“Prosperity States” Give Freedom a Chance

 

By Arizona State Sen. Steve Montenegro and Nick Dranias

Shouldn’t states have at least one tool to deliver less government, less regulation and more constitutional fidelity for a local community that wants it? We certainly have enough tools that do the opposite. Cloaked with innocuous names and widely divergent purposes like stadium districts, water districts, hospital districts, theme park districts, and others, these special districts are layered on top of federal, state and county government, sometimes on top of cities and towns, and even sometimes on top of each other. Thousands exist across the US, according to the Census Bureau.

These mini-governments have one thing in common: Each one creates and sustains bigger, more intrusive and more expensive government than existed before. Each has regulatory, taxing and/or borrowing authority and not one – anywhere – delivers less government for any community.

Shouldn’t there be at least one?

Yes, says the Prosperity States Compact bill now advancing in Arizona, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Oklahoma. The bill would create something truly innovative and good on the special-district landscape: The Prosperity District.

What does a Prosperity District do? It hits the reset button on big government for any local community that wants to.

Once formed, a Prosperity District repeals within its boundaries inefficient, corrupt and just plain ridiculous regulations and governing authorities that have been layered on top of the state and federal constitutions, the common law and the criminal law. Within the district, that heap of bad public policy is replaced with a streamlined local government designed to deliver the prosperity that naturally arises from freedom and responsibility.

A Prosperity District is a local government strictly limited to protecting individual rights and furnishing user-fee supported, competitively-bidded municipal services.

There’s no eminent domain authority.

There’s no civil forfeiture authority.

There’s no taxing authority.

And there’s no power to give political handouts to cronies.

It isn’t another layer of government – it’s a voluntary, local and lower-cost solution to the hodgepodge of local governments and special districts that might otherwise occupy the same space.

Prosperity Districts wipe the slate clean above a constitutional, common law, and criminal law baseline, giving any community that wants it the state of the art in efficient, effective, and freedom-friendly public policy.

And it gets even better.

Although a Prosperity District starts by repealing and replacing burdensome state and local regulations when formed, it can eventually push back on federal regulations as well. Once a second state joins Arizona in passing the Prosperity States Compact legislation, an interstate compact will be formed. Congressional consent—usually in the form of a joint resolution signed by the President— gives the Prosperity States Compact the status of federal law and the power to override any conflicting mandate of any federal agency.

Too good to be true? Not at all.

The Prosperity States Compact uses a proven method to achieve deep reforms in an unfavorable political environment. By starting small and only in communities that voluntarily embrace them, Prosperity Districts don’t threaten established order as much as statewide or national reform. And once one takes root, the proof – economic, political, and otherwise – will be impossible to ignore.

We know this because there’s evidence across the globe. The Soviet Union fell in large part because of the example set by West Berlin. China became the economic powerhouse it is today in large part by replicating most of the economic policies of Hong Kong – a few special economic zones in four cities later grew to encompass most of the country. Even the United States itself was once a similar example to the world.

Deep reform in a small area can deliver results that are so obviously successful that the most powerful interests, adverse cultures and ideologies get swept aside in the rush to replicate the success.

With leadership from citizens and legislators, passage of the Prosperity States Compact could result in a handful of communities becoming beacons of freedom and prosperity and liberty—from the grassroots-up, rather than the top-down.

Don’t Americans deserve that chance?


Sen. Steve Montenegro represents Arizona’s 13th Legislative District and is the primary sponsor of the Prosperity States Compact bill. Nick Dranias is a constitutional scholar and president of the Compact For America Educational Foundation, Inc.

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There are 8 comments.

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  1. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Sounds exciting.

    Change without protests I hope.

    Best wishes. Keep us posted.

    • #1
  2. doulalady Member
    doulalady
    @doulalady

    Faster please.

    • #2
  3. Brian Clendinen Inactive
    Brian Clendinen
    @BrianClendinen

    Call me skeptical but because this whole pitch is just a marketing letter with little if any details of how it actually works I don’t believe it. Unless if does jurisdiction striping of individual judges including federal judges, I just don’t see it happening. Republicans have been passing conservative idea for the last two decades its the judges that [ruin] that.

    • #3
  4. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    This sounds like a good idea. After moving to Arizona from the Portland area of Oregon I was somewhat surprised to see that the Pima County Commissioners and the Tucson City Council were beginning to follow the Portland model of government. So far Arizona has been able to resist what I call the city state government model that is prevalent in Oregon. Oregon is governed by Portland, Salem, Lane County, and Metro. Phoenix and Tucson has not been able to totally dominate politics in the entire State of Arizona. Fortunately I live in Pinal County and can avoid most of the nonsense that comes out of Pima County.

    Metro is another layer of government in Washington County, Multnomah County, and Clackamas County. Metro has created an urban growth boundary that has made not only owning a home unaffordable, but has also made rents unaffordable in the Portland metro area.

    There is absolutely no relationship between the cost of housing in the tri-county area of Portland and the median income in this same area. It goes without saying that with limited property development that the property tax burden increases on those properties that have been developed.

    • #4
  5. Robert McReynolds Member
    Robert McReynolds
    @

    Senator your plan sounds good on paper. I am encouraged that you are voicing a semi-nullification doctrine, if only at the municipal level. Now start pushing this theory at the state level and force the general government to act within the bounds of the constitution as ratified.

    • #5
  6. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    You could compare with Native American groups, many of which have a type of sovereignty that makes them relatively independent of state law.

    • #6
  7. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    The Reticulator (View Comment):
    You could compare with Native American groups, many of which have a type of sovereignty that makes them relatively independent of state law.

    I should add that to support this concept, we should probably be supporting the Native people at Standing Rock in their fight against other levels of government.

    • #7
  8. Aloha Johnny Member
    Aloha Johnny
    @AlohaJohnny

    The other issue that this would deal with is the multiple vector control, water, hospital, school, junior college, etc districts that people live within and have no time or energy to deal with.  These agencies can each take just a little money, but overall add up to a big tax bite, and underfunded pension liability.

    For example, we have one of the finest Junior Colleges in California in my town.  Students come from all over the state, and frankly, the western US to attend.  Who is paying for a new bond measure for parking and buildings etc?  Local residents.    I am not saying that we shouldn’t, but not much thought is given to the fact that we are subsidizing a great education for young people from all over the state and west.

    This proposal would at least make us ponder where we spend out tax money.

    • #8
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