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Citing budget cuts, Nixon announces cuts to DOR staff

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — In a hastily scheduled announcement, Gov. Jay Nixon told reporters Wednesday that he will lay-off staff in the Department of Revenue because of the “unprecedented” decision by the Budget Conference Committee to fund the department for only two-thirds of the 2014 fiscal year.

Gov. Jay Nixon speaks to reporters Wednesday morning.
Gov. Jay Nixon speaks to reporters Wednesday morning.

“This division provides titles and registrations for boats, ATV’s and manufactured homes,” Nixon told reporters. “This irresponsible tactic of attempting to fund the government in a piecemeal fashion to be revisited over the course of the year is not the way we have done business in the past.”

On Tuesday, budget negotiators from the House and Senate moved forward with a plan that includes only partial funding of the licensing branch of the DOR in retaliation to the unfolding scandal that involved the agency copying and retaining personal documents such as birth certificates.

Nixon compared the decision to the United States Congress’s decision to fund the government through continuing resolutions, and said the move was not what Missouria’s wanted out of their budget process, even hinting that Missouri’s AAA credit rating might suffer if the trend continues.

Nixon, who read a prepared statement, said he would take questions and give a more lengthy statement on the budget process once it was complete.

To contact Collin Reischman, email collin@themissouritimes.com, or via Twitter at @Collin_MOTimes.