Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry is traveling to Missouri on Thursday to push his state's low tax rates in an effort to woo business owners, and Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon is not pleased.
While in Missouri,
according to a press release from his office, "Gov. Perry will share Texas' economic success story with employers and business leaders" during a lunch hosted by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce at the St. Louis Club.
"Texas has no personal income tax, and according to the Tax Foundation, is one of the top 10 best state tax climates in the nation. Missouri levies a personal income tax ranging from 1.5 to 6 percent," notes the release.
The Missouri chamber, which had backed an income tax cut that was vetoed by Nixon, invited Perry as part of its lobbying effort to convince the state legislature to override that veto, according to the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
TexasOne, a nonprofit Perry created, is spending $206,400 on TV and radio commercials that are being aired in several Missouri markets ahead of the governor's visit.
The TV ads feature Texans promoting the Lone Star State and the radio ads take aim at Nixon and his tax cut veto.
"Unfortunately, your governor vetoed a bill that would have lowered taxes and controlled wasteful spending, making Missouri more competitive," one radio ad goes. "Vetoing a tax cut is the same thing as raising your taxes."
Nixon's camp is fighting back. Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander sent Perry a letter late last week suggesting he stay home, reports the
Dallas Morning News.
"Simply poaching jobs from one state and bringing them to another doesn’t grow our nation’s economy, so I hope you reconsider your efforts and instead look at ways to cultivate new industries and companies in Texas, rather than just trying to steal other states’ successes," Kander wrote.
At least one radio station,
KTRS in St. Louis, has dropped the Texas ads, saying it doesn't want to be disloyal to the state.
Nixon, for his part, went on KTRS this past weekend and announced his own "Better than Texas" campaign explaining why Missouri is a better place to live and work. He took a jab at Perry's decision not to seek re-election and his suggestion that he might run for president again in 2016.
"I’ve been at [politics] a long time and I certainly respect people’s rights to say what they want and to try to attract attention to themselves when they’re not going to run [for office] anymore so there will be some level of attention around them to try to make themselves relevant to the political discourse. And they’re entitled to do that," he said.
"But when it comes to the business of attacking our state and our local chambers that are working hard every day with us to create jobs, that will get my dander up a little bit," Nixon added.
Nixon’s campaign was launched via Twitter in the form of a top 10 list, with the hashtag #betterthantx.
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