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Sen. Pro Tem candidate Romine comes out against stadium funding

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington announced Friday that he will come out against Gov. Jay Nixon’s funding plan for a new football stadium in St. Louis.

Nixon plans to use bonds issued to the Edward Jones Dome and extend them, along with state tax credits and NFL funds, to build a new stadium.

Romine hopes that adding his voice to the growing contingent in the legislature opposed to such a plan will bolster support for the group.

“Initially the main support is that the governor needs to be aware there is opposition to the concept and the plan,” he said. “The legislative body needs to have a say in this bond issue… We’re trying to get out in front of this one it.”

Romine added that the Senate was not the only group that was worried about using state funding for the new stadium, saying that he “got several phone calls from constituents” when the issue first arose.

“They’re not comfortable with taxpayer dollars for a team that may or may not be here,” he said. “There’s just too much unknowns right now.”

Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, has been perhaps the biggest critic of the governor’s plan in the state legislature. Earlier this week, Schaaf penned a letter to Nixon promising to oppose the funds in any way he can in his capacity as a lawmaker. He welcomes all the support he can get.

“I’m excited to know that [Romine]’s going to join the other four of us,” Schaaf said. “Myself, Sen. [Ed] Emery, Sen. [Bob] Onder, and Sen. [Will] Kraus have all said so far that we will stop the appropriation on bonds unless the governor makes his case to us and lets us have a vote on his proposal.”

Schaaf explained that his opposition was not to the stadium itself, but to the methods by which Nixon wanted to fund the stadium, namely by not involving the legislature or the people of Missouri. Schaaf, along with some other Jefferson City lawmakers, contends that bonds for a new stadium need either voter approval or legislative OK before being used.

“Twenty-six senators already voted against the stadium funding, and we passed HB 5, which had a provision saying that none of the Edward Jones Dome money could be used to fund bonds for a second St. Louis football stadium, unless it was voted on by the people,” he said. “It isn’t about the stadium, it’s about the power of the purse which the constitution gives exclusively to the legislature. Things should be one properly and for the governor to say he can put the state 2 to 3 billion dollars in debt without the vote of the people is just outrageous.”

Opposition to the stadium plan continues to grow around the state. Jeanette Mott Oxford, a former member of the Missouri House and the Executive Director of Empower Missouri, praised Schaaf and Emery for their opposition to Nixon’s plan in a statement Tuesday. She believes the money could be better spent elsewhere.

“Given the number of pressing issues in our state – people with mental illness going without treatment, homeless veterans with no safe place to sleep, foster children without adequate money for daily essentials, etc. – it is immoral to make a professional sports project such a priority,” Oxford said. “Citizens must continue to demand an end to the practice of socializing risk and privatizing profit when it comes to millionaire and billionaire sports team owners.”