State Report NV 1: Nevada Report

Nevada Report

by Anita L. Joule

Nevada can be a fun place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. It offers ample opportunities to indulge in guns, gambling, and girls. One would think that a state with legalized gambling and prostitution would be extremely liberty oriented. This however is not the case in many areas that FSP members would be interested in.

Homeschooling Regulations

One area of concern is the hostile homeschooling regulations. For a child to be legally exempted from compulsory attendance in a government (public) school, the parent may seek a waiver of attendance by submitting a "Notification of Intent to Provide Home Instruction" form. This form must be accompanied by "evidence to the local school district that their child will be receiving appropriate instruction at home." The following criteria are considered evidence of qualification for providing "appropriate instruction."

1. A teacher, other than the parent, who possesses a NV teaching license OR;
2. The parent, when a parent qualifies for a teaching license for the grade level to be taught OR;
3. The parent, in consultation with a person who possesses a teaching license or who has provided instruction in the home for the grade level to be taught for at least three years OR;
4. The parent, when the child is enrolled in an approved (licensed by the state board) correspondence program.

Drug Laws

Another area of concern for many is the fairly strict marijuana regulations. It has been said that you can get falling down drunk, frequent the whore houses, and lose all you money in the casinos, but let them find a single marijuana seed in your ashtray and its off to jail you go.

Fortunately there has been some progress in this area. According to NORML, the decriminalization of marijuana in Nevada has begun. "The state has decriminalized marijuana to some degree. Typically, decriminalization means no prison time or criminal record for first-time possession of a small amount for personal consumption. The conduct is treated like a minor traffic violation." There has also been progress in medical marijuana legislation in Nevada. For Nevadans, "the law removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who have 'written documentation' from their physician that marijuana may alleviate his or her condition."

Even so, the fines for misdemeanor marijuana violation are fairly high and subsequent violations result in increasingly harsh fines and eventual incarceration. This however, applies only to adults, age 21 and older. Those who are under 21 years and possess less than 1 oz on their first or second offense, will be found guilty of a felony, punishable by one to four years of incarceration. Additionally, anyone found in possession of paraphernalia is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine and 6 months in jail and paraphernalia sale is a felony punishable by a fine of $5,000 and 1-4 years in jail.

Demographics

Nevada State Demographer estimates the state population at 2,066,831 indicating that Nevada's population has passed the limit originally set for our target states. Nevada's population growth over the past decade makes it the fastest growing state in the nation. Population increase estimates for 2010 would place the total statewide population at approximately 2,710,000 far exceeding our population limits for the project.

This leads to another obvious concern, employment in Nevada. As reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, Nevada ranks 33rd among the states with a jobless rate of 5.5 percent. The 1.1 percent annual job growth pitted against the projected average population growth of 2.6%. An influx of 20,000 unexpected and unforeseen new residents flooding into the state could spell disaster for Nevada as well as the FSP.

Taxation

In 1981, Nevada switched from a property-tax based system, to one based on gaming and sales taxes. But those tax revenues are highly susceptible to economic downturns -- a problem some classify as a structural defect that will result in a $1.2 billion deficit in coming years.

The Nevada Task Force on Tax Policy, created by the Legislature when the 2001 session ended without any major proposals to address the state's economic shortfall that currently sits at $270 million, is readying a recommendation that is expected to propose:

• Creating a broad-based business tax.
• Increasing the current cap on how much property tax a local government can charge.
• Expanding what's covered under the sales tax.
• Increasing "sin taxes" such as those on cigarettes and alcohol.
• Increasing certain fees businesses pay and possibly ask voters to approve a lottery.

Pro-business Nevada has a constitutional prohibition on income taxes. The state does not tax the income of its corporations or its state's citizens. A Nevada corporation is also not subject to any other hidden taxes such as franchise taxes, capital stock taxes, or inventory taxes. Sales tax applies only to products sold within the state.

Selected Taxes Common to Many of the 50 States But Not Nevada

Because Nevada has no state income tax, and because Nevada does not keep much information on their own residents or their corporations, it has steadfastly refused IRS requests for reciprocity. Most other states freely exchange all of the information they have on every resident and corporation.

Incorporation

Nevada has developed a corporate structure that is unique. Nevada began with corporate statutes based on Delaware's and then went further, establishing a corporate structure that allows investors and owners of Nevada corporations to remain completely private. Since these changes in Nevada's statutes came into effect in 1991 the number of new incorporations in Nevada has exploded.

To ensure privacy, Nevada is the only state that allows its corporations to use bearer stock certificates. It is virtually impossible to prove the ownership of a Nevada corporation handled in this manner. Since the state does not require a corporation to list with it the corporation's vice-president(s), a vice-president utilizing bearer shares can have complete control and ownership while remaining anonymous.

Health Care

Currently Nevada is experiencing a medical crisis caused by the withdrawal of the largest medical malpractice carrier from the Nevada malpractice insurance market. The company, which had covered 60 percent of the state's doctors, cited large malpractice awards. Nevada's only top-level trauma center closed for 10 days earlier this month in Las Vegas after 58 orthopedic doctors temporarily quit. Legislators are considering a number of proposals.

Nuclear Waste

President Bush formally approved Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the nation's high-level nuclear waste dump on 7/24/02, ending a 20-year political fight and shifting the battle to the courts. "Our best chance in defeating Yucca Mountain is in the federal courts, where impartial judges will hear the factual and scientific arguments as to why Yucca Mountain is not a safe place to store this nation's high-level nuclear waste," said Nevada's Republican governor. Bush hopes the move will pave the way for more nuclear energy production. Government planners have set a 2010 opening date, but the General Accounting Office has said the target cannot be met.

