Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon spent Thursday visiting St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia detailing his three-part 2010 Jobs Package, the day after making job creation his top priority in his 2010 State of the State address.
Nixon reiterated the three parts of his jobs package:
• Missouri First, a loyalty program offering enhanced incentives for existing Missouri businesses looking to expand in-state;
• The Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act, creating a dedicated fund to attract new science and technology companies to Missouri; and
• Training for Tomorrow, a $12 million investment in job-training programs in high-demand fields at the state's community colleges.
The statewide tour follows Nixon's reiteration Wednesday night of the importance of job development and the need to work together to achieve that goal.
"Our most pressing economic challenges - creating jobs, seizing opportunities for growth, and balancing the budget − are too important to be sidetracked by partisan bickering," he said in the address. "That would betray the trust put in us by the people."
The Missouri chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business praised the governor's focus on jobs.
"Small business is the engine that drives Missouri's economy, and we're encouraged to hear the governor say he's committed to helping small businesses grow and create jobs," said Brad Jones, state director of NFIB/Missouri, in a statement following the speech.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry also supported the speech, though not without reservations.
"From investing in emerging technology industries to ramping up Missouri's education and work-force development, the governor hit on several key areas of concern for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry," Missouri Chamber President and CEO Daniel P. Mehan said in a statement, noting that the governor's plans are based on an uncertain economic turnaround and additional federal stimulus funding that hasn't been approved by Congress.
The Republican response to the speech was less kind.
"Twelve months ago, Governor Nixon announced that hundreds of millions of dollars of so-called 'stimulus' funds were heading to Missouri. And despite our warnings, he irresponsibly chose to balance his budget with that money," Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said in the official Republican response. "Here we are, one year later. And due to the governor's failure to act swiftly to address the budget crisis, we now face an even bigger shortfall."
The state faces a $261 million shortage for the rest of this fiscal year due to slumping sales tax revenues, according to the Associated Press.
Kinder said Republicans are calling on the governor to balance the budget through belt-tightening, rather than creating new government programs that "will cost money - money that we do not have."
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