KINDER'S COMMENTARY: BIPARTISAN CONSERVATIVES TRADE IDEAS

I recently attended, along with Rep. Mary Kasten and dozens of other colleagues, a terrific meeting of conservative state lawmakers from all 50 states. The bipartisan organization that brings us together for a few days in early August is called the American Legislative Exchange Council. This year's ALEC meeting was in San Diego and featured splendid meetings, task forces, speakers and panel discussions. Also, a tremendous amount of excellent pamphlets and articles are disseminated that complement the speakers and panels. The meeting offers a chance to exchange with other state lawmakers information and innovative approaches to common problems. What follows, in an attempt to impart some of the flavor of the meeting, are some pertinent excerpts from some of these materials.

-- Wealth and poverty:

In 1960, nearly two-thirds of households in the lowest one-fifth of income distribution were headed by persons who worked. By 1991, that number had declined to around one-third, with only 11 percent of the heads of households working full-time all year. -- National Center for Policy Analysis.

-- Real welfare reform begins with addressing illegitimacy.

Lawmakers who want to tackle the problem of welfare reform must address illegitimacy, the key cause of dependence, crime and many other social problems. A three-step solution: 1. End cash subsidies to never-married women who have children out of wedlock. 2. Allow greater discretion for organizations providing aid and demand greater accountability from those receiving it. 3. Replace the current system of cash subsidies to never-married mothers with alternative forms of aid, such as fostering adoption and providing group maternity homes. -- "Addressing Illegitimacy: The Root of Real Welfare Reform," Heritage Foundation, April 1995.

-- Has New Jersey found the answer?

Three years ago, as part of its welfare reform package, New Jersey's Legislature passed a law freezing payments to mothers who have additional children on welfare. According to data from the state's Human Services Department, the number of babies born to all women on welfare dropped by 13 percent when the program took effect. -- "The End of the Baby Bonus," Governing magazine, April 1995.

-- Vacation comparison:

The average tenured federal employee receives 34 paid days of vacation (including holidays). State and local government employees receive an average of 30.9 days. Private sector employees receive an average of only 21. -- American Legislative Exchange Council, April 1995.

-- Sunset on racial preferences:

Eighty-one percent of whites and 55 percent of African-Americans believe that blacks should not receive preferential treatment of admission to colleges and universities. -- Newsweek survey, March 23-24, 1995

-- Do quotas work?

Three black business leaders ask: Is it time to set racial quotas aside? As one of them argues: "It is time for America to acknowledge that affirmative action doesn't work. There are fatal flaws in set-aside programs, which, despite all the good intentions, hope and government intervention, have produced very few positive changes. If anything, the white `backlash' to affirmative action has perpetuated the polarization of America's various ethnic groups." -- Ward Connerly, Daniel Colimon and Godfather's Pizza chief executive Hermain Cain, "Pride and Prejudice," Policy Review, Spring 1995.

-- Breaking ranks with environmental extremists:

A co-founder of Greenpeace breaks ranks with and reflects upon the environmental movement. "The eco-extremists who have taken control of the nation's leading environmental organizations must shoulder the blame for the anti-environmental backlash now taking place in the U.S. and elsewhere." -- Patrick Moore, "Hard Choices: Environmentalists and the Forests," Policy Study, April 1995, The Heartland Institute.

-- Top-heavy administration:

The New York City public school system has 250 times as many administrators as the New York Catholic school system -- 6,000 versus 24 -- even though the public schools have only four times as many students. -- The REACH Alliance, March 15, 1995.

~Peter Kinder is the associate publisher of the Southeast Missourian and a state senator from Cape Girardeau.