Conclusion

All in all, I would not rank Nevada very high as a choice for the Free State Project. There are a number of huge problems that would need to be addressed and frankly given the large percent of federal land, the projected population increases, the unemployment rate, and the nuclear waste project, not to mention the lack of water, poor soil, and extreme heat I do not believe we should waste our time with further consideration of this state.

July 28, 2002

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Free State Project, its Officers, or Directors.

The Jobs Question

The Jobs Question

by Keith Carlsen

There has been much talk about jobs and employment in the Free State Project Forum. Members and potential members have concerns about their futures. They want to know if the candidate states have jobs, will they be able to feed their families, can they retire in comfort and other questions. These are valid concerns. We all want to be able to find a job, support our family, and give to our favorite charities. We are all in the same boat. There has been much discourse on this issue but some of the fundamental parts of the equation are being left out. In the report, I hope to discuss the issues and take a closer look at each individual state for future possibilities.

The first part of this report deals with the jobs question as a whole, and the second part looks at the individual candidate states.

Part 1 – About Jobs

The goal of the Free State Project is to move 20,000 or so people to a low-populated state that leans libertarian and has inexpensive elections. Once the 20,000 or so people move to the selected state they will work to slowly reduce the size and scope of government by around 2/3. The first priority of the FSP membership should be to pick which state is easiest to turn into a Free State.

This is a noble goal and while the three factors that were mentioned in the first sentence of the previous paragraph might appear to be the most important factors, some people consider other factors to be very important. One factor that is often looked at and considered very important is the potential to find employment. This is an important concern but the employment factor needs to be broken down so that a greater understanding of it may be found.

Let us say that there will be 20,000 FSP members. (We do not know that there will be 20,000 – there may be fewer, there may be more – but this is the goal of the FSP). Roughly 20% of our membership is retired. Thus only about 16,000 members will need jobs (80% of 20,000). Some of our members are not yet retired but will be in less than ten years. Let us say that this group of members makes up roughly 5% of our total membership. That means another 1,000 members will not need to find employment in the selected state. Thus, 15,000 of our members will need to find jobs in the selected state.

Additionally, the FSP has many single members. Chances are high, that if these single members marry, they will marry other FSP members or citizens of the selected state. If the single members marry other FSP members, the only possible job-related side-effect is that some of these married couples will decide to become one-income families. This means that fewer jobs will be needed for the FSP, as a whole. If the single FSP members marry current citizens of the selected state, this can only help us, also. Either nothing will change or some of these newly married people will decide to become single-family households and this will again help the FSP out. To determine the exact numbers for these possibilities is very difficult so I will use a conservative estimate and say that this will reduce the amount of jobs needed for FSP members by 500 to 1,500. This means FSP members will only need around 14,000 jobs (15,000 – 1,000) in the selected state.

A large chunk of the FSP membership is married. The married members may be broken down into two groups. One group consists of married members where the spouses are also FSP members. The other group consists of married members where the spouses are not FSP members. The latter group may be broken down into double-income families and single-income families. Overall, the married members with FSP members as spouses and married members with single-income families should counteract the married members without FSP members as spouses and produce a wash, as far as extra needed jobs are concerned.

After spending several months on the FSP Forum and Yahoo state discussion groups, it has become apparent to me that a great deal of FSP members are self-employed. Another group of members work through the internet, as writers, through radio or the mail, for trucking companies, and other such ways so that they can live in any of the candidate states and keep their current job, or find one similar to it. Around 10% of the eventual 20,000 members fit into this group. That means a state will only need around 12,000 extra jobs (14,000 – 2,000) to accommodate every single FSP member.

There is another obvious factor that may easily be overlooked. Moving 20,000 people to a state will create many new jobs. New houses will need to be opened, new medical staff will be needed, new stores and restaurants will be needed, and more utility and transportation jobs will be needed. The levels of employment for just about every service industry will go up. By the time the move to the selected state is being completed, 1,000 to 3,000 jobs will have been created simply because of our moving to the selected state. Let us just say that we take half of these additional jobs. That means around 1,000 jobs will go to FSP members, and we will only need 11,000 total jobs (12,000 – 1,000).

Let us be honest though, and I am not trying to brag, but libertarians tend to be more highly educated and better motivated than the average America. Lots of the current American workforce do not put as much effort into their jobs as they could. We know this. Employees and employers also know this. Because unemployment rates are so low in much of the country and this problem is so widespread, most employers understand that some of their employees are not going to be motivated or hard working. This is the reality in America. Some employers have gotten very aggressive and started to seek out and recruit potential employees from Mexico and Latin American counties. I know this is happening all over my region of the county (the South), and I have heard reports of it happening in the Mountain-west, East coast, and all across the country. If our 11,000 members in need of jobs act and dress professional, work hard and honestly, and stay motivated, they will acquire jobs that are not even advertised. In other words, employers will seek to replace the parts of their workforce that are unproductive, with FSP members. In theory, we could move to a state with only a few thousand projected new jobs and find work. All we would need to do is replace some of the below-average workers with our, above-average workers. If this is the reality (and it is in any state I have ever visited), we should be able to find work in any of the states, regardless of the projected job growth.

