Mo. GOP accuse Nixon of not doing homework on Weaver Dickerson

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - After the Stoddard County Prosecuting attorney is published saying the Department of Economic development isn't cooperating, the Missouri Republican party accused Governor Jay Nixon of protecting a felon.

The Southeast Missourian published an article saying after 8 months there has been no progress on the Weaver Dickerson case - involving 2 million dollars to a proposed medical facility.

According to the Stoddard County Prosecuting Attourney Nixon's Department of Economic Development didn't give the material he needed to continue the case.

Dickerson was the proposed CEO of potential Medical Facility in Cape Girardeau.

He was found to have lied about his criminal record a week after Governor Nixon announced the 2 million in funding for the project.

The Missouri Republican Party claims Governor Nixon could have prevented this- and other economic development failures like Mamtek - if he would have just done his homework.

Ashley Massow, Missouri Digital News

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Nixon urges lawmakers to wrap up special session

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCUR) - Missouri governor Jay Nixon reiterated his push today for lawmakers to wrap up their more than three week Special session that’s cost tax payers more than $100,000 dollars.

"You know it’s just time for the house and senate to resolve their differences and get a fisc responsible bill to my desk, or bring the special session to a close,” the governor said.

Nixon also said he’s taking a double look at the revised social networking bill lawmakers recently passed. It overturns a previously enacted law limiting teacher interaction with students through online forums like Facebook … but lawmakers added a clause to the new bill requiring schools to come up with their own policies on such matters.

"I’m not taking a double look at it to try to figure out when to sign it or not sign it, that’s not releveant, it’s just making sure that having an individual school district do a narrower type of policy is an acceptable alternative here," Nixon said.

Nixon spoke in Kansas City Thursday, touting a new $20 million dollar federal grant the state recently got to bring new health service training opportunities to thousands of underemployed residents throughout the state.

Elana Gordon, KCUR

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Nixon defends withholds from 2012

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Governor Jay Nixon is defending his decision to withhold more than $170 million from Missouri’s 2012 budget, despite a state lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.

Before the start of the current budget year, the Democrat announced that his administration would withhold funds from more than 40 state programs, partially to help pay for disaster relief.

State auditor Tom Schweich, a Republican, filed suit, saying that the governor can only do so if revenue is coming in below projections.

Speaking after a ribbon cutting in north St. Louis County, Nixon called such withholdings a common practice.

"Spending your accounts to zero is not the way to start a fiscally prudent year," Nixon said. "In order to have the resources to meet the obligations we have, me and governors over the last 40 years have done the exact same thing."

Nixon said he reached the $170 million figure by cutting out revenue that lawmakers included but never passed legislation to collect.

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio

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Nixon wants to move nonviolent offenders to treatment centers, probation

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - Members of Missouri's executive, legislative and judicial branches are teaming up on a new project aimed at keeping nonviolent offenders out of prison.

Governor Jay Nixon and other top officials announced a plan they say will help reduce the costs of running the state's prisons.

A new bipartisan group is now looking for ways to put the state's nonviolent offenders in treatment centers and probation programs in order to keep them out of prison.

Nixon says similiar policies in Kansas, Arkansas and Kentucky have saved those states money.

"While the simple act of a crime and the simple act of a life might be one act at one point, this is a very complex social issue," Nixon says.

Nixon says he hopes proposed legislation will be ready this winter.

Elizabeth Hagedorn, Missouri Digital News

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Mo. Senate Appropriates Chair says Nixon's disaster spending is unconstitutional

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - The Senate appropriations chair says Governor Jay Nixon's natural disaster spending is unconstitutional.

Central Republican Kurt Schaefer agrees with the state auditor that Nixon's funding of natural disaster relief violates the Missouri constitution.

He says there's no basis for Nixon's spending on disaster recovery without approval of the state legislature.

"The basis of withholding money on public education, on the concept that we have to spend it somewhere else--on natural disasters, for example--there's nothing that backs that up," Schaefer says.

The state auditor's office previously released a statement condemning Nixon's spending.

A spokesman at the Governor's office refused to be recorded.

