Lawmakers next week should sustain Gov. Jay Nixon's budget vetoes so that state government can "live within its means," Nixon told reporters Thursday. "We don't have the money for all this stuff."
Overriding his vetoes in next week's veto session would "put Missouri on a permanent path to living beyond our means - and that is, simply, wrong," the governor said.
Lawmakers should think about Missouri families having to balance their personal budgets in tight economic times, he added, and make similar, caution-driven decisions about challenging the vetoes.
Nixon argued, again, that lawmakers passed a final budget that was "nearly $800 million out-of-balance, with more than 100 spending programs above my recommendation and 30 brand new programs," including "earmarks and pet-projects for specific organizations and interests."
He acknowledged that some of the approved budget's projects were good ideas worth discussing. After supporting some earlier in the year, Nixon vetoed the new projects the state can't afford right now.
Although he didn't name them Thursday, his vetoes included $6 million for renovating the soon-to-be-vacated St. Mary's Health Center complex that the hospital is willing to donate to the state, under certain conditions and restrictions.
Lincoln University and the State Technical College of Missouri, Linn, were slated to use about a third of the old hospital for nursing and medical technology classes - and the rest of the hospital space was to be renovated for state offices.
In June, the governor vetoed about $144 million in line-items in 13 of the 15 budget bills, and 10 bills passed on the Legislature's last day in session that include sales tax exemptions or reductions. Nixon has called those 10 bills the "Friday Favors," partly because they were passed with almost no discussion of their impact on the budget lawmakers approved a week earlier.
He also withheld more than $640 million in general revenue spending - money that he could release later this year, if administrators think the state's revenues will support the spending.
"It's a big deal, knowing you don't have the money," Nixon said. "And everybody knows the appropriation authority granted vastly exceeded this year the level of cash that we have."
Legislative leaders didn't react immediately to Nixon's comments at Thursday's news conference.
But in June, House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, said Nixon's vetoes "re-emphasized the fact that the focus of his tax and spend administration is on growing the size of government rather than growing our economy."
The governor is a Democrat. The Legislature is controlled by Republicans.
But, Nixon said Thursday, his vetoes were based on what he thinks is best for Missouri's future - not partisanship.
When lawmakers return to the Capitol next week, he said, "All I'm asking is that they look at these matters extremely seriously.
"And when they do, I think they will see that the best, most fiscal-prudent course of action, is to sustain my vetoes on the Friday Favors and to sustain the vetoes that I made on a number of line-items in the budget."