State Treasurer Nancy Farmer denies she ever indicated that leaving the Rainy Day Fund in tact helped Missouri retain its Triple A bond rating. Farmer objects to a Missourinet report that states she indicated leaving the state emergency reserve fund alone helped retain the coveted rating. In an earlier interview with the Missourinet, Farmer compared Missouri with the financial plights of surrounding states. Farmer stated Tennesee had been hurt, because it had depleted its Rainy Day Fund and had securitized its tobacco settlement money and had no reserves left. The Treasurer’s office requested an opportunity to clarify her position. Farmer says the financial status of Tennessee and Missouri are much different and she did not intend to indicate Missouri would have been in the same position if it had tapped its Rainy Day Fund. She says Missouri is in a stronger position financially. But, if the legislature had agreed to Governor Holden’s original plan to use $135-Million from the Rainy Day Fund, only $17-Million would have been left. And the legislature has already approved securitizing a third of the state’s tobacco funds. Use of the Rainy Day Fund became highly political during the legislative session, primarily pitting House Republicans against Governor Holden. Both Holden and Farmer are Democrats. When Farmer pressed the Missourinet for clarification of her position, we asked whether she had been put under pressure by Governor Holden’s office to make a clarification. She denied being contacted by the governor’s office.
