American Experiment on Governance
Governance Reports
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How the Met Council Misplans the Twin Cities
How the Met Council Misplans the Twin Cities by Randal O’Toole. From the Spring 2017, Issue 7 of Thinking Minnesota....
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The Twin Cities Met Council: A Comparative Assessment
The Twin Cities Met Council: A Comparative Assessment This report is designed to give lawmakers and citizens basic information about how the Met Council compares to other large, metro area bodies bot...
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Ten Fallacies of the Thrive MSP 2040 Plan
Introduction (Read the Full Report) The Twin Cities Metropolitan Council has published a “draft for public review and comment” of the “Thrive MSP 2040” plan, which will serve as the “regiona...
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Governance Articles
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St. Paul should stop using ‘fees’ to fund street maintenance
Minnesota’s Constitution imposes some important limitations on a city’s tax power. For several years, the city of St. Paul has imposed a right-of-way assessment on all property owners to fund road...
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Editorial counterpoint: Why fight over light rail when there’s bus rapid transit?
Why fight over light rail when there's bus rapid transit? BRT is cheaper than LRT. It could actually ease congestion and, if it fails, it's less down the drain....
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Minnesota needs a Brexit from the Met Council and regionalism: Dakota County makes a move
Allow me to juxtapose two news stories. The first is a local story, a small rebellion so obscure you might not have noticed it, which signals an important shift in regional partnerships. The other is ...
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Governance Posts
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Shrimp Farm Comes to MN Despite Dropped Subsidy
Remember the subsidy for an indoor shrimp farm that was floated before being quickly sunk as word leaked out at the Minnesota Legislature this year? Our report could have been mistaken for The Oni...
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Salary Boost for Ramsey Commissioners, Tax Hike for Ramsey County
The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to pay themselves an annual salary of more than $92,000. They also decided to double the county's sales tax for public transit. ...
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My Quick Conservative Take on the Minneapolis Mayoral Candidates Debate
I attended the Minneapolis mayoral candidates debate today at the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota. The best part was the excellent questions asked by the moderators, Larry Jacobs of t...
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Governor Dayton’s Attempt to De-Fund the GOP Legislature: Troubling Tactics, Apocalyptic Prose and Fake Federalism
The governor of Minnesota has attempted to de-fund the state legislature, an equal branch of the government. Like a critical parent, Dayton dressed down GOP leaders in a dramatic letter, punctuated wi...
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Legislature Ends Special Session: News on Transportation, Met Council & Education
The Legislature concluded the special session early Friday morning, sending a flurry of budget bills to Governor Dayton. Roads and bridges will get $2 billion over 10 years in existing revenue from au...
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Governance Media
Howard Root: Five Heart-Stopping Years as a CEO on the Fed’s Hit-List (5.12.17, 50 min.) (50 min.)
Howard Root: Five Heart-Stopping Years as a CEO on the Fed’s Hit-List (5.12.17, 50 min.)...
The Twin Cities Met Council: A Comparative Assessment (Narrated PowerPoint) (09:33)
This presentation is designed to give lawmakers and citizens basic information about how the Met Council compares to other large, metro area bodies both in terms of governance structure and scope of a...