperless government? Isn't that one of those government oxymorons, says the cynic, like Internal Revenue Service?

Not entirely, it seems. Various suburbs in metro Detroit (and, doubtless, across the country) are putting all that paper that used to be used in city council meetings--agenda, supporting documents, and the like--into electronic formats.

The city of Livonia, for example, purchased laptops and copies of Adobe Acrobat, and claims that it recouped the expense in eight months. Dan Putman, the director of information systems for the city, said "The old paper stacks that we replaced were 10 inches to 2 feet tall. [Going electronic] It made it a lot faster for projects to move through the council now, and there's a reduction in cost, because we don't have to use all that paper and do all that filing."

Farmington Hills, a pioneer in the state, used to spend anywhere from one to four hours of labor each month to assemble packets for city council meetings. Now that work is down to "a couple of hours."

One problem that could stymie the move: council members who prefer dead-tree versions of agenda.

And then there's this question: perhaps government efficiency isn't always such a great thing. Having to secure a search warrant, for example, is certainly inefficient compared with just barging in; legislation would proceed more quickly if it required only 20 percent of the vote. Granted, these examples are of deliberately placed, procedural inefficiencies. But perhaps the inadvertent inefficiencies of paper shuffling have some benefit, too, though somehow I doubt it. (Think of all the time businesses sit awaiting regulatory approval for this or that, for example.)
(permalink)