OK, so I was off by a point or two.
Missouri Amendment 7 — the proposed three-quarter-cent sales tax increase for transportation — lost Tuesday by a 59 to 41 percent vote margin.
The final, unofficial count was 590,963 to 407,532.
I predicted a 60-40 defeat.
What went wrong?
The problem was Kansas City. Here, in our own beloved town, “yes” voters prevailed by a count of 18,926 to 18,715 — slightly more than 200 votes.
Maybe it was because publicity about the expanded streetcar proposal (which also failed badly) overshadowed Amendment 7. Maybe it was because The Kansas City Star foolishly endorsed Amendment 7 because a majority of the editorial board was so keen on the streetcar expansion. Maybe it was because Freedom Inc. foolishly endorsed it because the Heavy Constructors Association of Greater Kansas City — part of the “concrete cartel” — leaned heavily on Freedom officials and gave them a lot of “walkin’ around money.”
Maybe Kansas City voters aren’t as smart as I thought they were.
Whoosh! And down it went.
To give you a contrast, voters in St. Louis County and St. Louis City defeated Amendment 7 by a margins of 68-32 percent and 66-33 percent respectively, and in Jackson County outside Kansas City the margin was 59 to 41 percent, mirroring the overall state ratio.
Despite the Kansas City result, I am thrilled about the outcome. Thanks very much to all of you who rallied to the cause of Missourians for Better Transportation Solutions, the St. Louis-based campaign committee that led the charge. Your response — gobbling up yard signs, buttonholing your relatives and friends and, in some cases, contributing money — had a big impact.
We were outspent about $4 million to $30,000, and yet we carved the concrete cartel — the road builders, materials suppliers and engineering companies — into little chunklets.
If they really want more money for statewide transportation projects, it’s time for them to come to the negotiating table and talk about a modest increase in the state’s gas tax, which, at 17 cents a gallon, is sixth lowest in the country.
A nine-cent gas-tax increase would raise about $300 million a year, or $3 billion over 10 years. That’s a lot of money. That’s a lot of projects. That’s a lot of jobs.
Wake up, concrete cartel members, the gig is up; a sales-tax increase is not going to happen.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Howard Jarvis lives.
I hadn’t thought about him in decades.
Wikipedia: “Howard Jarvis (September 22, 1903 – August 11, 1986) was an American businessman, lobbyist, and politician. He was an anti-tax activist responsible for passage of California’s Proposition 13 in 1978.”
Just got back from Alaska where they have no sales taxes. If I’d had more luggage I would have bought everything I wanted there.
I voted no across the board on everything. If I could have done the same thing on all of the names listed I would have done that too.
I felt like I needed to take a shower after voting. We citizens are held in such low regard by those in Jeff City and Washington
I voted a “straight ticket,” too, Jennifer. But you’ve got to hand it to Local 42 of the firefighters; they really know how to run a campaign. Amid a hail of “no” votes, they pushed through Question 1 — renewal of the city quarter-cent sales tax — very easily. their mailers were good and their oversize yard signs — “Every Second Counts” — were some of the best I’ve ever seen.
If you noticed, the proponents of Amendment 7 belatedly got firefighters into their TV ads, using the same theme — seconds mater and we don’t want bad roads keeping the EMT’s from their appointed duties. Fortunately, the voters weren’t buying that bag of shit.
This is on kcstar.com (no direct quotes from anyone, I might add)
“Proponents say they’ve explored the idea of tolls or a gasoline tax hike to raise the needed funding, but neither is politically feasible at this time. They add that unlike the gasoline tax, which can only be spent on roads and bridges, funds from the higher sales tax could be used to fund any transportation project, from mass transit to bike paths. ”
How can someone justify a sales tax but say a gas tax is ‘not feasible’? And I don’t know about you, but I don’t think you will find anyone in Jeff City or the state transportation dept advocating mass transit or bike paths–we know the loons don’t want tax dollars going to such things.
Fitz, even before Howard Jarvis (I think late 60’s, or early 70’s) there was a Lincoln dealer in North Dakota by the name of Robert McCarney who made the cover of Time magazine because of his use of initiated measures and referenda to limit taxes.
