Governor Nixon indicates he and state legislators are close to a consensus needed for a special legislative session to pass an important economic development bill.
Nixon and legislative leaders took each other’s pulses yesterday morning and Nixon says the signs are improving. He has indicated he could call the special session “by the end of the week,” acknowledging that he was speaking to reporters yesterday.
He hopes to call the session to create a tax package that will convince Ford to keep its Claycomo plant fully operational when new models are introduced next year. The House balked in May at the way to pay for those tax breaks Ford would get. Nixon says the key is getting the House to agree to changing the state pension program for new state workers to require them to contribute. The state pension plan now requires most state workers not to contribute.
Ford has not said if it would keep Claycomo at full production if Missouri puts together the package. Nixon says face-to-face discussions with Ford in recent weeks have given him a “good level of comfort,” however.