In some states, like Delaware, Wyoming, and New Hampshire, there are well over 100,000 additional projected jobs within less than one hour of the state line. While the states around Delaware and New Hampshire have high income taxes, the states around Wyoming mostly do not. FSP members will not need to travel to neighboring states to find jobs, but it is nice to know that they are there, if people think making very high salaries is worth the extra drive. The cities nearby all three of these states offer lots of high tech jobs and jobs where telecommuting is possible. For example, someone could live in Wyoming but make $80,000 a year in Denver (or Salt Lake City) while only traveling to Denver (or Salt Lake City) three days a week. There are also progressive shifts and jobs where there is no work during the summer. A doctor can live in New Hampshire but drive to Massachusetts three times per week for 16-hour shifts. For three and a half months a year, a teacher that lives in Delaware but works in Pennsylvania would not need to go to work. Of course, even if a member decided to do this, it would only be for a few years. After a few years of reforming the laws and promoting a very strong business climate in the selected state, these same jobs will move to the selected state.

While most people that live in Mountain-western and Mid-western states prefer to drive very short distances to work, many of the people from the Northeast drive long distances everyday. For them, driving out-of-state for a very high paying job, compared to an average job just down the street, might be a good idea. For example, in South Dakota the average drive time, each way, is 16.6 minutes and it is 17.8 minutes in Wyoming. On the other hand, in Eastern states it is longer. Maine is 22.7 minutes, New Hampshire is 25.3 minutes, and Delaware is 24 minutes. These Eastern and California members are the ones that currently drive long distances to work. There is no reason to think that these members, if they want to make $80,000 per year, will not be willing to continue driving long distances to work. However, if they are OK with making only $35,000 or so, they will only have to drive around 16.6 minutes, each way, to work in a state like South Dakota.

There has even been some talk that more projected new jobs is not necessarily a good thing. We should at least consider this argument. We can make a list of advantages and disadvantages of a high-growth state and a low-growth state:

High job-growth state:

1. More jobs might mean the choice in places to live would be wider, although jobs do tend to be concentrated in larger cities.

2. More jobs might mean easier access to occupations for FSP members who are not retirees.

3. More jobs might mean the state is probably already experiencing heavy immigration, which may lead to hostility towards newcomers. Add to that a political agenda, and we may have a difficult time in the area of acceptance.

4. More jobs might mean the economy in the state is already healthy. This means FSP influence will be harder to prove in "turning things around", thus making the Free State model less attractive to other states. FSP may thus be a "one-state wonder."

5. More jobs, above the needs of FSP and Friends-of-FSP, will draw economic refugees from other states. These will dilute FSP efforts to free the states, particularly if the refugees are from nearby statist states that are exporting jobs due to poor economic policies.

6. More jobs means a fast-increasing population, so FSP may have difficulty staying on top of things, and may find itself more in a defensive role, rather than making progress in increasing freedom.

Low job-growth state:

1. Fewer jobs, especially at the lowest levels, will slow down statist immigration for the period that FSP members are immigrating to the state. This will give us time to get up-to-speed politically, and start influencing things – particularly in the area of providing other disincentives for statists to move to the state, which will be needed as FSP policies gradually improve the economic picture.

2. Fewer jobs might mean the economy is flat. Thus, we should be able to subsequently make a convincing demonstration of the benefits of freedom to the economy. This demonstration will help spread freedom to neighboring states, particularly those that are languishing.

3. Fewer jobs might mean more difficult access to occupations for FSP members who are not retired. It will take more years for all our member-population to move to the state.

4. Fewer jobs might mean that more FSP members will have to go to tech or vocation school to learn a new skill.

5. Fewer jobs might mean that some FSP members might want to travel out of state to find the very high-paying jobs that big cities offer.

To conclude this section: Much of the worrying about job is unfounded and overblown. All of the candidate states have enough jobs for us if we are productive and proactive. Remember, all we need is around 11,000 new jobs. Given all of the above, even if we had 25,000 members, all of our members would still find jobs in any of the candidate states. We are libertarians, we are motivated (otherwise we would not be activists), and we are professional. We will have 7-8 years to find a job in the selected state. All of us will be able to find jobs in the selected state. We will find jobs, we will be activists, and the project will succeed. Remember, freedom creates jobs.

Part 2 – Individual State Data

1. The Current Job Health of the States

   This factor looks at unemployment rates to compare the health of each state's current job climate. Remember that unemployment rates are subject to quick and radical change so this factor is of very limited importance. It is of importance only when the state has a long-term trend of having a high unemployment rate. In those cases, I make a special note. Anything under 4.5% is generally considered good. Percentages are current as of May 2003.

   Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
   State	SD	ND	DE	NH	WY	VT	MT	ME	ID	AK
   Unemployment Rate	3.2%	3.5%	3.7%	3.9%	4.0%	4.1%	4.2%	4.5%	5.2%1	7.3%2

   1 Idaho has been 4.6% or higher since 1978 and above 5.1% for most of that time. However, considering that Idaho is near the Northwest, it is not doing too poorly. Historically (and currently), Washington and Oregon have had higher unemployment rates than Idaho.

   2 Alaska has been 5.6% or higher since 1978 and above 8.0% for most of that time.

2. Future Job Health Level of the States

   This factor is somewhat important, but not written in stone. This number is figured by using two different government figured projections and is subject to change. It is figured by dividing the 2012 projected population by the number of new jobs expected in each state by 2010. The 2012 projected population numbers are figured by extrapolating the growth from 2000 to 2002 in each state. This factor tells how many people it will take in each state by 2012 to produce the need for one new job. The lower the number, the healthier a state's job levels are. In other words, the lower the number, the better.

   If you were to compare the states by region, the Mountain-west is best, followed by a tie between the Mid-west and Alaska, and the Northeast is last. Interestingly enough, the best big state is Montana, the best mid-sized stated is South Dakota, and the best small state is Wyoming. Idaho also does really well. All four of these states border each other. If these government projections hold up, this north Mountain-west/western plains region has a very good future job health level. All four of these states seem to be on the same page. On the other hand, in the north Northeast, Vermont and Maine are on the same downward spiral, while New Hampshire is a bright spot. At least in this one category, the northern Northeast region is not one united region.

