"I want to thank the leaders of the General Assembly for their great spirit of cooperation that I believe will ultimately lead to the passage of these important priorities for Missouri’s transportation infrastructure and Missouri jobs," Blunt said.

Blunt is asking state lawmakers to fast track the Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement Program to repair or replace more than 800 Missouri bridges and enact an economic development package which includes an expansion of the governor’s successful Quality Jobs Act.

Blunt announced his intention to call the legislature into special session after vetoing House Bill 327 and reaching a consensus to pass a more restrained bill that would expand the Quality Jobs programs.

Gov. Matt Blunt today called the Missouri Legislature into a special session to work on $70 million worth of special interest giveaways, including a law allowing ticket scalping that will directly benefit his lobbyist brother, Andy Blunt, whose client Ticketmaster wants to resell tickets on the Internet.

While Blunt’s call for a special session won't include tax relief for average Missouri families, it does include a controversial tax break for a wealthy St. Louis developer to buy private land in St. Louis.

"Matt Blunt has made a mockery of this special session by insisting that the needs of his brother’s lobbying clients get put ahead of the economic interests of our state," said Jack Cardetti, Missouri Democratic Party spokesman. "Instead of wasting taxpayer money on a special session for special interests, Matt Blunt should put Missouri’s working families first for a change."

This will be the second time in three years that Gov. Blunt has had to call legislators into a special session to fix mistakes made just months before by him and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

According compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Missouri’s economy is lagging behind the rest of the country. BLS reports that:

• Missouri’s unemployment rate, 4.8%, is above the national average.
• From May to June (the latest BLS report) Missouri lost 6,600 jobs, the most of any state except Maryland.
• Over the past year, Missouri’s job growth is the 16th worst in the country. (June 2006-June 2007, 0.94%)
• Since Gov. Blunt took office, Missouri has the 22nd worst job growth rate. If Missouri’s economy had grown at the country’s mean growth rate under the Blunt administration, 26,750 more Missourians would have jobs today.

According to estimates from 2005, the special session will cost approximately $100,000 per week.

Labels: Blairmont, Governor

Link to this story