From the article: Last week, the Democratic governor vetoed $105 million from the 2010 budget taking effect Wednesday. Calling the cuts a “near record,” Nixon said they were needed to preserve state support for health care, education and economic development.

But the money-saving vetoes were nearly offset by the $95 million cost of Nixon’s marquee new programs.

Read the full article at the Columbia Missourian’s website.

By Audrey Spalding
Show-Me Institute

Each year the city of Maplewood searches all of its apartments without a warrant. More specifically, apartment building landlords open each individual apartment’s doors once every year so that city officials can check for issues of human safety, such as nonworking fire alarms. The city has conducted these inspections in the name of safety since 1974, but in the process may be violating tenants’ property and privacy rights.

Two full-time building inspectors are tasked with the job, which includes yard and exterior inspections, said Anthony Traxler, Maplewood’s director of public works and assistant city manager. Traxler, who has held his position since August, said he has never heard a complaint about the inspection.

Annette Wyatt, a 43-year-old freelance writer, who has rented in Maplewood for five years, has been present for every one of her apartment’s five inspections, and knows her inspector by name. She said that she’s learned to hide strapped plugs and close her shower curtains to hide her bathtub’s rust — which she was told violates city ordinance.

“It’s an in and out five minute process,” she said. “Never felt I was invaded, just a pain in the …”

Dave Kalis, a 54-year-old writer and artist accompanying Wyatt on a walk, agreed. However, both said landlords have an obligation to inform tenants of an impending inspection.

The Maplewood ordinance that requires these inspections is simple: In order to lease a building, landlords must obtain a certificate of compliance, which expires after one year. In order to renew it, they must open that building to a search. Though the Maplewood ordinance provides for the property’s owner to be present during the inspection, it does not require that the people renting — and living in — each apartment be present.

The compulsory nature of these inspections may be a violation of tenants’ rights under the federal or state constitution, said Lee McGrath, an executive director at the Minnesota chapter of the Institute for Justice. McGrath, whose office represents a client in a Minnesota case addressing a similar rental search ordinance, said apartment residents and homeowners have equal property rights (Maplewood does not search houses on an annual basis).

“A person has the right to control who crosses the threshold to his abode regardless of the financial ownership of the abode,” McGrath said. “As a renter, you have rights that prohibit the government from freely entering your home.”

Of course, there is a procedure the government can follow to search a person’s home. For example, McGrath said, if the government wanted to search a criminal suspect’s home, it would have to have probable cause and a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

But if a tenant or landlord refuses to comply with the Maplewood annual search, the director of public works can simply seek a cease and desist order, according to the city’s ordinance (Chap. 7 Article II Sec. 7-18, cited in the sidebar). Even in that situation, the director does not have to obtain a warrant.

Mimi Mackey, who owns SPL rental services and rents an 18-unit building in Maplewood, said she notifies tenants of an impending inspection by mail and hasn’t heard any complaints. Though occasionally, she said, tenants will call concerned because they had left two doors locked when they left in the morning and came home to find only one door locked.

“It is time consuming,” Mackey said. “You’re paying someone an hourly rate to look — it’s not cost effective.” But overall, she said, she’s glad there’s an inspection process so that tenants can be assured of a certain building standard.

In theory, the inspection process assures a certain standard. In practice, Jim Hollis, a 41-year-old kitchen worker who lives in south Saint Louis, said his inspector didn’t seem concerned about his apartment’s insect problems. “He made a big deal about all the cars in the parking lot,” Hollis said.

Wyatt also mentioned the same issue. “He seemed more concerned about rust in the bathtub than with roaches,” she said.

Though some tenants may not know of the annual inspection and others consider it a pain but acquiesce, that doesn’t mean the ordinance should stand, said McGrath. “Just because one person is willing to waive their rights doesn’t mean that everyone should be forced to waive their rights.”

From the article: “On July 24 the federal minimum wage is set to rise 11% to $7.25 an hour, the last in a three-step increase. While employees may see a paycheck boost – some states’ minimum wage exceeds the federal mandated wage – companies like Burger King Holdings Inc. (BKC) and McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) will find it more difficult to absorb the hit or even pass it along to customers.”