   Future State Health Level

   Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
   State	MT	ID	SD	NH	WY	DE	AK	ND	VT	ME
   	10.2	11.4	12.8	13.4	14.3	15.0	15.2	17.4	19.0	24.5

3. Projected new jobs in the next ten years

   This is the number of new jobs projected in each state over the next ten years by the government of each state. See the first part of this report for a long list of reasons why this factor is not very important. Additionally, the government data does not figure in the under the counter businesses. For example, many house cleaning, yard work, house repair, auto repair, farm/ranch hand, and sales jobs tend to be under the counter. So, for the states with under 700,000 people, another 5,000 new jobs can likely be added to their totals (and 10,000 new jobs for the states with over 1,200,000 people).

   Generally, the way this number works is that the higher population states have more projected new jobs. So, if you want tons of projected new jobs (even though we do not need them) you are asking for a highly populated state. Instead, if you want the best chance for the success of the project (likely in the lowest population states), then not as many extra jobs will be available.

   Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
   State	ID	NH	MT	SD	DE	ME	AK	WY	VT	ND
   Projected New Jobs	158,700	109,400	92,500	61,600	61,600	56,400	47,800	36,300	34,400	34,300

   After you figure in projected new out-of-state jobs that are within an hour's drive the ranks change somewhat. The reason why the ranking changes so much is because some states like Delaware and Wyoming might have less than 100,000 projected new jobs but the areas within an hour's drive, have more than 100,000 projected new jobs. Here are some of the out-of-state cities:

   DE	Philadelphia, PA
   NH	St. Johnsbury, VT • Lowell, MA • Lawrence, MA
   ID	Spokane, WA
   WY	Scottsbluff, NE • Ft. Collins, CO • Loveland, CO
   ME	Lawrence, MA
   ND	Moorhead, MN
   SD	Sioux City, IA

4. State median household income (scaled for cost of living)

   Delaware and Wyoming are the highest. Delaware and New Hampshire have higher than average cost of livings and higher than average median household incomes. Wyoming has a lower than average household income and a lower than average cost of living. New Hampshire and South Dakota also do well. Maine, Idaho, and Montana score very low.

   Rank	1		3	4	5		7	8	9
   State	DE	WY	NH	SD	AK	ND	VT	ME	ID	MT
   Out of 10	10.0		9.4	5.6	5.0		3.9	0.6	0.0

5. Number of Activists needed to reach the 1 to 62 ratio for a population of 1,500,000

   There is another interesting way to look at this equation. If we were to go by just activists per state resident, the numbers of activists we need per state are very different. The candidate states have been chosen based on one main factor, population. Lots of Jason's original research dealt with the Parti Quebecois of Quebec, Canada. Jason, the founder and President of the Free State Project, described how the PQ had 100,000 paying members in a Canadian province with around 6,200,000 residents when it gained a parliamentary majority in 1976. This makes one PQ activist for every 62 Quebec residents. The FSP would need 20,000 activists in a state with fewer than 1,200,000 residents to attempt to duplicate the PQ's success. If you never read Jason's article or want to read it again, you can find it here. We cannot go by the 1,200,000 population number because the FSP leaders decided to include states with up to 1,500,000 people.

   This calculation is figured by dividing the 2001 Census Bureau populations by 20,000. Idaho is on pace to surpass the 1.5 million threshold by 2007. The current time frame set by the FSP is 2010.

   This factor shows how many activists will be need, as a minimum, in each state to have a major impact on the electorate. If we only need 7,000 activists in Wyoming and only 8,000 activists in Vermont, there should be no job problem in those states. Remember, as demonstrated in the first half of this report, 20,000 activists only need 11,000 new jobs. If that is true, how many jobs would 8,000 Vermont activists need? 7,000? 6,000? Surely there are more than 6,000 new projected jobs in Vermont (34,000+ is the official estimate). If you notice, the more populated states require more activists and need more jobs. While the less populated states need less activists and provide less new jobs. However, the less populated states are able to handle all 20,000 activists. Based on these numbers alone, we would be about 200% as effective in Alaska when compared to Idaho. The same 200% is true for a Wyoming vs. New Hampshire or a Vermont vs. Maine comparison.

   Rank	1	2	3		5	6	7	8	9	10
   State	WY	VT	ND	AK	SD	DE	MT	NH	ME	ID
   Activists Needed	6,952	8,174	8,459		10,088	10,615	12,059	16,789	17,155	17,613

FSP Forum link 1
FSP Forum link 2

Leveraging the Spirit of the West in NH

Leveraging the Spirit of the West in New Hampshire

by James Maynard

The people of the western states have a great spirit. The wide open lands seem to inspire a "Don't tread on me" fervor in many people west of the Mississippi, and east of California. Many western people tend to think of the east as being "back east", as if they moved from the Atlantic coast themselves just a while before landing in Wyoming, Montana or Idaho.

The western spirit has kept those states from adopting any wide-spread planning and zoning laws, or other regulations which stifles the freedom to ride the lands, reveling in a "don't fence me in" attitude which is greatly admired by many in the east.

As the Free State Project chooses our state, we realize that no state is perfect, and every state needs work to bring greater freedom and liberty to the people of our chosen state.

But we need to look at what battles we will have to fight in each state, and what kind of access we will have as we work together in the trenches of the political machinery of our chosen state.

