by Mike Ferguson

(St. Charles, MO) – Some say the nation’s economy is in recovery. Others aren’t that confident. Either way, many Missourians continue to struggle financially.

Some are unemployed and some are the working poor – working part time or employed in jobs that are below their education and skill set because that’s all the work they can find right now.

The challenges that keep someone from the job they want and need are different for each job seeker. Sometimes, it’s not a matter of skills but a matter of knowing how to market those skills. That’s often the case for veterans.

Jon Sondag is the President of AT&T Missouri* and says his company is among those looking specifically for those leaving the service. “They’re highly skilled. Today’s Army, Navy, Marines, you name it, are very technical oriented. So alot of these veterans when they come back, they already are trained on the technologies that companies like AT&T and others need.”

Sondag, on “Missouri Viewpoints”, says the technical skills aren’t the only aspects of most veterans that appeal to private sector employers. “They have leadership skills. They know the importance of working in teamwork and they’re driven to be successful.”

AT&T is among about a dozen corporations pooling recruiting resources designed to put veterans to work. It’s called the Veterans Talent Exchange and, nationally, the goal is to hire 100,000 veterans by 2020.

Making that connection between veteran and private-sector employer can be hard to so, though. That’s not because of a lack of training or experience but because, sometimes, neither understands how skills developed for battle fit into the business environment.

According to Sondag, “The jargon, the terminology that military personnel and veterans are so used to using…as they are serving the country, it doesn’t really equate to modern business.”

In other words, the skills are often there but veterans who are applying for work sometimes don’t know what they can provide the employer. As a result, the veteran may not know how to market himself or herself to the hiring manager on the resume or in the interview.

Sondag calls that a communication challenge for his recruiters. The company has developed a “Military Skills Translator” that helps both the veteran and corporate personnel better understand how to look for the right hiring fit.

That right fit, of course, is needed for Missourians of all backgrounds and that includes those who do not have a military background.

There are public sector efforts to help everyone. It’s part of the Missouri Career Centers’ mission. There are Career Centers throughout the state.

Karen Grimm manages the one in St. Peters. She says the services, which are free to use, help those who are unemployed and are also available to those who are working but simply want a better job. It’s open to basically anyone. “Anyone who is documented and legal to work in Missouri or in the United States can use our Career Center to help find employment. There is no eligibility criteria for the general help with a job search.”

Those services are available in person and online. They include resume writing help and job search resources. Grimm says many job seekers don’t realize they need help when looking for work, especially if they haven’t done that in a while.

“If you haven’t been job searching in the last five years, the game has changed. People think they know how to job search because they did it ten years ago and it’s different now.”

The way employers look at resumes, the way they list jobs and the way workers apply for those jobs are among the aspects of hiring that have changed. It’s no longer about looking for enough skilled workers; for employers, it’s about finding the right fit when it comes to skill set and personality because a bad match for a job is expensive when a new hire doesn’t work out.

Like with veterans, Grimm says many workers struggle with communicating what they have to offer an employer. Developing that basic ability can be the missing foundation for a successful job search.

“Some people come in and they really don’t know their skills. They don’t have an awareness of themselves. They’re just stunned by what’s happened to them. We can help them assess their skills, determine their likes and dislikes…and help them get a focus.”

For many, knowing how to target search and customize your presentation is what gets you past the initial screening process and into a conversation with a recruiter or hiring manager. The days of finding work by just blasting out resumes through email are likely over. Many employers now invest in narrowly targeted recruiting efforts which changes the way successful applicants approach their job search.

If you are looking for work, whether you’ve worn a military uniform or not, that means you need the right job search skills in order to get to use your workplace skills.

On the web:

AT&T veterans hiring initiative/ Veteran Talent Exchange info:

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=24131&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=36375

Missouri Career Centers:

http://www.jobs.mo.gov

* Disclosure: AT&T Missouri is a sponsor of “Missouri Viewpoints”

By Mike Ferguson

(St. Charles, MO) – It’s a marquee matchup: Legislative Republicans with a huge numerical advantage versus a Democratic Governor who won reelection just last year by a double-digit margin.

In other words, it’s the political equivalent of a heavyweight fight and it will likely decide if there are changes to the way the state government taxes your family and your business.

