Missouri State University and University of Missouri officials joined Gov. Jay Nixon yesterday during a visit to Springfield promoting his veto of tax-cut legislation under House Bill 253. The visit came two days before the Missouri General Assembly is slated to meet Sept. 11 to consider whether to override the veto.
During Nixon's visit to the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce headquarters, MSU President Clif Smart and MU Chancellor Brady Deaton signed a resolution pledging to work together and with Mercy Hospital Springfield and CoxHealth to improve health care and education for southwest Missouri residents, according to a news release from the governor's office.
Nixon said if his veto is sustained, some $11.3 million in funding could move forward for health care programs, such as the MU School of Medicine's partnership with CoxHealth and Mercy to build a public-private clinical campus in Springfield. In October 2012, CoxHealth, Mercy, Springfield and Columbia chambers of commerce and MU officials met in support of the Proposition B initiative, which MU officials said at the time would determine whether the university would move forward on the clinical campus. Prop B, a proposed 17-cent tax increase on cigarettes to primarily benefit Missouri schools failed a public vote in November 2012, but MU officials later noted they would still move forward with the Springfield plans, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
Nixon, who in
July of this year withheld $400 million from the fiscal 2014 budget as a result of opposition to his veto, yesterday said public higher education institutions could face up to $116 million in cuts if the bill becomes law. MSU has committed to utilizing funding to establish an occupational therapy program in Springfield and expand its nursing and allied health program at its West Plains campus, according to the release.
Hotly contested HB 253 heads back to the General Assembly tomorrow for override consideration. In June, Nixon vetoed the bill that would institute phased-in income tax deductions for businesses and individuals. Since,
groups on both sides of the aisle have launched campaigns for and against overriding the veto. In the SBJ article "
Sales Byte," Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, said the legislature would aim to override the veto, but noted veto overrides are difficult, happening only eight times in Missouri history.
Among supporters of the veto override is the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, which reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to launch a
statewide media campaign.
Opponents of the override, including the Springfield chamber and Springfield Public Schools, have indicated portions of the bill would result in reduced education funding, according to SBJ archives.
