America has entered the new millennium on a high note with few world crises and a humming economy. But, as syndicated columnist Neal Peirce points out here, these good times may mask an inability of current governance structures-devised largely in the 19th Century-to deal with 21st Century realities. Whether it's growth, taxation, infrastructure or education, Neal argues that massive governmental overhaul is needed.
By: Neal Peirce
Entering 2000 and a new century, the 50 states of America seem on a glide path to lasting good times. Their coffers are brimming over. They enjoy virtually full employment. Satisfied constituents. Few political crises.
But are our states truly prepared for the brutal reality globalization will bring us-growing numbers of smart competitors on any continent, poised to capture our markets by providing better services or more economically priced goods?
The answer, arguably, is "no." Strong, competent state and local government services are vital to most enterprises.
But check our 50 states' antiquated local government structures. They have fragmented systems of thousands of local units-cities, townships, villages, boroughs. Many counties still elect clerks and sheriffs and perpetuate a hydra-headed commissioner form of mixed executive-legislative leadership.
We're carrying, in short, 19th century systems into a demanding cyberage. The states could demand that municipalities collaborate regionally, but they don't-even as a century of competing global regions dawns.
Or take public education, another ultimate state responsibility. We've entered a century in which human skills-not raw material, or accumulated capital, but intelligence and savvy-will assure strong economies.
But we do precious little to change lives of dysfunctional families, or to connect them with the exciting opportunities of the New Economy and its technologies. We're letting millions of our children grow up in poverty. Many urban schools suffer cataclysmic dropout rates. Even students of affluent suburban districts routinely fail to match achievement levels of peers in other advanced nations.
State and local tax structures are a tangled mess, so regressive they amplify and perpetuate the gross income differences between our classes. The sales tax, a pillar of most states' systems, may now crumble in the face of e-commerce. But if the states have a backup plan, no one's told us about it.
And then there's stewardship of our land. We've had a half century of profligate consumption of farm and open space, regions consuming new land many times faster than their population growth. For a while, even though many cities and older suburbs suffered, we had the space to absorb it all.
But now, with vehicle miles driven spiraling upward, and traffic congestion threatening to paralyze regions from coast to coast, it's clear our growth patterns are unsustainable.
That means radical policy change. Despite all the "smart growth" talk of the late 90s, only a handful of states have even tried growth management plans. Governors and state legislators remain under heavy highway lobby pressure to finance outer ring roads that will only feed sprawl and compound traffic congestion.
With good times rolling, achieving change and reform is difficult.
No governor, for example, wants to risk political hari-kari by suggesting shrinking and merging local governments. But the climate could be OK to invent or undergird regional structures (in transportation and environmental quality, for example) that work around our incredible thicket of local governments. Or state legislation that provides a set of carrots and sticks to get the communities of any region to work together more collaboratively.
In education, consensus is forming on how vital nurturing care and mental stimulation are for infants, getting them ready to learn later in school. Some progressive governors might start to shift surplus funds to early childhood initiatives. Introduce programs to reduce the "digital divide." Create inducements to get localities to integrate schools with community centers, libraries and health care.
Thinking holistically about human development would also mean stopping the prison-building boom and excessive sentences that have contributed to destroying vast numbers of families in our urban neighborhoods.
On the sales tax crisis, the time could be at hand for a mega-tradeoff-eliminating sales taxes, known to be regressive, and replacing them with new or expanded state income taxes. Hopefully these would be progressive taxes, structured to help lift more families (and children) out of poverty.
No one likes taxes; some conservatives argue government just wastes resources. Everyone should fight hard for more government efficiency. But let's face it: no community can prosper and compete without quality local services-fire protection, law enforcement, schools and water systems and others.
On growth, the premium has to be on assuring mobility of people and goods so that our metro regions can be globally competitive. States can help by insisting on more compact land use and financing backup transportation systems-rapid rail between urban centers, exclusive busways and rail within them.
Choice should be the key word. Choice in transportation, so that we're not totally dependent on autos and trucks. And choice in local development-state-subsidized visualization tools, for example, that actively engage citizens in growth decisions for their own sustainable neighborhoods and regions.
Thinking "out of the box," across subject areas, in new global economic terms--call it what you will, America's state governments face massive challenges as the century begins.
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