The annual veto session gets underway in September and both sides are gearing up for it now, waging public relations campaigns on at least one key issue: Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of the Republicans’ plan that would make sweeping changes to the state tax system.

The plan calls for reductions over time to the personal income and business income taxes while shifting dependence more to sales taxes. Nixon, in his veto message, called that approach “…an ill-conceived, fiscally irresponsible experiment that would inject far-reaching uncertainty into our economy, undermine our state’s fiscal health and jeopardize basic funding for education and vital public services.”

Legislative Republicans haven’t yet decided which vetoes they will attempt to override yet. They’ll make those decisions at a retreat in August although several key lawmakers are not being shy when talking about the likelihood of taking on the tax bill veto.

In an earlier interview for the Missouri Watchdog, House Speaker Tim Jones says the bill (formally known as HB 253) is “…in our philosophical wheelhouse…” and remains a priority for the GOP.

In a new “Missouri Viewpoints”, Republican State Representative Paul Curtman makes his case for the plan, saying the changes are both a long time coming and needed to make the state more economically competitive.

“I wouldn’t call it an experiment. I would say that we’re risking not doing anything. We [the Legislature] haven’t sent any serious tax reform to the Governor’s desk ever, really, and our current tax brackets were instituted in 1931.

“If you make nine thousand dollars [annually] in Missouri, you’re in the highest income tax bracket. But, unfortunately, if you only make nine thousand dollars you probably also qualify for a lot of government assistance. Because you’re in the highest tax bracket, our state is also going to take six percent of your income.

“So, this would have made a particular adjustment which would have lowered the income tax rate for those people from six percent to five and a half percent over the course of ten years and that would have been a good help to them.”

Curtman also likes the plan’s easing up on small business owners, especially those who report their business income on their personal tax returns. Some tax deductions are increased in the bill along with a gradual decrease of the income tax rate.

Democratic State Senator Scott Sifton says he’s open to reforms but, aside from the philosophical debates, thinks this plan should stay off the books because of language in it that actually raise some taxes.

Among the problems is language that would result in a tax increase on prescription medicines. Some estimates say that would have an impact of about $200 million mostly on Missouri’s senior citizens.

Republicans admit that is in the bill and both sides acknowledge that it’s an error that was not meant to be included. Still, bills cannot be amended during the veto session. It’s an up-or-down vote on what Nixon rejected. Republican leaders have vowed to correct the problem next year if the reforms are enacted with a veto override.

Sifton doesn’t like that uncertainty.

“I’m tremendously uncomfortable about passing a massive sales tax increase into law on the assumption that we can get something done next year.

“The reality is, and we’ve seen this in Jefferson City in recent years particularly in the Senate, this system wasn’t designed to make it easy to pass legislation…even matters of broad consensus can be very, very difficult to get through the process.  So I’d much rather see the veto be sustained and come back next year and talk about a tax policy adjustment that doesn’t include a sales tax increase for seniors who can’t afford it and, frankly, isn’t going to badly undermine our ability to fund education for the next ten years.”

A successful veto override requires 109 votes in the House and 23 in the Senate. There are more Republicans that that in both chambers. Still, Sifton is holding out hope that some Republicans break rank and agree to take another swing at tax reform next year.

“The fact is governing parties are not monolithic.

“We have routinely seen bills passed out of the house, not with 109 votes, but with more like 90 votes… There are folks in the majority and in the minority who are not going to vote the party line just because it’s the party line.”

While disagreements among Republicans have jettisoned legislation in recent years, Representative Curtman doesn’t see that happening in September.

“We’re pretty united. We have great communication. We’ve got good leadership that keeps people informed…we’re a pretty united group of people that get along very well. We communicate and we understand each other.”

On the web:

Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of HB 253 (tax reform bill): http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/pdf/2013/HB253veto.pdf

Missouri Watchdog article referenced above: http://watchdog.org/90086/missouri-income-tax-cut-battle-looms-in-veto-session/

Representative Paul Curtman (R): http://www.paulcurtman.com/#!home/mainPage

Senator Scott Sifton (D):  http://scottsifton.com/

Who Pays To Bring Some of Hollywood to Missouri?

(St. Charles, MO) – When politicians, activists and the media talk about tax credits, they’re just talking about numbers on a spreadsheet that are more of a political debate than a “real” issue, right?