If any continental western state is chosen, we will need to repeal either a sales or income tax. That would mean making changes at the state level, which would require FSP members to either gain control or influence in the state legislature and governor's office. We would be able to do it eventually, but there would be many fights and elections to get through before we have the power to change such a deeply entrenched state law. Meanwhile, the porcupines would be fought tooth and nail by big government activists (which exist in every state), who would give everyone they could the impression that we were out to hurt the elderly, children and the disabled. They would have an issue almost custom made for big government activists. And since it would take us years to get enough people or influence in the statehouse to repeal such a broad-based tax, the big-government activists would get to strike first.

But New Hampshire is the last state in the continental US without a general sales or income tax. The issues we would need to work on early in the Granite State would be eliminating planning and zoning (P&Z) laws, and reducing home schooling regulations. Exactly what the "spirit of the west" is so good at keeping at bay.

Most New Hampshire P&Z laws are regulated at the local level, where we can have the greatest influence in the shortest amount of time. In New Hampshire cities, people are allowed to sit in at committee and City Council meetings, and can speak and suggest ideas – which are taken seriously – just by raising their hands. Also, New Hampshire offers elections in the towns, and warrant articles in the cities every spring. With only 30 votes in Keene, for instance, one can place an issue on the ballot, which the whole city then votes on.

New Hampshire towns still use the old fashioned New England town meeting, where the citizens themselves work on what the town should be doing or not doing, and on details of the town's budget for the next year. The citizen participation and influence at these meetings is the closest thing to true democracy which exists in the country today.

Governor Benson, in a June meeting with Free State Project members, told the group that increasing school choice will be one of the next things he begins work on. For people wishing to decrease home-schooling regulations in the state, they will find an ally in New Hampshire's Governor's office.

Every time anyone tries to make a change in the political system, there will be those who will oppose them; and the changes the FSP proposes will be no exception, no matter what state we choose. But the potential supporter base for supporting P&Z laws and home schooling regulations will be much smaller than those people who will be scared by the thought of their state government losing a significant portion of its revenue. Unfriendly media will get much more mileage out of "Libertarian activists wish to slice government revenue by 30%" than they will with "Libertarian activists wish to end zoning laws".

And given the easy access for citizens in towns compared to states, we will be the ones who get to "strike first" in our P&Z fight.

And in the other issue which needs to be changed first at the state level in New Hampshire (home schooling regulations), we will have the most powerful person in the state on our side.

The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire has done an admirable job at helping to keep a general sales or income tax from taking root in New Hampshire. But part of the cost of that has been a slow creeping of zoning laws and home schooling regulations, although 10% of New Hampshire municipalities have no such laws. This is where New Hampshire needs people who believe in the "spirit of the west".

With people who have lived with the "spirit of the west", who believe in the phrase "Don't fence me in", the current P&Z laws in New Hampshire cities and towns do not have long left to exist on the books. With help from above and below, home schooling regulations in the state will quickly be squeezed in the middle.

No matter which state we choose, we will have a fight ahead of us. But working for greater liberty in the areas of zoning and home schooling will prove easier than a fight against a broad-based tax, and will allow us an instant say in how changes are made, without having to win office first. The issues which big-government forces will have to use against will also prove much weaker in the case of New Hampshire than in a western state.

New Hampshire – Where the fight is easier, faster and leaves our opponents the least effective tools to use against us. In New Hampshire, we can leverage the western strengths to tremendous advantage. But we need the "spirit of the west" to help us win.

State Report MT 1: Montana Report

Montana Report

by Ben Irvin

A few days ago on one of the FSP discussion groups I mentioned that in 56 years (almost 57 years) I have lived (for sixty days or more) in 89 communities in every state between the Hundredth Meridian and the Sierra Nevada Mountains (except Nebraska and North Dakota). As a teenager I was interested in freedom and in seeking a place and way for achieving it. As early as 1962 I researched the advantages of secession. Thus, my interest in things relating to the primary goal of the Free State Project is long-standing. I have given, over the past forty years, considerable thought to the subject.

My years of contemplation and research have led me to a conclusion about which state is most amenable to the Jeffersonian concepts of independence, limited government, and liberty. That state would be Montana. Indeed, if freedom alone is the primary objective, no other state comes close.

My choice of Montana is not based so much on collected statistical data as on subjective reality (Transcendentalism Lives!). Since my childhood I have been in and out of Montana many times (living in other states). I currently - for the past two years - have lived in Idaho. One thing that I and freedom loving Montanans notice when forced to live away from Montana is the much higher level of statism, coercion (governmental and social), regulation, etc. that exists in other states. In some states the heavy hand of government is more pronounced (WA, OR, TX, KS, CA). In other states not so much (NV, ID, and WY). However, in all states the degree of liberty seems much less than in Montana. Most Montanans that move away mention this reduction of liberty ("We have to behave here; for, we're not in Montana any more, etc.). I've noticed that even my use of language seems restricted outside of Montana.

Liberty Indicators:

• Small Police Force

  One thing that visitors notice when visiting is the unusually low number of visible police cars. Indeed it is possible to drive completely through the state (all 800+ miles) and never see a policeman. In fact, Montana does not have a state police force, but rather a highway patrol. Ten years ago I was a good friend of one of the state's few highway patrol officers. I asked him how many officers were on duty at any time. He responded that at maximum there are 108 officers and at minimum 42 officers on duty at any time. Remember, Montana is larger in square miles than Germany. County and city law enforcement numbers are also low. In Ravalli County (seventh largest in population) there are at times only three sheriff's deputies on duty. Montana Highway Patrol officers are trained to serve and protect the public and little else.

