Governor Jay Nixon is being sued by a group of Missouri lawmakers over state funding that could be used for a new St. Louis football stadium. The public board that owns and operates the Edward Jones Dome is also being sued by the group. Senator Rob Schaaf, along with Representatives Rob Vescovo, Jay Barnes, Mark Parkinson, Eric Burlison and Tracy McCreery are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
“We found out in January that the Governor is planning to move forward with issuing bonds that would put taxpayers of Missouri in debt. We tried all session long through different techniques to put a stop to that and we failed at every turn. Now, we are trying to make sure the law is followed through the means of a lawsuit,” said Senator Rob Schaaf (R-St. Joseph).
Schaaf says taxpayer money is in the process of being spent illegally. He says the Legislature and the people should not be cut out of the process.
“If the state is going to go into debt by hundreds of millions of dollars, you’ve got to have the involvement of either a vote of the people or a vote of the Legislature. It can’t be any other way,” says Schaaf.
He says if St. Louis wants to build a new stadium, go ahead.
“I really don’t care if they build the stadium, as long as they don’t use state dollars to build it.”
Nixon spokesman Scott Holste says the Governor is not commenting on the matter.
The stadium is estimated to cost $985 million and at least $250 million of that money may come from the state.