Wrong.

It may be a complicated issue at times, but those on both sides of the discussion agree on one thing: any decision on tax credits impacts you.

On “Missouri Viewpoints”, Patrick Werner, the State Director for Americans for Prosperity, says “we spend $600 and sometimes $700 million dollars, cumulative, on all of those tax credits that exist [in Missouri]. And that really does impact Missourians because those are tax dollars at the end of the day.”

In simplified terms, governments want to entice economic activity to the state or to specific areas. With tax credits, they offer to not charge some taxes in exchange for that activity. That could be bringing a business here or investing in facility expansion that makes moving away less likely. It could be an incentive to add jobs to an existing business or to hire people from specific demographics like military veterans.

Occasionally, actual rebates of some costs are involved as well.

Missouri has dozens of tax credit programs and some say, as a whole, the process and use of tax credits has gotten out of hand and costs too much. Efforts to enact sweeping overhauls of the tax credit process have come up short in recent legislative sessions.

Werner thinks that’s because tax credits aren’t generally partisan; they can be local and that means lawmakers are looking out for their districts. When over 100 legislators have specific interests in individual programs, it’s difficult to find a consensus for sweeping changes.

“Because you have so many different tax credits out there, because they impact so many different districts or legislative areas across the state, coming up with a singular, comprehensive reform program has been difficult.

“I think you’d be hard pressed to walk the halls in Jefferson City and find an elected official that doesn’t think there needs to be some sort of oversight or reform as it relates to the tax credit program.”

Getting from an agreement on that concept, though, is a long way from finding agreement on a plan to make changes. Werner isn’t calling for the elimination of all tax credits but thinks they should be used more strategically and with the entire state in mind.

“If we want to get additional funds for education or roads and bridges, then we really have to take a look at what’s going to move the state forward comprehensively. What’s really going to attract new people, new jobs, new tax dollars and grow this state in a much larger fashion.

“There definitely needs to be reform and oversight…and those that aren’t working, we need to get rid of. Those that are producing true reform, true job growth, true economic impact for the state we need to keep.”

One of those tax credit programs that has been debated in recent years is the film tax credit. That one has actually gone to the political chopping block and did not survive. It expires later this year and Joni Tackette from the Missouri Motion Media Association hopes to see it revived in next year’s legislative session.

While the film tax credit has never been particularly large compared to some of the other programs on the books, Tackette says it has worked and generated jobs.

“There’s a production community that has kind of built itself around the prospect of having additional opportunities come in to work on. So, to just get rid of it is very detrimental to the production community in the state of Missouri.”

The tax credit program can be used for both feature films and for television production.

As an example of the impact of the tax credit program, Tackette refers to “Up In The Air”, a 2009 film starring George Clooney that shot several scenes in the St. Louis area. Producers of that film actually received a multi-million dollar check from the state government but she says it was worth it.

“They were awarded $4.1 million. The way they received that was they proved that they spent over twelve million dollars in our economy, in Missouri.”

According to Tackette, the money spent by Paramount Pictures wasn’t only on actor salaries and bringing in camera equipment. She says the incentive helped bring business to everything from hotel and car rentals to restaurants to office supplies and dry cleaners.

That’s the idea behind tax credits in general, supporters say. Others don’t like the idea of government picking which industries get financially supported and which do not.

Tackette thinks the Film Tax Credit should have a broader appeal and hopes it’s not looked at as a special interest.

“Unlike the amateur sporting event incentive, the film tax incentive can be used all over the state. For the amateur sporting event incentive you actually have to have a facility and be able to host an event, so there are some parts of our state that will get no part of that incentive.

“When it comes down to film, Missouri is a back lot all over the state.”

On the web:

Americans for Prosperity – Missouri: http://americansforprosperity.org/missouri/

Missouri Motion Media Association: http://www.Mommaonline.com

Common Core: Uplifting or Usurping Local Control of Education?

(St. Charles, MO) – Public education in Missouri, and throughout America, need to adapt to the constant change of technology and global competition.

Almost everyone agrees on that.

Opposition is growing to the approach many Missouri officials want to implement within our education system. It’s called Common Core standards and, depending on whom you ask, it’s either a common sense approach to delivering a better education to more children or it’s a scheme to centralize education decisions and interfere with both local control and parental involvement.

