ST. LOUIS • The Missouri Chamber of Commerce is threatening to “undermine” the very state economy it claims to support, by providing a platform for Texas Gov. Rick Perry to attempt to woo local jobs to his state, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon charges in a letter sent today to Chamber members.
“As an organization that purports to represent the interests of Missouri businesses, the Missouri Chamber should support activities that seek to strengthen our economy — not undermine it,” Nixon wrote in the letter, which was sent to Chamber members today.
“ . . . Engaging in a respectful debate about the appropriate tax policy for our state is one thing, but campaigning to take jobs from hard-working Missouri families is another,” Nixon states in the letter.
The letter was obtained today by the Post-Dispatch from one of the recipients, who provided it on the condition of anonymity. It's the latest salvo in a continuing battle between Nixon, a Democrat, and Perry, a Republican and former GOP presidential candidate.
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Perry will speak Thursday at a Chamber-affiliated event at Chesterfield. The event is centered on Perry's pro-business policies in Texas and the debate over attempts to cut Missouri's state income tax.
But in advance of the event, a Texas group has put up radio ads in Missouri, featuring Perry and aimed at wooing its employers to Texas.
It's part of an ongoing, aggressive campaign by the Texan governor to lobby employers to move to Texas from other states. The campaign has included a recent, widely publicized foray into Illinois.
Missouri business groups and Republicans have defended the Perry visit as a chance to debate the Missouri income tax issue. Nixon and other Missouri Democrats have slammed Perry's alleged job-pilfering campaign, and have said Missouri leaders and businesses shouldn't provide him with a platform.
The underlying issue in the spat is legislation, passed by the Missouri Legislature and vetoed by Nixon, that seeks to gradually reduce state tax collections by more than $700 million annually after a 10-year phase-in. It includes a 50 percent tax cut for “pass-through” income from businesses to their owners. It also would lower the top personal income tax rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent. And the corporate tax rate would fall by 3 points, to 3.25 percent.
Supporters claim it will spur economic growth by leaving more money in peoples' hands. They cite recent income tax reductions by Kansas and Oklahoma.
Nixon vetoed the legislation in June, calling it an “ill-conceived, fiscally irresponsible experiment” that would “undermine our state’s fiscal health and jeopardize basic funding for education and vital public services.”
Supporters of the bill have been trying to rally lawmakers for an override of the veto. The effort is centered on a coalition group called “Grow Missouri,” which is made of the state chamber of commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business and other pro-business groups. The coalition is hosting Perry's Thursday speech.
The group has been largely funded by retired investment broker and political mega-donor Rex Sinquefield.
A Grow Missouri spokeswoman stressed that the Texas jobs campaign Perry is involved with is separate from the Missouri group and the Chesterfield event.
“His trip is completely separate from our effort. It just happens to be well-timed with our effort” to win a veto override, said the spokeswoman, Anne Marie Moy. “Because he'll be in town, they have asked him to participate. We don't know exactly what he's going to say . . . but he will likely speak out in favor of the override of House Bill 253,” the Missouri tax-cut bill.
In the radio ad, Perry introduces himself, and warns Missouri listeners that “your governor vetoed a bill that would have lowered taxes and controlled wasteful spending, making Missouri more competitive.”
“Vetoing a tax cut is the same thing as raising your taxes. But there is a state where businesses flourish and jobs are created — Texas,” Perry says in the ad. “Every year more than $40 million are leaving Missouri for the Lone Star State because Missouri families and businesses know Texas is a great place to live and work.”
St. Louis radio station KTRS pulled the ad this week, after management determined it was “focused on stealing locally owned companies away from St Louis,” according to a statement.
Moy, the Grow Missouri spokeswoman, disagrees.
“Our position is, we need to put our state on more competitive footing with other states like Texas,” she said. “When we look at those ads, we wish our governor was in a position to be doing to the same thing . . . so we're not bleeding jobs to other states.”
The Thursday event with Perry will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Double Tree Hotel, 16625 Swingley Ridge Road in Chesterfield. It is open to the public and free. Tickets can be reserved at the Grow Missouri website (www.growmissouri.com)
Editor's note: This post has been corrected to state that Missouri's top personal income tax rate is 6 percent. An earlier version erroneously stated it was 6.5 percent.