Scott Kanowsky, Missouri Digital News

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Schweich sharply critical of budget withholdings for disasters

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - A new report from the Missouri state auditor says Gov. Jay Nixon did not follow the Missouri Constitution when he withheld $170 million from the current budget to help fund disaster relief.

Auditor Tom Schweich says withholdings can only be made if actual revenues come in below what’s estimated. That wasn’t possible in this case because the fiscal year hadn’t even started.

Schweich also said his office was "startled" by the fact that Nixon’s office could not demonstrate how it reached the 170 million number.

"We would have expected spreadsheets, estimates, projections, comparative scenarios of possible revenue," Schweich says. "We would have expected the typical things any auditor would expect."

Schweich says the governor should have worked with lawmakers instead of taking unilateral action.

"There’s a supplemental budget coming up, there are future fiscal years coming up, those budgets can account for Joplin," Schweich says. "And also there’s a rainy day fund with $500 million in it that’s never one time been tapped for disasters. Now if there was ever a rainy day, it’s what happened in Joplin."

In a statement, Nixon spokesman Scott Holste called the auditor’s letter “wrong,” and said the withholdings are a further example of Nixon’s fiscal responsibility.

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio

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Nixon promises more funding for public education

COLUMBIA, MO (KBIA) - Governor Jay Nixon promised Missouri educators Tuesday he would devote his efforts toward developing quality public schooling. Speaking at a conference for public school teachers and administrators in Columbia, the Governor says he will “reign in tax credit programs” and put more funding into public education.

“If you continue on a 408 percent increase of credits and leave everything else flat and these tax credits get going even more, we’ll just have the same problem bigger in years to come. This is the time,” Nixon said.

Nixon says he wants to use additional funding to move Missouri into the top 10 states in the U.S. for public schooling. In particular, he stressed the need for the Missouri General Assembly to pass an education funding reform package in 2012.

Ryan Famuliner, KBIA

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Nixon visits Nordenia USA, lauds job expansion

JACKSON, MO (KRCU) - Nordenia USA will expand its current plant on Highway 177, as well as build a new manufacturing facility at the Jackson Industrial Park.

Nordenia will hire 50 new employers over three years.

Governor Jay Nixon was at Nordenia on Thursday to make the announcement. He counted the reasons why Nordenia has grown in a competitive environment.

"First of all, our transportation network, here on highway 55, our products can be moved in and out very quickly. Number two is our good business environment. By getting rid of the Franchise Tax it’s lowered the stress, financial stress, the double-taxation there. And I think by the coordinated effort of our state, our city and our county folks working together makes a difference. And finally, the workforce is strong. I mean, Missourians show up early and they stay late," Nixon said.

Nordenia began manufacturing packaging materials 21 years ago with 5 employees. That number has grown to over 400 today.

The expansion will result in $2 million in capital investment.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Nixon expects results from special session

JACKSON, MO (KRCU) - Governor Jay Nixon says that he is confident that the Missouri General Assembly will accomplish a long list of overdue business when it reconvenes for a special session in September.

The legislature will take up an economic development bill and a bill to invest in scientific and high-tech industries.

Nixon said that the General Assembly will also work on natural disaster relief and moving Missouri’s Presidential primary date.

He thinks that these items should all pass during the special session.

"Most of these measures, other than the disaster stuff, have been worked on by the legislature for a couple of years. The Science Reinvestment Act bill has been worked on for a couple of years. I think it’s now in a place that it can pass. Most of them have had votes in either the House or the Senate. So we’re not talking about starting over. And I think that’s one of the advantages we have," Nixon said.

Nixon described the special session’s legislative agenda as items “that didn’t quite get done at the end of the last session.”

No date is set for the September session.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Nixon out raises Kinder in 2011's second quarter

(KRCU) - Governor Jay Nixon raised more money during 2011’s second quarter than his most likely Republican rival.

Nixon raised more than $1.4 million between May and June 2011.

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder brought in $970 thousand during the same time period.

Kinder, a Republican from Cape Girardeau, has not yet announced his candidacy for the governorship, though he is widely expected to run in the 2012 election.

