Guest Column by Secretary of State Jason Kander
Politicians always seem to think they understand what it takes to foster a good business climate. I bet if you had a nickel for every time you heard a politician talk about creating jobs and growing businesses, you’d be able to take that extra family vacation. The real story is, when lawmakers try to reinvent the wheel for the business sector, they usually make things worse.
In the Army, when we saw a change in procedure that made little sense, disrupted everyone’s plans and cost us time and productivity without delivering any added value, we referred to it as a visit from the “Good Idea Fairy.”
Luckily, the Good Idea Fairy didn’t make too many visits to the Army, but she sure does spend a lot of time with politicians. Don’t take my word for it—all you have to do is look at Kansas’ irresponsible tax policy, and the Obama administration’s aggressive use of rulemaking authority.
As the government official in charge of rulemaking here in Missouri, I understand the importance of that process. But the Obama administration’s aggressive approach has been bad for business. The Administration seems to feel they can’t get anything done in Congress, so they’re trying to do more on their own.
This creates uncertainty. A rule is much easier to overturn than a law, so now businesses across the country have to take a guess at whether the next president is going to stick with the major changes the previous administration made using new rules. For example, there are new EPA rules in process that are stopping energy companies from moving forward on new plants or even updating their current ones, which is not only unsafe, it actually hurts their ability to make decisions.
Then there’s Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, who decided to experiment on his state and the results have been disastrous. While he felt the only thing holding back Kansas was taxes, he’s finding out the uncertainty he’s brought to his own state is causing real harm. The state can’t support itself anymore, which is making businesses very nervous—it’s difficult for business owners to plan when they have no idea what the tax burden will look like year to year. It’s a shame to see our neighboring state fall into such chaos.
Back here in Missouri, business owners tell me they want predictability and transparency from their government. They’re sick of lawmakers coming up with a new plan every year, when they’d rather be left alone to build their businesses without worrying about an uncertain state economy. This is why I’ve focused on streamlining and simplifying the process of doing business in Missouri.
Last June, my office enabled Missouri businesses to file nearly every business form online. Over the past year, more than 26,000 filings have been submitted online that just one year prior would have required an in-person visit or a postmarked hard copy.
In September, I offered a bipartisan legislative proposal to reduce Missouri’s business filing fees to the overall lowest in the nation. My proposal would simplify an unnecessarily complicated fee structure into a predictable, easy-to-understand requirement that won’t change with the seasons.
It’s a commonsense idea that has bipartisan support from legislators, constitutents, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Missouri Chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB). Despite such strong support, the bill became collateral damage of political gamesmanship and stalled in the final weeks of the legislative session.
I won’t give up on making Missouri the best state in the country to do business, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure my proposal becomes law next year. I’ll never stop fighting to provide Missouri’s business owners the predictability and transparency they need to be successful. It’s what they deserve.
