| Rex Sinquefield | |
|---|---|
| Born | Saint Louis, United States |
| Alma mater | St. Louis University |
| Occupation | President of Show-Me Institute |
Rex Sinquefield, 62, is a conservative businessman active in Missouri politics and philanthropic causes.
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Raised in Saint Vincent Orphanage in Saint Louis, Sinquefield received his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1972, his B.S. in 1967 from St. Louis University, where he is a member of the board of trustees, and graduated from Bishop DuBourg High School in 1962. In the 1970s, he conducted research on historical stock market returns and pioneered some of the nation's first index funds. He was the author, with Yale School of Management professor, Roger G. Ibbotson, of Stocks, Bonds, Bills and Inflation, a study of stock market returns.[1] Sinquefield was the co-founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors and was its co-chairman until his retirement in 2005.
Sinquefield founded and serves as the president of the Show-Me Institute, a public policy research organization based in St. Louis that has been labeled libertarian,[2][3][4] conservative,[5][6] and free-market.[7] Since 2003, he has served as a member of the editorial board of the Financial Analysts Journal. Sinquefield is a director of St. Vincent Orphan's Home in St. Louis, a member of the investment committee of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and a life trustee of DePaul University. He serves on the boards of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Art Museum, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. He was also the major contributor to the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis and World Chess Hall of Fame.
Mr. Sinquefield is a major financial contributor to political campaigns in Missouri politics.[8][9] He has particularly focused on supporting public school vouchers and opposing campaign contribution limits. Despite his philanthropic focus, he has been criticized for creating 100 Political action committees through which to funnel his donations, thereby bypassing legal limits on individual donations to political campaigns.[8][10][11][12] The Missouri Citizen Education Fund has contended that he has essentially 'bought' votes on issues such as campaign contribution limits and private school vouchers.[11]
On October 12, 2010, Mr. Sinquefield donated $25,000 to Rep. Timothy Jones, who was running unopposed in Missouri's 89th district.[13]
As of October 27, 2010, Mr. Sinquefield has donated $22,500 to candidate Steve Cookson, who is running for the seat in Missouri's 153rd district.[14]
Sinquefield dedicates much of his time working on improving educational opportunities for every Missouri child, regardless of social and economic background. His commitment to education recently was brought together with another longtime passion, the game of chess. In 2007, the Sinquefields founded the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, a venue where newcomers can learn the game and gurus can compete in local and national tournaments.[15] Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of the game for students, one of the key missions of the Center is to promote and grow scholastic chess programs in area schools, especially the Saint Louis Public School System.
Sinquefield is a strong proponent of education reform. On April 1, 2009, Sinquefield and W. Bevis Schock filed suit in U.S. District Court seeking to remove deed restrictions place by St. Louis Public Schools over the sale of closed buildings. The restrictions prohibited the reopening of the buildings as schools for 100 years.[16] On April 17, the St. Louis Public Schools announced it would lift the deed restrictions.[17]
Sinquefield also spent at least $800,000 [18] in a lawsuit brought by more than 250 of the state’s 523 school districts seeking more funding for education. Sinquefield’s participation as a private citizen was considered unusual because the defendant was the state of Missouri, represented by then Attorney General Jay Nixon, now Governor. On Sept. 1, 2009, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against the school district, saying that the existing state funding formula was adequate.[19]
Much of Sinquefield’s efforts in recent years have been devoted to changing tax policy throughout Missouri. He is an advocate of eliminating the state’s income tax and replacing it with a more comprehensive sales tax.[20][21]
He also is a primary financial supporter of the Let Voters Decide committee.[22] The committee successfully placed a statewide initiative on the Missouri ballot in November 2010 to make two changes in state law: Require voters in both Kansas City and St. Louis to vote on whether to keep their respective 1 percent earnings taxes, or phase them out over 10 years; and prohibit any other local government in the state from imposing an earnings tax.[23]
The Let Voters Decide Ballot Initiative became Proposition A on the 2010 November statewide ballot in Missouri.[24] Missourians passed proposition A with a large margin - 68.4% YES / 31.6% NO (1,294,911 YES votes to 598,010 NO votes).[25] Because of the passage of this initiative, if the voters in St. Louis and Kansas City vote down the City Earnings Tax, 1/3 of the two cities' operating budgets could be affected, as the revenue will no longer be collected via the earnings tax.
On January 5, 2011, a group supported by Sinquefield, Let Voters Decide, submitted nine initiative petitions to the Missouri Secretary of State calling for a repeal of the state’s income tax – with a top rate of 6 percent.[26] The petitions also call for a higher sales tax, capped at 7 percent, that would be applied to virtually any good or service transaction involving individuals.[27] The initiative will require signatures from between 146,000 and 167,000 people to be placed on the November 2012 ballot.[28]
Sinquefield and Let Voters Decide President Travis Brown say that replacing the income tax with a sales tax would help create jobs, promote economic development and make state revenue collection less volatile. [29]
Sinquefield is supporting an effort to return local control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to the City of St. Louis.[30] The police department is run by a five-person board that includes four gubernatorial appointees.[31] The system has been in place since 1861.[32]
Sinquefield donated $300,000 to “A Safer Missouri,” a group pushing for local control.[33] A Safer Missouri is endorsing state legislation in favor of local control[34], along with a ballot initiative filed with the Missouri Secretary of State, which will be pursued if the legislative efforts fail, according to a spokeswoman for A Safer Missouri. [35]
Local control has received broad support, including St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and the American Civil Liberties Union.[36]
On Feb. 22, 2011, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 71, the local measure in that body, by a vote of 109-46.[37] The measure will go to the Senate, which is also considering similar legislation, Senate Bill 23.
Sinquefield and his wife, Jeanne, and their children, donate funds to a wide variety of organizations through the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.[38] Among the areas of interest of the foundation are education, autism research, the Boy Scouts of America, Covenant House of Missouri and the arts.[39][40]
In 2009, Sinquefield and his wife, Jeanne, through the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, gave $1 million to the University of Missouri’s School of Music.[41] Those funds were used to create the New Music Initiative, an effort designed to encourage young people to become composers and to support new works of music composition. [42]