Governor Jay Nixon (D) is revealing a few clues, but only a few, about what he will say to Missourians in his State of the State Address tomorrow.
Nixon will deliver the annual address at 7 p.m. in the House of Representatives with the members of that chamber and the State Senate present. In it he will lay out legislative priorities and release his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Governor Jay Nixon practices for delivering the 2014 State of the State Address. (Courtesy of his Twitter feed, @GovJayNixon)
You can watch the State of the State Address at Missourinet.com, offered in partnership with KMIZ/KQFX in Columbia. Coverage begins at 6:45.
Asked about what he will include in that speech on Monday, Nixon says he will make a, “strong case for maintaining fiscal discipline, a very strong case for how the best economic development tool we have in the state is education, and how that at this defining moment for our state we should not miss the opportunity to make the strategic investments that will pay dividends for our state for generations to come.”
Nixon and Republican legislative leaders in the House and Senate did not reach agreement over an estimate of how much money will be available for the new budget year. Nixon says the time for the two sides to come to such agreement has, “come and gone.” This means some of Nixon’s spending proposals won’t be included by lawmakers when they draft a budget.
Nixon says he is, “convinced that the economy continues to move forward … but if the revenues don’t come in at the level that I think then we’ll make the necessary restrictions through the year to deal with it.”
Nixon has proposed some priorities already. He has called for more money for public schools en route to fully funding the foundation formula for K-12 schools by 2017, as well as additional money for higher education, and the Missouri Children’s Division. Other priorities carry over from last year, such as the acceptance of federal money to expand eligibility for Medicaid and overhauling tax credits.
House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka)Â will deliver the Republican response, five minutes after the State of the State Address.