Read the full article at the Wall Street Journal’s website.

Economist David Neumark has studied the effects of minimum wage increases extensively, and has found that minimum wage increases often result in fewer jobs for the most needy. According to Neumark, poor workers and workers with a low education level are often the first to be let go when labor becomes more expensive.

Read Neumark’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about the effects of increasing minimum wage on employment.

By Audrey Spalding
Show-Me Institute

SAINT LOUIS — Gov. Jay Nixon and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced Monday that they would be working together to compete for federal dollars to build a high-speed rail between Saint Louis and Chicago. The federal government has set aside $8 billion of stimulus money solely for the purpose of building high-speed rails, accommodating trains that operate between 110 and 150 miles per hour. States have until Aug. 24 to apply, and it is not certain which states will receive funding, or how much.

Though the governors did take questions during their joint press conference at the Gateway Amtrak Station, both tiptoed around the issue of how they would raise additional money to pay for construction and upkeep. It is likely that Missouri taxpayers would have to pitch in to help pay the initial construction costs, in addition to ongoing maintenance. A 2006 cost analysis of a proposed Midwestern high-speed rail system among nine states, including Missouri, suggested that the federal government would foot 80 percent of construction costs, with the states paying the remainder.

Quinn said Illinois has already spent more than $100 million on this project, and is “passing a bill that will invest $400 million directly in high-speed rail.”

This April, eight governors of the nine Midwestern states (Nebraska opted out) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in which they estimated that it would cost $3.4 billion to build track and purchase operating equipment for Saint Louis–Chicago, Chicago-Madison, and Chicago-Detroit connections.

Currently, Amtrak trains run from Saint Louis to Chicago five times per day and tickets cost anywhere from $23 to $65, depending on how crowded the train is. If Quinn had elected to take a train home after his joint press conference, he would have departed Saint Louis at 5:30 p.m. and arrived in Chicago nearly six hours later. Quinn said in a press release that the trip would take less than four hours in a high-speed rail system.

Though the infrastructure would be new, Amtrak would likely be in charge of the high-speed rail trains. “Theoretically, we’d be the ones running it,” said Marc Magliari, Amtrak’s media relations manager. “To and from here.”

In May, traffic writer Tom Vanderbilt wrote in Slate magazine that many Amtrak routes between major cities run much slower than they did more than 50 years ago. For example, the trip from Chicago to Minneapolis used to take four and a half hours, according to Vanderbilt. Today the Amtrak route takes more than eight.

From the article: “Missourians be forewarned: Your government officials may ask you to take on hundreds of millions of dollars of new debt in the coming year.

“Prompted by the federal economic stimulus act, local school districts and state government alike are scrambling to take advantage of a short-term offer on low-cost bonds for construction projects.”

Read the full article at KMOX’s website.

Umesh Patel, a former hotel owner, claims the St. Louis Police Department destroyed or sold a large amount of his property the department had seized as evidence in 2004, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Patel filed suit in 2007 for $150,000 in damages.

According to court files kept on CaseNet, the trial date of Umesh Patel v. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is set for Oct. 29, and scheduled to last three days.

Read the full article at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s website.

From the article: “Silex, a Lincoln County town of about 200 people that was ravaged by a flash flood last September, is getting $1.9 million to buy out part of the town and move it to higher ground.”

Read the full article at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s website

Citing a 2007 Supreme Court decision, several branches of the Missouri National Education Association are suing to become the sole collective bargaining representative of their school district’s teachers. In St. Louis, the Bayless School District’s NEA branch filed suit April 1, and most recently the Springfield NEA has filed suit. The Springfield News-Leader has excellent coverage (links below).

Teachers union sues for single vote

Both groups want answers for teachers

Lawmakers no help on bargaining

Possibility of multiple representation not unique at Springfield schools

An article at MSNBC.com explains the rationale used to deny the news organization’s request, and previous court rulings that White House visitor logs are public information.

Read the full article at MSNBC.com

By Tamara Gavin
Policy Pulse Contest Winner