• Socio-Cultural Background

  About 10% of Montana's population is American Indian. The primary tribes (those with national homelands) are: Atsina (Gros Ventre), Chippewa, Blackfeet, Crow, Cree, Dakota, Assiniboine, Northern Cheyenne, Salish, and Kutenai. All of the states tribes have declared sovereignty from Montana and are fiercely independent (they acknowledge no Montana laws and few federal). Many non-Indians prefer to live on Indian land (12% of Montana) because of this almost total lack of restrictive rules, taxes, regulation,etc. Montana also has a very large French and Metis (French-Indian) population. Most of the French population are the descendents of mountain men and fur traders from the early 19th Century. They also tend to be independent in behavior. Probably Montana's single largest ethnic group is the Irish. They first came to the state to pan for gold and later to work in the copper mines of Butte. Little needs to be said about the frontier Irish and an independent nature. All three primary ethnic groups are enculturated to individualism and liberty ... all are free spirits.

• Isolation

  About thirty years ago there was a popular book (in Montana at least) entitled Montana: A Two Lane Highway in a Four Lane World." Many thought the book amusing in the way that it portrayed the so-called backward and country ways/manners of Montana and Montanans. What was most illuminating about the book were the ways Montanans did most things differently than the rest of America (more about that later): no speed limits or anti-prostitution law enforcement, little liquor or gambling control, active gun culture, no sales tax, no pornography regulation, no "open container" laws or anti-nudity ordinances (seldom enforced), etc. The book made the case that because of Montana's isolation, the frontier values of 1889 and before had become part and parcel of Montana's political and cultural climate. In other words, the raw individualism and spirit of liberty of the men and women that settled and tamed Montana (somewhat) are still a living entity in the Montana of 1972 (and today).

  Montana's isolation has caused the state to be more self-sufficient than most. The state has its own private television network (The Montana Television Network-MTN), canning factories (Redlodge Brands, etc.), railroads (Montana Rail Link, + Butte, Anaconda and Pacific, etc.), truck farming regions, independent telephone companies (about 50), refineries and steel factories, etc. The state is set up to survive with or without the rest of America.

• Other Freedom Indicators

  There are numerous other freedom indicators. One should remember that libertarian philosophy is not always an exact match with freedom as experienced by an individual. One such freedom is Montana's constitutional mandate that the state owns all water within the borders of Montana (up to the high water mark). This constitutional law is unique. In effect it allows anyone to hunt, fish, camp, target practice, live, hike, explode fire-crackers, etc. on any river, stream, creek, or brook in the state below the high water mark. Anyone that has tried to fish, hunt, etc. in say Colorado knows the value of such a law.

  Montana's 1972 Constitution allows counties and local government to be creative. Both counties and cities may be easily altered or abolished. About twenty years ago, all the towns and cities in Silver Bowl County (Butte) eradicated (unincorporated) themselves. All city governments, police forces, fire departments, etc. were abolished in the county. A new Silver Bowl County government was established that saves the taxpayers millions of dollars each year. Montana makes it very difficult for rural areas to be annexed by incorporated cities/towns, for a majority of the citizens must agree to be annexed . The state makes incorporating (cities and towns) very unrewarding. Once incorporated you do not get any money from the state or county ... a town is on its own. As recently as 1992, the fourth largest urban community in the state (Billings Heights) was unincorporated. Anyone that has ever driven through either rural or urban Montana can sense the almost total lack of zoning ordinances. People build what they want, where they want, on their own property.

  Members of the Free State Project should notice how the state treats it 57 Hutterite communities. Hutterites are a communal ethnic group that has frozen its social and religious culture in the rural 16th Century German-Tyrolean culture of its origin. Hutterites are a pure communist society that has a unique religion and speaks in an archaic German dialect. The culture refuses to acknowledge the state or to vote or serve in the military in any capacity. Traditionally they have refused to send any of their children to public schools. Each Hutterite community buys large land tracks and expands every 20-25 years (they have a very high birth rate). Although their social culture is frozen in time, their technical culture demands the most modern equipment available. Many consider them the most efficient farmers in the world. Because of their unusual culture and life-style, most states and provinces have legislated against them. They have been "outlawed" in North Dakota, and severe restrictions have been placed on them in South Dakota, Alberta, and elsewhere. Only Montana has made a successful accommodation with them ("The Hutterite Act" of 1956). Under the compromise, Hutterites may buy all the land they want, live communally, and live their own culture without any interference from Montana. Their only compromise was in education. All Hutterite children (from age 7-14) must attend Montana public schools. However, all schools may be at the principle church building (in a colony), and all the children (100%) may be Hutterite. In addition, the school board was allowed be all Hutterite and a third of the instruction could be whatever the Hutterite desire. The agreement allowed the colonies to select the teacher (who is not permitted to reside in the colony). The Hutterite are also exempted from serving in the Militia of Montana. Because of this agreement, almost all new colonies started since 1960 are in Montana. Because of their high birth rate, archaic Tyrolean-German has become the third most common language used by Montanans (Crow is second) under eighteen years of age.

  For many years a few large corporations owned most of the private land in the state. Because of this the state has placed severe restrictions on giant corporations and has designed legislation that helps small businesses. An example of this would be the gambling laws. To keep large Las Vegas type corporations away from the state, Montana puts a limit of 25 gambling machines per private company (usually Keno or poker machines). Anyone that has a beer, wine, or hard liquor permit may establish a casino. Anyone with $250.00 can get a beer permit (no limits). A gambling permit also costs $250.00. The cost of the permit is used to pay private machine inspectors that check every thirty days to make sure the machines are paying off at the listed rate (80%). Because service stations like Conoco are individually owned, they (Conoco) have become the largest casino name in the state. At least half of all gasoline stations are casinos. It should be noted that an individual might own an unlimited amount of (limited to 25 machines per location) casinos.

