September 8, 2015
Dear Members of the Missouri State Senate and General Assembly:
We represent organizations from across the country dedicated to promoting worker freedom. Our organizations’ nonpartisan analysis shows that increasing worker freedom produces greater prosperity and growth in state economies, and we urge you to consider these benefits as you contemplate “Right to Work” in Missouri.
The data are clear: Right to Work states outperform their non-Right to Work counterparts. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Right to Work states have experienced greater job growth, population growth, and compensation growth over every significant measured amount of time. Adjusted for cost of living, workers in Right to Work states earn just as much as workers in non-Right to Work states. And union membership actually grew in many states after they passed Right to Work legislation.
Missouri is surrounded by Right to Work states and continues to lag economically. But it is not just border states benefitting at Missouri’s expense. According to IRS data, from 1992 to 2013, Missouri lost well over $3.5 billion of income to Florida, Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina – all Right to Work states.
In many of our states, citizens have been fortunate to enjoy the benefits of Right to Work, and our economies have prospered as a result. For those citizens in the states that have not yet passed this crucial reform, we continue to advocate for and explain the benefits of increasing worker freedom.
As part of this effort, many of our organizations recently participated in National Employee Freedom Week, in which we educate union workers about the freedoms available to them – how to opt out of the union entirely in Right to Work states, and how to be freed from certain dues in non-Right to Work states.
In years past, hundreds of workers across the country chose to free themselves of union obligations. Undoubtedly, there are many workers right here in Missouri who wish to be freed from union membership and all corresponding obligations. We believe every worker in America should be afforded that basic liberty.
The undersigned coalition of public policy research and grassroots advocacy organizations strongly supports Right to Work. Right to Work would mean freedom for workers, accountability for unions, and an enormous boost for the Missouri economy.
Sincerely,
Patrick Werner, Missouri State Director Americans for Prosperity
Dan Greenberg, President Advance Arkansas Institute
Caleb Crosby, President and CEO Alabama Policy Institute
Jon Russell, Director American City County Exchange
Phil Kerpen, President American Commitment
Sean Noble, President American Encore
Lisa B. Nelson, CEO American Legislative Exchange Council
Coley Jackson, President Americans for Competitive Enterprise
Richard Manning, President Americans for Limited Government
Grover Norquist, President Americans for Tax Reform
Scot Mussi, President Arizona Free Enterprise Club
John Mielke, President Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin
Colin Sharkey, Executive Vice President Association of American Educators Foundation
Justin Owen, President Beacon Center of Tennessee
Jim Waters, President Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions (Kentucky)
Rea S. Hederman Jr., Executive Vice President Buckeye Institute (Ohio)
John Stapleford, President Caesar Rodney Institute (Delaware)
Larry Sand, President California Teachers Empowerment Network
Karen England, Executive Director Capitol Resource Family Alliance
John A. Charles, Jr., President & CEO Cascade Policy Institute (Oregon)
Jeffrey Mazzella, President Center for Individual Freedom
Matt Patterson, Executive Director Center for Worker Freedom
Kim Crockett, Chief Operating Officer, EVP and General Counsel Center of the American Experiment (Minnesota)
Chuck Muth, President Citizen Outreach (Nevada)
Brian Balfour, Director of Policy Dr. Robert Luebke, Senior Policy Analyst Civitas Institute (North Carolina)
Matthew J. Brouillette, President and CEO Commonwealth Foundation (Pennsylvania)
Iain Murray, Vice President of Strategy Competitive Enterprise Institute
Dan Caldwell, Legislative and Political Director Concerned Veterans for America
Rob Roper, President Ethan Allen Institute (Vermont)
Jonathan Haines, Director Federalism In Action
Brian Minnich, Vice President Freedom Foundation (Washington)
Annette Meeks, CEO Freedom Foundation of Minnesota
Marc Short, President Freedom Partners
Andrew Clark, President Generation Opportunity
Louie Hunter, Chair Georgia Center Right Coalition
Kelly McCutchen, President Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Burly Cain, Executive Director GOAL Advocacy (New Mexico)
Wayne Hoffman, President Idaho Freedom Foundation
John Tillman, CEO Illinois Policy Institute
Don Racheter, Immediate Past Chairman Iowans for Right to Work
Sal J. Nuzzo, Vice President of Policy James Madison Institute (Florida)
Jon Sanders, Director of Regulatory Studies John Locke Foundation (North Carolina)
Charles M. Arlinghaus, President Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy (New Hampshire)
Dave Trabert, President Kansas Policy Institute
Seton Motley, President Less Government
Michael Carnuccio, President Liberty Foundation of America (Oklahoma)
Dee Hodges, President Maryland Taxpayers Association
Paul D. Craney, Executive Director Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance
Tim Jones, Chairman Missouri Club for Growth
Mary Hill, Executive Director Missouri Employment Freedom
Lew Uhler, President National Tax Limitation Committee
Pete Sepp, President National Taxpayers Union
Doug Kagan, President Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom
Victor Joecks, Executive Vice President Nevada Policy Research Institute
Chris Rogers , President New Jersey Taxpayers’ Association
Carla J. Sonntag, President and Founder New Mexico Business Coalition
Dave Bond, CEO OCPA Impact
Jonathon Small, Executive Vice President Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
Kevin P. Kane, President Pelican Institute for Public Policy (Louisiana)
Jim Vokal, CEO Platte Institute for Economic Research (Nebraska)
Don Racheter, President Public Interest Institute (Iowa)
Lori Sanders, Outreach Director & Senior Fellow R Street Institute
Mike Stenhouse, CEO Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Paul J. Gessing, President Rio Grande Foundation (New Mexico)
J. Scott Moody, CEO State Budget Solutions
Maureen Blum, President Strategic Coalitions & Initiatives
Derek Monson, Director of Public Policy Sutherland Institute (Utah)
David Williams, President Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Judson Phillips, Founder Tea Party Nation
Brooke L Rollins, President/CEO Texas Public Policy Foundation
Joseph Bast, President and CEO The Heartland Institute
Lisa B. Nelson, CEO The Jeffersonian Project
Daniel Garza, Executive Director The LIBRE Initiative F.
Vincent Vernuccio, JD, Director of Labor Policy The Mackinac Center for Public Policy (Michigan) Mike Quatrano, Director of Civic Engagement The Maine Heritage Policy Center
Amy Ridenour, Chairman The National Center for Public Policy Research
Michael W. Thompson, Chairman and President Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy (Virginia)
Carl Bearden, Executive Director United for Missouri
Rose Bogaert, Chair Wayne County Taxpayers Association (Michigan)
Rick Esenberg, President and General Counsel Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
Scott Manley, Vice President of Government Relations Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Heather Greenaway, Executive Director Workforce Fairness Institute
Carol Platt Liebau, President Yankee Institute (Connecticut)