According to the website of the national coalition pushing the idea, Common Core standards “…provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them.” That national coalition includes the National Governors Association.

Right now, the standards are designed in math and English. Missouri education officials signed on to them in 2010 but the backlash is growing as the implementation is now in progress.

Proponents say the approach allows schools to focus on a more narrow set of subjects and skills, including critical thinking and problem solving, which will increase academic performance across the board. Critics say that contributes to an erosion of local control of education even though there is no specific Common Core curriculum.

They say the federal government is pushing adoption of Common Core through funding incentives and programs like “Race To The Top.”

A group called Missouri Coalition Against Common Core calls it a “…thinly veiled initiative, funded by special interests and the federal government, designed to circumvent the prohibition against the development of national education standards.”

The group says the decision by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to join 44 other states regarding Common Core, has “…signed away local control of education to outside entities.”

On “Missouri Viewpoints”, the Missouri National Education Association’s Ann Jarrett says the standards are designed to move children through the K-12 system in a way that better prepares them for what’s on the other side of graduation. “When they graduate from high school they are globally competitive, they are ready for basic college entry or for entry into careers – technical fields.”

The Missouri NEA does not have a formal position for or against Common Core standards but Jarrett says that since the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education signed on to the effort in 2010, the discussion at this point should be about how to implement it.

Part of the changes to teaching math through Common Core, according to Jarrett, include “…introducing concepts, not particular methods of solving problems, but concepts earlier. And more of a focus on how do you get to those [and] understanding those concepts deeply.”

She calls that a change from the current approach that has been referred to as “curriculums now are an inch deep and a mile wide.”

How local schools get to that goal of teaching the subject concepts, supporters say, is up to them and is not controlled by any national organization.

Dr. James Shuls is an education policy analyst for the Show Me Institute. He questions many things about Common Core including the basic premise behind it.

“If you look at all the other countries of the world, the countries that perform above us, many of them do have national standards. But so do the ones that perform below us and there’s not really any evidence that national standards will improve education outcomes.”

Shuls wants the state to consider what could be called an opposite approach; instead of centralized and top-down, one that centers around the most local of education patrons – the student’s families.

“In my mind, a much better idea is giving parents more autonomy, more ability to choose their child’s school. Through school choice, they’re going to demand rigorous standards from their school. They’re going to demand that the school does a great job educating their children and through school choice, allowing schools to customize and meet the needs of students.”

Missouri’s education policy is going in the other direction and toward implementation of Common Core standards at this point. For that reason, Shuls says it’s even more important now that parents get involved in their local school districts and question every change that’s being made in the classroom.

On the web:

Common Core State Standards Initiative: www.CoreStandards.org

Missouri National Education Association: www.MNEA.org

Show Me Institute: www.ShowMeInstitute.org

Facing Autism in Missouri

Advocacy Group Based in the Show Me State Says Everyone Has A Role

(St. Charles, MO) – It impacts an increasing number of Missouri families. That means it impacts an increasing number of communities and schools.

“It” is autism.

Autism is not a disease, even though it is something that’s diagnosed. It’s a condition that affects more than one in 100 new births right now. That number is increasing although the cause of that isn’t known yet.

While researchers continue the search for the cause of autism and the increase in our society, a Missouri-based advocacy group says it’s time for everyone else to adjust and be part of making life better for those impacted by it.

Emily Malabey and Doctor Julian Bukalski are on the board of the International Coalition for Autism and All Abilities (ICAA) and return for another discussion about autism on this week’s “Missouri Viewpoints.”

Among the parts of Missouri communities most directly impacted are public schools and Malabey in particular believes they can do a far better job educating autistic children. Part of the solutions she wants to see is full inclusion of autistic children in regular classrooms.

“Mainstreaming”, according to Malabey and Bukalski, help both the autistic child and the rest of the class. They contend that moving autistic children into special education classes with separate schedules only harms the child’s ability to be self-supporting as an adult.

In this week’s “Missouri Viewpoints”, the impact the educational approach to autism has on the children, families and neighbors of those affected by autism is discussed along with what Malabey and Bukalski hope to see from state government.

Online: www.ICAAonline.org