House members who oppose the transfer legislation that has been sent to Governor Jay Nixon (D) say his office has indicated to them that he will call a special session for a new bill to be created.
Representative Tommie Pierson (at podium) is joined by Representative Clem Smith (left) and other House Democrats who oppose the proposed transfer legislation.
The Chairman of the legislative black caucus, Representative Tommie Pierson (D-St. Louis City), urges Nixon to veto the bill that has been passed as soon as he receives it.Â
“Hopefully we can come closer to solving the problem if not solve the problem during a special session,” says Pierson.
Representative Velda Village Hills (D-Clem Smith) says the bill does nothing to help schools in danger of going bankrupt and shouldn’t be called a transfer bill. He says it is really about pushing school vouchers, and does so in largely black school districts.
He blames leadership in the House for pushing that issue and says a special session will reveal their motives.
“Is this truly about the education of these children in these districts? If the majority party fails to do something in [the special session], that answers the question right now,” says Smith.
Representative Chris Kelly (D-Columbia) says just because the same lawmakers would likely be dealing with the issue again does not mean a different result can not be expected.
“Nixon vetoes it … the voucher people will know they can’t get their stuff unless they compromise,” says Kelly. “The compromise is fixing the problem in Normandy, not using the problem in Normandy as a screen behind which to hide vouchers.”
A request for comment from Governor Nixon’s office is pending at the time this article is being published.
