Both sides of the right-to-work debate say they have Missouri's economy in mind.
Organized labor points to the fact that 6 out of 10 states with a right-to-work law have the highest unemployment rates, while pro-right-to-work activists tout the economies of Oklahoma, Indiana and North Dakota, which all outpace Missouri in growth, as evidence of the positive effects of right-to-work laws.
In reality, it's difficult to measure the effects of right-to-work laws on the economy, said Paul Rainsberger, director of labor education at the University of Missouri.
At one time, Rainsberger, who has a thick bibliography of 71 conflicting academic studies on right-to-work laws, and a colleague thought of six states that resembled Missouri's size and demographics to compare its economy to. Three - Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina - had right-to-work laws, while the others - Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin - at the time did not.
Michigan and Indiana have since adopted right-to-work laws, but even then, Rainsberger said, those states' industrial mixes are very different from Missouri's and therefore difficult to analyze on an equal level. Even among right-to-work states, economic comparisons lose their meaning.
Jim Walker of the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it was difficult to judge the impact of right-to-work laws on state economies.
He said Indiana's economy could've improved with America's as a whole. At the very least, Walker suggested that it would take more than two years to gauge an economic policy's impact.
One fear pro-right-to-work activists have is that Missouri is losing jobs to neighboring states, some of which have had right to work since the 1940s.
As a guest on "The Dana Loesch Show" on April 14, House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, referenced automotive factory closings in Fenton and Hazelwood as evidence of more attractive business climates in bordering states.
David Cox became Hazelwood's economic developer shortly before Ford left Hazelwood. Studying the issue, he said that the size and age of the plant didn't make it cost effective for Ford to modernize.
Jody Tinson, part of Chrysler's Manufacturing and Labor Communications department, said Chrysler left Fenton in 2008 and 2009 because of the economic crisis and that Missouri's absence of right-to-work didn't really affect the company's decision to leave.
Although Jones expressed concerns about Missouri's economy, Gov. Jay Nixon, at a March 26 labor rally outside the Capitol, claimed Missouri was at the beginning of an automotive comeback.
One car parts supplier, LMV Automotive, opened a $49 million expansion in Liberty, adding 166 new jobs.
The company had a few big reasons to add on to its previous facility, said Rick McDonald, the executive director of Liberty Economic Development Corporation. They are:
• LMV supplies Ford and has to be within a certain distance to the plant.
• Liberty had room to build and an available supply of workers.
• Missouri provided a strong tax incentive package.
Dave Cataldi, president of Janesville Acoustics, an automotive parts company, wrote in an email that the presence of organized labor didn't factor into the company's decision to open a $13.4 million plant in Warrensburg.
"The issues that Janesville Acoustics focuses on when assessing potential new locations are proximity to customers, our ability to support customers in that region and the availability of a good, technically competent workforce to support our long term needs," Cataldi wrote in an email.
A third company, GAF Roofing, will build a $150 million plant in Moberly, bringing 125 new jobs. It is expected to open at the end of 2017. "Proximity to rail lines, highways, and the community college" were all factors in GAF Roofing's decision to open their plant, Alyssa Hall, the company's director of marketing communications, wrote in an email.
General Motors invested $500 million in a factory in Wentzville. Dave Baldridge, the communications manager for the assembly plant, said GM chose the site because of its central location, supply base, government support, and material and labor costs.
Ford Motor Co. also invested in Missouri, bringing more than 2,000 jobs to Claycomo. Kristina Adamski, a public relations specialist with Ford, said it expanded onto the existing factory there because the area had the space to expand. It "made the most sense to do it there," she said.