  The Constitution of Montana is stronger than the interpreted U.S. Constitution in regards to privacy rights. A man's home is his castle. The State Supreme Court has ruled (on several occasions) that a person's vehicle is considered one's home. Thus, probable cause or a search warrant must be used to search an automobile. A few years ago the Missoula city police thought that a new "cash cow" would be to check for drunk drivers exiting from "tail-gate parties" at University of Montana football games. This lasted for only one weekend before a state judge ruled that such police actions were in violation of the Montana Constitution. The state has no "open container" laws. Indeed, many Montanans build elaborate bars on the dash area of their vehicles.

  Restrictions on freedom are not limited to government. Social-cultural limitations on lived freedom are often as severe as anything that government might impose. On paper, Utah has a high level of liberty; however, in practice, Utah is very restrictive on personal freedom. An example would be the recent news story about a suburban Utah lady who worked in her garden every day clad only in a very revealing Bikini. Local socio-cultural traditions forced the local city government to prohibit her from dressing in a Bikini.

  This would never happen in Montana. Many former out-of-state people (now long-time residence of Montana) mention this freedom from conservative values that exists in Montana. Try wearing your Colt .45's when entering a saloon in Colorado (or Kansas, etc.). This is common in Montana; for, the spirit of the old West (closely related to the spirit of 1776) still lives in the "Big Sky." Try taking your children with you to a casino in Nevada. In Montana, not only are children welcomed in casinos, they can bring you your whiskey ditch to drink. Before July 1, 1993 it was legal for a ten year old to enter a hard liquor bar/casino and order and smoke a pack of cigarettes. The law was only changed because of Federal pressure (Montana was the 50th state to establish an age limit on the purchase of tobacco products). Montana law also makes it illegal for police to arrest a publicly intoxicated person unless that person's health is in immediate danger or the person is breaking the law. A famous business in Missoula (Montana's second largest city) is called "The Joint Effort." Last year the FBI and DEA tried to get the city of Missoula to deny the business a business license and close it down. The city told the Feds to back off and stop interfering with private businesses and with regulations that are solely the concern of state or local governments (thus far, the feds have done what they were told).

  The state constitution is very strong in free speech/press rights. I have read several times that Montana is one of only four states (I don't know the other three) that has total freedom of speech and press. The state also prohibits local governments from interfering with freedom of speech and press. Out-of-staters that enter an adult bookstore are always shocked. Any and all sexual acts imaginable with man or beast are for purchase. A decade ago I was the head administrator for a school in northern Idaho (a much different cultural realm than Montana). The high school 4-H club had a conference to attend in southeastern Idaho. It was easiest to get to the conference by driving through western Montana. At Missoula, Montana the bus broke down and all the students had to spend a night in a local motel that just happened to be across the street from a typical Montana Adult bookstore and recreation center. Some of the students managed to sneak away from the chaperons and get into the adult center. They are still talking about this in that small community in northern Idaho. It seems, that some students saw a whole new world that was and is unimaginable in Idaho (or most of America). There were two special school board meetings called to discus the "sin" Idaho teenagers had been exposed to. However, I did notice, as time moved on, that a higher than average number of our students decided to attend colleges in Montana.

  Montana is the place of choice for anti-socials to retreat. The Unabomber, the Freemen, Peter Fonda, etc. all selected the state to become hidden. Because of Montana's reputation and laws the feds usually treat Montana and Montanans with knit gloves (compared to other states). In 1996 a group of "Freemen" were surrounded in a remote area of eastern Montana. The feds, apparently either fearful of Montana's laws (it is illegal under the state constitution for any armed band of people to enter the state without the permission of the legislature or governor) or people, the FBI requested that the Montana Highway Patrol and the Governor be in charge of surrounding and arresting the Freeman. Governor Raicott agreed, but later billed the FBI 4.8 million dollars. During the siege (that went on for weeks) a federal agent was never seen on TV. Of course, the Montana Highway Patrol arrested all 24 people without a shot being fired. Compare this with Waco and the way the FBI treated Texans, Texas law, and Texas law enforcement officials. The "Gestapo" behaves in Montana.

In summary, experienced or real freedom is higher in Montana than any other state. Not only is the heavy hand of government noticed less in Montana, the heavy hand of conservative social morality is at a lower level than any other state. One can dump a broken down 1958 Studebaker in the front yard and sit on it everyday in one's underwear drinking beer, wearing a holstered .45 auto, and make obscene gestures at traffic passing by in the largest city in Montana and not get arrested (unless, of course, one throws beer bottles or shoots at the passing vehicles). If freedom is the primary objective of the Free State Project, then Montana is the best place to locate. It is the place Thomas Jefferson would live in if he were alive.

July 24, 2002

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Free State Project, its Officers, or Directors.

State Report ID 1: Idaho Report

Idaho Report

by Phyllis Schatz

With an area of 83,557 square miles, Idaho is in many ways three states. Northern Idaho, extending to the Canadian border, is heavily forested and heavily dependent on the lumber industry. The residents are fiercely independent and view even Southwestern Idaho residents with suspicion. For big city amenities, residents look to Spokane, Washington. Southwestern Idaho contains the state capitol, agriculture and electronics. Southeastern Idaho is largely agricultural, with a growing electronics industry.

