New ads target Missouri governor over budget cuts

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Although he's not on the ballot this year, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is the target of new TV ads released Monday by a conservative group supporting a voter proposition that would limit the governor's budget-balancing powers.

The ads from the Missouri Club for Growth accuse the Democratic governor of "playing political games" with budget cuts while urging support for proposed Constitutional Amendment 10 on the November ballot.

The proposal would allow legislators to override a governor's decision to freeze or slow spending on items in the state budget. It also would bar governors from assuming new revenue from policy proposals when making budget recommendations to the Legislature.

The measure was referred to the ballot by the Republican-led Legislature, which has grown increasingly frustrated with Nixon as he has repeatedly cut, frozen or delayed spending in recent years. In some cases, Nixon has cited declining state revenue, but in others he has used his budget-cutting powers as leverage to persuade legislators not to enact tax breaks that Nixon feared could harm state revenue.

Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said Monday that the governor opposes the ballot measure. He described it as an attempt by the Legislature "to grow government beyond its means."

"The governor has made clear that amending the constitution to weaken Missouri's strong safeguards against overspending by the legislature is fiscally irresponsible," Holste said in an email.

The governor's office declined to comment about the TV ads criticizing his budget cuts.

The Club for Growth declined to reveal the funding source for the advertisements. Its separate political action committee recently received $1.2 million from investment firm founder Rex Sinquefield, but that money was not used for the ads, said club adviser Todd Abrajano.

The organization is running specially tailored ads in each of Missouri's nine TV media markets, Abrajano said. The group provided an online link to an ad in the Kansas City area that criticizes Nixon for withholding funding from public schools.

Abrajano said a TV ad in the Joplin market criticizes Nixon for making larger budget cuts than were necessary to help cover costs after the deadly 2011 Joplin tornado, and an ad in the Hannibal area criticizes the governor for attempting to block funding last year to rebuild a northeast Missouri vocational school destroyed by fire.

"For years, Governor Nixon has repeatedly held the state budget hostage for political purposes, negatively affecting our public schools and causing unnecessary funding delays for much needed projects and services throughout the state," Missouri Club for Growth chairwoman Bev Randles said in a written statement.

Since taking office in 2009, Nixon has frequently used his constitutional powers to cut or restrict spending. This year, Nixon is blocking $735 million of expenditures because of concerns about the state's finances, including tens of millions for construction projects at public universities and funding increases for college scholarships, mental health care providers and child-care centers.

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