By David Catanese, KY3 Political Reporter
SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri's big bike race could be in peril due to a recommended cut by Governor Jay Nixon.
The 3rd Annual Tour of Missouri is in danger of being cancelled just three months before the start date. Now tourism advocates are gearing up to save it.
On Friday, the state's tourism commission signaled it wants the race to go on and questioned if the Governor has the right to restrict how it spends its money. Some fear if the race isn't saved this year, it may not be back again.
It's been billed as the largest sporting event in Missouri, attracting more than 400,000 spectators for a race that features international cyclists. But the bike race has turned into a political football between the Democratic Governor and Republican Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder.
Gov. Nixon has frozen $1.5 million dollars in state tourism funds, or about 40 percent of the race's total funding.
"I do note that in these challenging budget times we have to make some difficult decisions," Nixon said in Springfield Thursday, in a vague reference to funding for the Tour.
But to Kinder, who brought the Tour to Missouri and the Ozarks, it's an investment worth $30 million dollars of economic activity to the state. Kinder is arguing that pulling the plug just months before the September race would ruin the state's tourism reputation and cost money.
"It doesn't seem to me to be a good business practice to incur all kinds of lawsuits will result from breach of contract when you do it inside 60 days before the start of the race," Kinder told KMOX radio in St. Louis Thursday.
The overall economic impact of the Tour has been questioned by skeptics who believe the $30 million dollar boom is widely inflated.
The economic contribution of the race to the state may be impossible to completely quantify.
But Rusty Worley, of the Urban Districts Alliance, thinks a cancellation this year could jeopardize future races in Missouri.
"Any time an event falls off the schedule for whatever reason it leaves somewhat in doubt, as to someone else might pick it up," said Worley, who helped organize Springfield's leg of the 2008 race.
Kinder's team is ramping up pressure to save the tour, encouraging phone calls to the Governor's office and using Twitter to rally support for their cause.
But in the end, the final leg of this race may be determined by a Governor who ribbed the event during a campaign stop last year -- on the very day the race came through Springfield.
"Thank you . . . 75 people on a beautiful day that could be out watching Belgians ride bicycles in your town . . . are here," Nixon said to laughs to conclude his remarks at the Springfield Chamber of Commerce.
BREAKING: Flashback...Nixon Mocks Tour of Missouri
FLASHBACK: Candidate Nixon Ribs Tour
by Dave Catanese
THE LOOK ON HIS FACE? PRICELESS.
Jay Nixon never showed much affection for the Tour of Missouri -- even as a candidate.
From The Notebook Video Library: Here's Nixon ribbing the tour at a Chamber of Commerce gathering on September 9, 2008 -- the same day the Tour was winding through Springfield.
In his closing remarks, the Governor-to-be thanks the packed house for attending his event:
"Thank you . . . 75 people on a beautiful day that could be out watching Belgians ride bicycles in your town . . . (laughter) . . . are here."
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:
http://ky3.blogspot.com/2009/07/flashback-candidate-nixon-ribs-tour.htmlKansas City Star Editorial: Don't cancel Tour of Missouri bike race
By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Canceling the Tour of Missouri bike race is a bad idea. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon should release the funds.
The suggestion was perhaps understandable: The Department of Economic Development needed budget cuts, and $1.5 million for a bike race might look like a luxury in tough times.
But the timing is horrible, so close to the September event. Canceling the race could expose the state to unnecessary litigation.The race is one of only two top-level bike races in the United States. It showcases Missouri to the region, nation and world.
And it’s just building its reputation, as racers approach the third annual event.Bicyclists including Lance Armstrong’s racing team and five other teams now competing in the Tour de France are expected.
A study of the economic impact of the race last year estimated 430,000 spectators spent almost $30 million, attracting tourists from 32 states and 21 countries. That’s a good return on a $1.5 million investment.
State economic development officials insist their priorities these days have to be focused on job creation. But an event that attracts a worldwide television audience is a priceless advertisement for Missouri, a boost to tourism, and that means jobs.
Organizers believe in coming years that private sponsors will replace state investment, which now covers half the cost. That’s the right approach going forward.
Republican Lt. Gov. Pete Kinder is a big backer of the race. If this is a Democratic slap at one of the state’s high-profile Republicans, as some suspect, it’s shameful.
Bottom line, the Tour of Missouri is a boon for our beautiful state. Canceling is a losing idea.
Business Journal: Tourism board reaffirms commitment to Tour of Missouri
by Kelsey Volkmann St. Louis Business Journal
The Missouri Tourism Commission voted Friday to reaffirm its commitment to fund the Tour of Missouri.
But Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration still has the final say on funding for the cycling event, a Nixon aide said.
With the race two months away, Nixon’s economic development director Linda Martinez proposed cutting $1.5 million in state funding for the event, putting it in jeopardy.