It may well be, as some have suggested, that Idaho would be a good compromise between wide open spaces and city life. As an 18-yr. resident of Idaho, I hesitate to recommend for or against it as the free state. I did not know the term libertarian until 1996, but I would say it adequately describes the majority of people in Idaho (although most of them either do not know the term or equate it with anarchy and lawlessness). Idahoans are friendly, and enjoy a casual life style. The general mood of the people in Idaho - as I see it - is divided between "Just leave me alone and let me run my life and raise my children as I see fit"(the majority) and "We have to pass laws to get Idaho back to good Christian morals" (a very noisy minority).

In my part of the state (Boise), it seems that cops are everywhere, but I have found them to be friendly and helpful (although my friends in the 18-25 age bracket have a different impression). When I was in an accident with no personal injury but total destruction of my car, the investigating officer drove me home. It is their policy that you are not stopped for speeding unless going at least 10 miles over the speed limit (yes, even where the limit is 20mph). The police also seem reluctant to enforce the seat belt law. Official policy is to not stop for seat belt violation unless there is another traffic violation. In my personal experience, they don't even ticket then. Recently, the officer investigating a minor accident for which he gave me a ticket, when asking me if I was wearing my seat belt, was nodding his head, to indicate that I should say yes.

I know that each of us is primarily interested in the prognosis for success of the FSP. Unfortunately, statistical analysis cannot answer this complex question for us. One very important element in the project is - what will it take to inspire 20,000 freedom-loving people not only to move to one state, but also to persevere when the going gets tough. This can often depend on things like climate and entertainment opportunities.

For those of you who are interested in the weather, I would describe the climate as moderate, although it varies from one part of the state to another and from year to year. Here in the Treasure Valley (the largest population center - Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, Eagle, Star & Kuna) we enjoy summertime temperatures in the 80s and 90s during the day, cooling off to the 40s - 60s at night. Winter temperatures are normally above freezing in the daytime, although subzero is not unknown. If you like snow, you will have to go to the higher elevations. When we do get snow in the valley (which doesn't happen every year), it usually disappears by noon. If you are looking for more rugged weather, there is plenty of that at the higher elevations of the north, central and southeast parts of the state.

Idaho is not subject to hurricanes or tornadoes. Earthquakes are rare and mild. Our major natural disasters are thunderstorms and forest fires (sometimes related).

For summer recreation in the Boise area, there is the Greenbelt - a path along the Boise River, maintained by the park department heavily used by walkers, bicyclists and roller skaters. In July it is traditional to float the Boise River on inner tubes (a good way to have fun without spending money). For the more daring, there are white-water commercial raft trips on the Snake River. In the winter, you can ski at nearby Bogus Basin, or drive a little further to the famous Sun Valley ski resort. Did I mention we also have some of the finest hunting and fishing in the country?

There are many gun enthusiasts in the state, and their rights are guaranteed by the State Constitution: "No law shall impose licensure, registration or special taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms or ammunition. Nor shall any law permit the confiscation of firearms, except those actually used in the commission of a felony." [ID state constitution, Article I, sec. 11]

For the less athletically inclined, summer brings "Alive after Five" every Wednesday evening, and "First Thursday", both featuring (free) live musical entertainment and a variety of food, in downtown Boise. First Thursday is, of course, the first Thursday evening of each month during agreeable weather, and features a stroll through the art galleries. The last week of June, we have the "Boise River Festival" sponsored by local merchants and free to the public - with several features especially for children. There is also Jazz at the winery and Shakespeare under the Stars, as the usual array of performances found in any metropolitan area of any size.

I hesitate to describe the political climate because it is currently in a state of turmoil. The state legislature, composed of a Senate and House of Representatives is dominated by Republicans. This is somewhat deceptive, however, since politicians have learned that if they want to win an election, they need to call themselves Republican regardless of their political philosophy. A candidate does not need the endorsement of the party in order to file under that banner. Voters do not state a party affiliation upon registering. Primary elections are open to all registered voters, who then vote in whichever single primary they choose for that election. Under present circumstances, most voters vote the Republican Primary, regardless of party affiliation. In May 2002, for the first time in Idaho history, there were three parties in the primary: Republican, Democrat, and Libertarian. Many Libertarians voted Republican, since most Libertarian candidates ran unopposed in the primary.

Anything can happen in this fall's elections, including Libertarian victories. The Libertarian Party of Idaho has shown a 29% increase in membership since May of this year (from 117 to 151). The bad news is - there is serious dissension within the party at this point. The good news is - there is also serious dissension within the state Republican Party. Voters are fuming at the action of the Republican majority in repealing a term limits law that was passed by initiative and was approved by the voters on three occasions. A minority of the Republicans are with the voters on the issue of arrogance of the legislators.

A Party can gain ballot status by obtaining signatures equal to 2% of the votes cast for presidential electors at the last general election. Thereafter status can be maintained by one of two methods: 1) having three or more candidates for state or national office listed on the ballot at the last general election; 2) polling for one of it's candidates at least 3% of the aggregate vote for governor or presidential electors. The Libertarian Party has been on the ballot since 1976.

One very real disadvantage of Idaho as the free state is that the state constitution speaks against secession: "SECTION 3. STATE INSEPARABLE PART OF UNION. The state of Idaho is an inseparable part of the American Union, and the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land." This is not a fatal flaw, since Constitutions can be amended.

In summary: I believe the prognosis for Idaho as the free state cannot be clearly seen at this time. The present political climate is turbulent and can see dramatic changes for better or for worse in the elections of 2002. I will issue updates on the health of the IDLP as they become available.

August 5, 2002

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Free State Project, its Officers, or Directors.