Last week, Republican House Speaker Steve Tilley announced he is running to take Kinder’s spot as the Lieutenant Governor, saying that Kinder is most certainly not going to seek re-election for this current post.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Nixon signs package of legislation impacting disabled Missourians

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has signed into law a package of legislation impacting disabled residents of the state.

The governor calls the measures monumental.

Among other changes, the bills require more accessible parking in new or re-striped lots, including spots for lift vans.

State statutes will be scrubbed of the words mentally retarded and handicapped.

And parents with disabilities can no longer lose custody of their children unless officials can prove that the disability puts the child at risk.

Freshman Republican representative Thomas Long, from the Springfield area, fought for that provision.

"We are better as a state when you fully participate," Long said. "And we need everyone in this state participating to the fullest that they can."

Gov. Nixon signed the measures at the headquarters of Paraquad, which is one of the largest organizations dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities live independently.

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio

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Nixon sign Farm-to-Table bill into law

Missouri cafeterias may soon have more local produce on the menu.

Governor Jay Nixon approved a bill that establishes a Farm-to-Table Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will identify obstacles to marketing locally-grown produce to large facilities such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes and prisons.

Representative Casey Guernsey sponsored the bill in the Missouri House. He says that government regulations should not prevent farmers from placing their food in local facilities.

"That’s just ridiculous in my opinion," Guernsey said. "We all know that fresh grown products and produce are the best and the most nutritious. We shouldn’t be in a situation where we are preventing the people who need this food oftentimes the most from being able to have access to it."

Guernsey says that the current movement that advocates locally grown produce is a great opportunity for rural communities.

"It’s pretty exciting and it also makes sense for smaller producers to be able to market some of their products to an even greater place, but they are just simply unable to do so right now," he said.

The Advisory Board will consist of at least one representative from the University of Missouri Extension, and members of the Departments of Agriculture, Corrections, Economic Development, and Elementary and Secondary Education, as well as the Office of Administration.

The Advisory Board will present their finding to the General Assembly.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Nixon announced expansion of Partnership for Hope

Governor Jay Nixon announced on Thursday that he plans to expand the Partnership for Hope program to 10 additional Missouri counties.

The program provides assistance for families who have family members with developmental disabilities. The idea is to keep these individuals out of assisted care facilities … and stay at home with loved ones.

Qualified families can receive up to twelve thousand dollars per year in assistance.

Nixon’s spokesperson, Scott Holste, says that Partnership for Hope helps alleviate long waiting lists.

“And often, because of these waiting lists, the services may not be able to be provided or could not be provided until we reach a crisis point and maybe that family member then had to leave home and stay in a state facility for a while,” Holste said.

Through the expansion, Partnership for Hope will be available in Perry, Reynolds, Ste. Genevieve, and Wayne Counties in Southeast Missouri. 300 additional families will be served.

Partnership for Hope is funded at the Federal, State, and County level. Each county’s contribution is matched by the state. The federal portion equals three times that of the county. State funds come from the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Flood fight continues in NW Missouri

ST. JOSEPH, MO (KXCV) - More than 2 hundred Missouri National Guard and Air Guard Soldiers are now fighting the flooding Missouri River.

Monday at Rosencrans Air Base near St. Joseph, Governor Jay Nixon got an extensive briefing from the Guard and heard the Missouri will rise even higher throughout this week.

"The bottom line is the purpose is to say to everybody across the Show-Me State, all the way from that Nebraska-Iowa border all the way to the Illinois-Missouri border, we are standing up flood fighting operations, we are standing with the locals," Nixon said. "We expect to continue to be in this operation for many, many weeks."

After the operational briefing by the Guard, Nixon flew in a Blackhawk helicopter over extreme northwest Missouri to survey the flooding from the air.

At the same time he took off from the base, a town about three minutes away issued a voluntary evacuation order for its residents.

Kirk Wayman, KXCV

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Nixon hints at special session

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Governor Jay Nixon hinted Thursday that he may be prepared to call lawmakers back to Jefferson City for a special session on economic development.

