Perspective: A little more speechifying and some actual work

Jay Barnes
Jay Barnes

The Missouri House is now three-quarters of the way through the full-fledged quadrennial speechifying. We've heard the Speaker of the House and Gov. Eric Greitens (twice). All that's left before it's all work is the State of the Judiciary next week.

Tuesday's State of the State was a stark contrast with years past. Previously, I knew there'd always be some areas of agreement with Gov. Jay Nixon, but that I'd oppose most of it. Now, the script is flipped. It's refreshing - and strange. We're working in the same building, on the same general things, but it's all so different knowing there's a governor who will sign big legislation. In some ways, I feel like a freshman and so should my colleagues. (Rep. Kevin Engler is the only member of the Missouri House to have served under a Republican governor.)

 

Gift bill advances to the Senate

Maybe the third time's a charm? On Tuesday, the House passed the gift ban legislation to the Senate for consideration. I'm hopeful that it will be sent back to the House to become law.

 

Right to work moves to the Senate

On Thursday, the House passed right-to-work legislation to the Senate. House Bill 91, sponsored by Rep. Holly Rehder, prohibits requiring any person to join a union as a condition of employment. Like the gift ban bill, this is the third year in a row that the House has passed right-to-work. I voted yes for three reasons.

First, freedom of association - the right to organize is a hallmark of a free society. Federal law rightly places strong protections on the right of unions to organize their members without interference from employers. In Missouri, the right is specifically enshrined in Article I, section 29 of the Missouri Constitution, which guaranteed that "employees shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing."

But true freedom of association is a two way street. Just as the right to organize is a hallmark of freedom, so too is the right of an individual person to choose not to organize. My basic political philosophy revolves around each individual's right to be free from coercion - whether it's by government or private entity.

Second, job growth - though the studies are not unanimous, according to a senior economist at the Boston Fed, a significant majority "find that the existence of a right-to-work law exerts a positive, statistically significant impact on economic activity."

Thomas Holmes of the Minneapolis Fed 1997 RTW study is most useful. Because of difficulty isolating the RTW variable to compare states with different policies, transportation systems, geographies, climates, histories, and cultures, Holmes examined RTW by comparing manufacturing in every county in the United States next to a border of a state with an opposing RTW policy. From 1947 to 1992, Holmes found that, in counties within 25 miles of a RTW border, manufacturing jobs increased one-third faster in RTW states than in non-RTW states. In floor debate this week, we heard anecdotal evidence from representatives from southeast Missouri that they've been on the losing end of this economic fact for the past three decades as jobs left for bordering states with RTW laws.

More recent evidence suggests a similar conclusion. In the past decade, all seven of the fastest growing states in the nation were right-to-work (Nevada, North Dakota, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Idaho and Florida). Recent states to adopt right to work (Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana) have all benefited from significant manufacturing job growth.

The most amusing part of the RTW debate came Wednesday as the House spent over an hour debating a proposed amendment to send the issue to voters. Both sides sent speakers to the microphone who argued that there was some great underlying principle behind their position on whether to put it on the ballot or send it to the governor. The truth is that the "send it to the people" argument is without principle. Last year, when opponents knew Gov. Nixon would veto the measure, most opponents did not want to put it on the ballot. This year, with a different governor, some suddenly act as if it's a great principled stand. To be fair, the same is true in reverse. Much like the Senate filibuster, most people's view on the issue is inextricably linked to who is in power.

Of course, the amendment debate was doubly rich since the issue will no doubt be on the ballot in 2018 anyway. Unions have already filed an initiative petition that would ask the people to undo right to work via the ballot. In the end, Missouri voters are going to decide if we stay a right-to-work state for longer than 15 months.

State Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, represents Missouri's 60th District.