JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Club for Growth’s television ads for their campaign for Amendment 10 have flooded the airwaves in every media market in Missouri – each media market having their own tailored ad. MCFG Chairman Bev Randles appears casually dressed in the ads in a newscaster-like setting with pop ups highlighting her message and pictures of Gov. Jay Nixon.
“I’m Bev Randles. As a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, I want what is best for our area’s children,” Randles said in the Kansas City ad. “So, it’s appalling that Gov. Jay Nixon repeatedly withholds education dollars from our local schools, especially when they are working so hard to gain full accreditation. That’s failed leadership and it needs to stop. By voting yes on Amendment 10, it will stop. Let’s hold Jay Nixon accountable and stop him from playing political games with our tax dollars. This November, please join me in voting yes on Amendment 10.”
Today, the ad tailored for Southeast Missouri was released to The Missouri Times for public viewing. The ad shows Randles in a similar setting, supporting Amendment 10 because the same Southeast Missouri public schools that made her a success are the same experiencing withholdings today.
Amendment 10 appears on the ballot as a result of the state legislature’s passage of House Joint Resolution 72 during the 2014 regular session. According to a January press release, Rep. Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff), the primary sponsor of the joint resolution, said Amendment 10 “would provide the Missouri General Assembly with an effective check and balance on the governor’s questionable decisions to withhold funding to vital state services such as education, law enforcement and mental health.”
“We have never seen a governor withhold funding at the level Gov. Nixon has year after year,” Richardson said at the time. “It is a clear abuse of his constitutional authority that is meant to be limited to times when our state is in a funding crisis. As our governor continues to propose more and more spending while withholding funds already appropriated by the legislature it is clear that we have to restore the balance that is meant to exist between the branches of government.”
Amendment 10 will appear on the November 4 ballot as follows:
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to require the governor to pay the public debt, to prohibit the governor from relying on revenue from legislation not yet passed when proposing a budget, and to provide a legislative check on the governors decisions to restrict funding for education and other state services? State governmental entities expect no direct costs or savings. Local governmental entities expect an unknown fiscal impact.
“The Missouri Club for Growth supports Amendment 10 because it is time for Governor Jay Nixon to stop playing politics with our tax dollars,” said Randles in a recent release. “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. I strongly encourage voters to support Amendment 10 because it is an action supported by both Republicans and Democrats that will finally put a check on Jay Nixon’s ability to wreak havoc on the appropriations process and the citizens of Missouri.”
Nixon told reporters earlier this month he would be voting against the measure, and that his constitutional authority to withhold certain funds was specifically identified by Standard & Poor in awarding Missouri’s AAA credit rating. Removing Nixon’s authority over the budget would place it in the hands of the legislature, won’t solve the problem, he says, it just moves it to a different place.
“I certainly won’t be voting for something that goes directly against what Standard & Poor has said about retaining our credit rating,” Nixon said.
However, MCFG is tired of hearing the “same rhetoric” from Nixon.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.
