Saint Louis — Missouri Club for Growth was short one chairman when Bev Randles formally leapt into the race for lt. governor earlier this summer. But the conservative advocacy organization is leaderless no longer, as former House Speaker Tim Jones has been tapped to run MOCFG.
In his first official order of business as chairman, Jones unveiled the “TWEETS” agenda. The acronym covers broad range of politically-charged issues:
“Tax Reform: Continue working for responsible and necessary reductions in the state’s income tax and begin a real, meaningful dialogue regarding across-the-board tax credit reform.
“Worker Freedom: Create an environment that allows workers to determine their own priorities through legislation such as paycheck protection and right-to-work.
“Education reform: Continue to expose wasteful spending and misuse of tax dollars in the education system. Work to build momentum for dynamic changes in our education system that place the needs of the students paramount to all others.
“Election reform: Investigate ways to increase participation in municipal elections with poor turnout that take place at odd times throughout the calendar year. Work to educate voters on the importance of elections, especially when they have a direct fiscal impact.
“Tort reform: Advocate for a loser pay system in Missouri that protects businesses from frivolous, expensive and baseless lawsuits while preserving and protecting the rights of all who need to access our legal system.
“Spending: Investigate and expose wasteful spending at all levels of government. Continue to educate voters about how and where their tax dollars are being spent.”
“Conservative minded folks are interested in lots of things,” Jones said. “That’s part of the reason we wanted a broad agenda. At its core, though, Missouri Club for Growth is about focusing on more opportunity through economic freedom.”
Jones criticized Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon for failing to sign the student transfer bill that lawmakers advanced him this year, calling Nixon’s veto a reflection of an “out of touch” political player.
“We have progressive liberals like [state senators] Jamilah Nasheed and Maria Chappelle-Nadal embracing education reform alongside conservative leaders in the legislature,” Jones said. “But the governor is standing by himself, mired in the past and shackled to teachers unions.”
Jones, who served as majority floor leader in the House before serving his final term as speaker, credited his own push for Right-to-Work legislation as the beginning of a movement that culminated in a RTW bill arriving on Nixon’s desk. While Jones said the override attempt would be an uphill climb at the veto session in September, he says the momentum is now on the side of “worker freedom.”
Jones, who was termed out of his House seat last year, has publically flirted with runs for attorney general and the state senate before landing in the world of advocacy. MOCFG was founded in 2007 as a non-profit and is loosely affiliated with the national Club for Growth organization.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