Jennifer — The sales-tax proponents have been working mightily for at least a year to brainwash the media and the public into thinking that a gas tax “is not feasible.” Why? Because they say so, that’s why, so stop asking.
Before yesterday, the last time voters were asked to approve a tax increase for transportation was 2002, when a proposal to increase the sales tax by one-half cent and the gas tax by four cents a gallon was put to a vote. It was defeated by a 3-1 ratio.
I can’t imagine asking voters to approve not one but two tax increases. Dumb, dumb, dumb. It’s time to put a reasonable plan to a vote — a nine-cent-per-gallon gas-tax increase to raise $300 million a year, which is half of what the 3/4 cent sales tax would have raised. I think that could be sold to the voters, if it came with a guarantee that sales tax increases for transportation were off the table.
By the same token gas on the Missouri side is 7 cents a gallon cheaper and many Kansans fill up in Missouri. Raise the price 9 cents a gallon and you’re now 2 cents higher and that revenue will be lost and many folks from Missouri who drive in Kansas will buy gas here. So you may lose substantial revenue.
I think we might have to take our chances on that, but it’s certainly something that would get careful consideration. I’d like to see our campaign committee leaders, Tom and Debra Shrout of St. Louis, take the lead in pulling the various interested parties together and starting to develop a plan. The Shrouts have deep experience in planning transportation programs. Tom was one of the original advocates and planners of St. Louis MetroLink.
Jim…
You were close enough in your prediction (Amendment 7) that I will call it pretty much spot-on. I was mostly happy with the results, other than Amendment 1 spoiling it. That one was so close to getting voted down and was (in my mind) just as important as Amendment 7.
It was good to see common sense prevail in the right to bear arms, and E-privacy issues. Those two questions won by a landslide as they should have.
As for raising the fuel tax, I think maybe start with a nickle and vote on raising it another nickle again in five years. Much easier to get passed, and if it gets raised on the next round you get a dime after five years instead of $0.09. Plus you stay competitive with the border states.
“Maybe Kansas City voters aren’t as smart as I thought they were.”
Sigh…I’m afraid that is exactly the case. Mainly the districts from Brookside to Downtown. It would take an essay to cover this topic, so I’m going to let this sleeping dog lie for now, but you hit the nail on the head right there, my friend!
I ran a non-partisan ticket and thought it was a little funny that one of the volunteers at that table acted a little pissy with me because I didn’t choose a side. The guy next to him (another volunteer) gave a little chuckle because he knew I had gotten under that guy’s skin a bit. When he asked me if I was republican or democrat I said “American”. Oh well, can’t please everyone!
I wanted to thank you for the yard sign…it’s probably in the dumpster at the First Baptist Church in Raytown by now!
Cheers!
Jason
The judges, who hand out the ballots, should be totally accommodating, regardless of what primary ballot a voter requests. Just tell the voters what ballots are available — Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Constitutional, issues only, etc. — and then hand over the ballot the voter requests. I did see some judges tell voters, appropriately enough, that if they took the issues-only ballot, they would not be voting on any of the candidates who were running. One lady chose an issues-only ballot, cast it and then came back a few minutes later, saying she wanted to do it over because she didn’t get to vote on the candidates. (Some of the people electioneering outside the polling place might have gotten to her.) At that point, though, it was obviously too late. Once you cast that ballot, that’s it — no do-overs.
I picked up 20 to 25 yard signs today and they’re in the recycling bin. I will hang on to the wires because I might be able to use them in a future election. (The wires add about 75 cent to the cost of each yard sign.) this is little stuff I have learned from experience.
…Your nickel/nickel idea is worthy of consideration, although I think that when you came around to ask for that second nickel, the response would be, “Enough already! We just gave you a nickel five years ago.”
It’s a delicate balancing act; we’ve got to get it right.
I still have the wire from the bad cure sign. I’ll take it to work and give it to you next time I see you.
I’ll save my wires for you.
Thanks for picking up the sign Jim! Good work all around.
You’re welcome, Leigh…A good clean-up is part of a full-service campaign operation.
The vote on all amendments went exactly as I’d hoped. A1 was a little too close for comfort. After watching the up-dates on the Sec. of State website and realizing A7 had failed, I slept like a baby that night.