Mo. governor urges school chiefs to oppose tax breaks

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon is urging Missouri school administrators to lobby legislators to uphold his vetoes of various tax breaks.

Nixon spoke Tuesday at a conference of school administrators hosted in Columbia by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

He called the 2014 legislative session "the worst six months for public education in recent memory."

The Democratic governor criticized numerous funding and policy decisions by the Republican-led Legislature, especially the passage of several bills granting tax breaks to certain industries such as computer data centers, restaurants and electric companies. Nixon vetoed the bills in June.

The Legislature is to meet Sept. 10 to consider overriding those vetoes.

Nixon contends the tax breaks could harm funding for education and local services. Republican legislative leaders have questioned Nixon's projected revenue losses.