A major economic development bill that created 360 million dollars in tax incentives to boost Lambert Airport as a hub for Chinese cargo got tangled up in a political dispute on the last day of session.

Elected officials have been pushing for Nixon to bring the General Assembly back to complete the job.

Nixon repeated his stance that he won’t call a session unless there’s consensus on an issue. But he says negotiations have gone well over the last five weeks.

“I think that we are headed down a path that if folks are serious and they roll up their sleeves, we might be able to meet that three-part test and get people to provide us some additional tools,” Nixon said.

The dispute centered around attempts to rein in tax credits, especially ones given to companies that want to rehab historic buildings.

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio.

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Total cost of Missouri disasters won't be known until August

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon says it could be another month before the state knows the bill after the Joplin tornado and the ongoing north Missouri flooding.

Nixon says he’s hoping the $50 million he’s set aside for matching Federal Emergency funds will be enough, and is confident the Joplin tornado will be more costly than the flooding.

Still, Nixon adds the finances are holding for now.

"The bottom line is that we have the adequate resources to deal with the issues," Nixon said. "We haven’t been out-resourced here yet. There hasn’t been any decisions that we have made- that have been made- based on either overtime for troopers or necessity to call up the Guard or get the helicopters down, that have been limited by cost factors."

Nixon says with debris still being cleaned up in Joplin and the flooding in northwest Missouri continuing, it could be August before the state has a complete cost analysis of the disasters.

Kirk Wayman, KXCV

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Nixon vetoes voter ID bill

Governor Jay Nixon vetoed a bill on Friday that would have required voters present photo identification in order to vote.

The governor objected to the bill because he feels that is would disenfranchise the elderly and disabled because they are less likely to have a driver’s license or government-issued photo ID.

Nixon also said that he believes that the bill would discourage and impede citizens from voting, even though they may have been voting for decades.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Corps to rebuild Birds Point levee

The Army Corps of Engineers is going to rebuild the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway levee.

In a written statement, Governor Jay Nixon said that he had spoken to Major General Michael Walsh about the decision to rebuild the three breach points in the levee.

The decision allows a certain level of protection for farmers who have already begun to work the fields in the floodway.

And the Corps may have some extra money to work with. Representative Jo Ann Emerson said that one billion dollars in funding has been added to the House Energy and Water Appropriations Act, including nearly 560 million dollars for the lower Mississippi River and tributaries, which includes Birds Point. The bill could be voted on within a month. If passed, the funds would be available on October 1.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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More funding for dog breeder oversight

ST. LOUIS , MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Missouri’s budget for next fiscal year includes 1.1 million dollars more for oversight of dog breeders.

Governor Jay Nixon highlighted the funding at a press conference Tuesday at the Humane Society of Missouri in St. Louis.

The move comes after the governor helped craft a compromise bill this spring that toughened state oversight of dog breeders… but scaled back some provisions of the voter-approved initiative Prop B.

Humane Society of Missouri president Kathy Warnick says the group has no regrets about the compromise.

“This is a monumental step forward towards improving the quality of life for these animals that in many instances have been suffering in exceptionally substandard conditions,” Warnick said.

The increased funding will be used to hire more veterinarians, inspectors and other enforcement agents.

Attorney General Chris Koster says his office has created a Canine Cruelty Protection Unit and has already used new authority to shut down two dog breeders in the state.

Maria Altman, St. Louis Public Radio

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Nixon noncommittal on voter ID

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Governor Jay Nixon says he hasn't yet decided what he'll do with legislation that would put a voter I-D requirement on the ballot in November 2012.

During his 2008 campaign, Nixon called the requirement "onerous." But he sidestepped a question at a bill signing in St. Louis Friday about whether he'd veto the new measure, saying he had not fully reviewed the bill.

"I said what I said. Obviously we're always trying to work to make voting as easy and efficient for people as possible. It's an important part of democracy, we like to have people to be able to get to the polls and vote in an organized and appropriate way," Nixon said.

A Missouri judge in 2006 struck down a similar measure as unconstitutional. The new version means a photo ID requirement would not take effect without voter approval.

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio

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