The Nixon administration is going to spend the summer campaigning against an override of the veto of a major tax cut bill.  

Governor Nixon and his top lieutenants warn that an override of his veto will force immediate cuts of hundreds of millions of dollars in state programs.  Budget director Linda Luebbering and the Governor’s senior legal advisor Chris Pieper say the bill is full of costly flaws. 

Luebbering says the state budget could take a $1.2-billion one-time hit if Congress approves an internet sales tax program.  The vetoed bill says Missouri’s income tax rate would drop by half a percentage point as soon as the Marketplace Fairness Act is enacted—and Missourians could get refunds on income taxes paid under the present rate for the last three years.  And there are other problems.

Pieper won’t say the intent of the campaign is to convince a few Republicans not to support the override.  But then again any defections would be welcomed.

If only one of the 109 House Republicans opposes an override in September, there won’t be an override. Luebbering and Pieper say they’ll keep talking about the problems of the bill because many lawmakers did not realize the problems it had when they passed it last month.

AUDIO: News conference 34:20