Nixon Vetoes School Board Bill April 3, 2015

(AP) – Gov. Jay Nixon made his first veto of the session Friday, refusing to sign a measure he said unfairly penalizes experienced school administrators who want to continue their involvement in a school district.

The bill, among other provisions, would bar former school superintendents from serving on school boards in the same district where they had worked. Nixon said that restricts citizens’ ability to choose who will represent them.

“There are a number of legitimate requirements to run for office, like age, residency, criminal history, but this isn’t one of them,” Nixon said. “In a democracy, otherwise qualified candidates should not be banned from serving the public simply because of their expertise.”

Because the bill included an emergency clause that made it take effect immediately, Nixon said at least four candidates who are currently running for office and are to appear on April 7 local ballots would have been blocked. At least three other current school board members who are former superintendents would have been unable to run for re-election under the measure, Nixon said.

Nixon Says More Cuts Could Be Coming as GOP Plots Override June 12, 2014

(AP) — Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a package of special sales tax breaks Wednesday for Missouri power companies, restaurants, computer data centers and others, setting up another showdown with a Republican-led Legislature that already has triumphed over him on a historic income tax cut.

Nixon denounced the tax break measures as a “grab bag of generous giveaways” providing “secret sweetheart deals” and “special interest favors” that could bust a $425 million hole in the state budget while also jeopardizing hundreds of millions of dollars of local tax revenues.

While vetoing 10 bills, Nixon also said he would make “dramatic spending reductions” in the coming weeks to guard against the potential for lawmakers to enact the tax breaks by overriding his objections during their September session.

“My vetoes today are the first step toward restoring fiscal sanity to a budget process that has gone off the rails,” Nixon said at a Capitol news conference.

Some Republican lawmakers and business groups immediately vowed to pursue veto overrides. They disputed Nixon’s cost projections and defended the bills as a mixture of important business incentives and mere clarifications of existing tax policies that they contend have been misinterpreted by the courts and Nixon’s administration.

“By vetoing these bills, he has reemphasized the fact that the focus of his tax and spend administration is on growing the size of government rather than growing our economy,” said House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka.

Republicans hold a two-thirds majority required for veto overrides in the Senate and are one seat short of that threshold in the House. But the GOP is likely to gain seats when special elections are held in August for four vacant House districts.

Missouri Senate Approves Federal Gun Nullification Bill Again February 21, 2014

Post Dispatch:
JEFFERSON CITY • The Missouri Senate on Thursday passed a bill on federal gun law nullification.

The federal gun law nullification bill, sponsored by Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, passed on a vote of 23 to 10.

The bill would declare all federal gun laws null and void, and law enforcement agents enforcing those bills would be subject to up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

An amendment added to the bill last week, which would require individuals to report a gun theft within 72 hours, sparked criticism from the National Rifle Association.

Prior to that, the NRA had remained silent on the issue.

On Monday, Senate members stripped the amendment from the bill.

A similar gun measure passed the Legislature last year and was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon