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Issue: 1243 Date: 6/19/2014
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Nixon Vetoes Bills That Would Have Cut State, Local Revenue By $776 Million A Year |
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| Jay Nixon |
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Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon followed through with his earlier threat by vetoing on Wednesday 10 bills passed during the last day of the legislative session. The bills set up special tax breaks for a variety of businesses, from restaurants to data centers.
Nixon's budget office calculated that the measures would cost state and local governments as much as $776 million a year in lost revenue. The governor also noted that the $425 million in state tax cuts had not been accounted for in the state budget - also approved by the General Assembly - for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
At his news conference, the governor jabbed at the Republican-led General Assembly by noting the tax-cut package that legislators have put in place over his veto and the proposed transportation sales tax slated for the Aug. 5 ballot. He opposes the sales tax proposal.
"Perhaps most troubling is the way the General Assembly is carving out special sales tax breaks for a select few, while pushing a $6.1 billion sales tax hike on all Missourians," Nixon said. "Passing secret, sweetheart deals so that the well connected can pay less, while asking all Missourians to pay more, reflects priorities that are dangerously out of whack."
House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, was critical of Nixon's move and promised to try to resurrect these bills during the veto session in September:
"I am disappointed but not surprised that the governor has once again stood in the way of providing tax relief to Missouri families and businesses," said Jones in a statement. "By vetoing these bills he has reemphasized the fact that the focus of his tax and spend administration is on growing the size of government rather than growing our economy."
Dan Mehan, president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, was among those blasting the governor's actions and calling on legislators to overrule him during the September veto session.
"What we are seeing is a roadblock mentality. Throughout this past session, the governor refused to engage in the legislative process. Now, when he has the opportunity to sign bills that will help our economy, he has chosen instead to use his veto as an impediment to growth," Mehan said. "We hope our friends in the legislature will see through the distortions in the governor's veto letter, which are built on flawed calculations and philosophically hollow assumptions. Fortunately, another route is available. Let's use the legislature's override power to finish our job and put Missouri's economy on the road to growth."
In his veto letter, Nixon asserted, "Rushed through with little debate in the final hours of the legislative session, these special breaks and exemptions for a handful of special interests are the result of a deeply flawed process and a fundamentally misguided approach to tax policy. Many of the most costly provisions were slipped into bills without a public hearing or even a fiscal note, and none of these giveaways were accounted for in the budget the legislature sent to my desk or in the local budgets of the jurisdictions they would impact."
His office explained, "The provisions include special breaks for fast food restaurants, personal seat licenses, commercial dry cleaners and laundries, data storage and processing, certain used vehicles, farmers' markets and fitness centers."
Said Nixon: "These special carve outs and loopholes would undermine local public services and flout the will of voters by eroding revenues that support services like firefighters and cops, libraries and ambulance services, snow plows and health inspectors, public transit and road repair.
"From storm water management in West Plains to fire protection in Webster Groves, voters in communities across Missouri have come together to pass local sales taxes to support local public services and capital improvements. These special breaks passed by the General Assembly would siphon these voter-approved resources away from their intended purpose and into the pockets of the well-connected."
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