The event has a $3.3 million budget that relies on $1.5 million from the state, with the rest coming from private sponsors, including Anheuser-Busch, Drury Hotels and Edward Jones.
State budget director Linda Luebbering will review Martinez’s budget recommendations, John Fougere, a spokesman for Martinez, said Thursday.
The race is slated to start Sept. 7 in St. Louis and end Sept. 13 in Kansas City.
The 2008 Tour of Missouri drew an estimated 434,000 spectators at some time during the event, having a total economic impact of $29.8 million, up from $26.2 million in 2007. The figures are according to an economic impact study conducted by German-based sports marketing and research firm IFM, which has its domestic base in St. Louis.
The Missouri Tourism Commission voted Friday to reaffirm its commitment to fund the Tour of Missouri.
But Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration still has the final say on funding for the cycling event, a Nixon aide said.
With the race two months away, Nixon’s economic development director Linda Martinez proposed cutting $1.5 million in state funding for the event, putting it in jeopardy.
The event has a $3.3 million budget that relies on $1.5 million from the state, with the rest coming from private sponsors, including Anheuser-Busch, Drury Hotels and Edward Jones.
State budget director Linda Luebbering will review Martinez’s budget recommendations, John Fougere, a spokesman for Martinez, said Thursday.
The race is slated to start Sept. 7 in St. Louis and end Sept. 13 in Kansas City.
The 2008 Tour of Missouri drew an estimated 434,000 spectators at some time during the event, having a total economic impact of $29.8 million, up from $26.2 million in 2007. The figures are according to an economic impact study conducted by German-based sports marketing and research firm IFM, which has its domestic base in St. Louis.
News-Leader: Tourism Commission sticks with Tour of Missouri
By Chad Livengood Springfield News-Leader
The Missouri Tourism Commission voted 7-0 today to maintain $1.5 million in funding for the Tour of Missouri bicycle race, despite the fact Gov. Jay Nixon's administration has frozen funds for the international sporting event in September.
In a conference call, many of the commissioners said the independent panel has an obligation to fund the Tour of Missouri this year, but future years would be subject to further debate.
"We as a commission have made this decision and we have to stand by it," said Tourism Commissioner Marci Bennett of St. Joseph.
Nixon's Department of Economic Development has recommended the governor's budget office withhold $1.5 million from the Division of Tourism specifically for the bicycle race that's heavily promoted by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican and de facto critic of the Democratic governor.
“It seems like this is a tug of war between the governor’s office and Tourism,” said Commissioner Kelly Swanson, owner of the Port of Kimberling marina and campground on Table Rock Lake.
In April, the Missouri Tourism Commission voted in favor of contributing $1.5 million of its approximately $24 million budget to promoting the bicycle race.
In order to spare the race, Tour of Missouri officials say they need reassurances from Nixon's office that the funding will not be cut by next Friday.
At issue is the Nixon administration ordering the Division of Tourism to submit all expenditures to DED officials for prior approval.Unlike most state agencies, the Division of Tourism is directed by the autonomous Missouri Tourism Commission.Kinder, who chairs the commission, and his general counsel, Rich AuBuchon, said the Nixon administration's restrictions against the Tourism Division is "unprecedented" in state government.
“I am unaware of any other division in state government that has that kind of restriction put on them,” said Kinder, a second-term statewide officeholder and former state senator.
AuBuchon later added: "This type of action is unprecedented and I believe usurps the power of the commission."
Some commissioners hinted that the Tourism Commission is being targeted by Nixon for a political fight with Kinder.
“I do find its strange that we’re the only agency being scrutinized through the voucher system,” Swanson said. “If they’re going to do it, they need to do it to all of the agencies."
Katie Steele Danner, the new deputy director of DED, told the commission the spending restrictions were in response to the governor's mandate that all state departments cut a total of $60 million from the 2010 budget Nixon signed into law last month.
“I have been ensured that this is a temporary situation until we can get our arms the expenditure restriction challenges,” said Danner, who is from Hollister.
Danner said she needed to collect additional information about how much the state subsidizes the Tour of Missouri and who controls the money.
Bob Smith, director of the Division of Tourism, said his agency turns over the $1.5 million to Tour of Missouri Inc., a nonprofit set up by Kinder's office to manage the race in conjunction with a private contractor.The Missouri Development Finance Board, which Kinder used to chair until Nixon took office in January, also contributed $500,000 to the Tour of Missouri from fees it receives for selling tax credits to major developers, Kinder said.
With less than 60 days until the 12-city professional bicycle race begins, Kinder and commissioners pleaded with Danner to get the governor to spare the Tour of Missouri from his budget ax as soon as possible.
Canceling the race this close to the start, Kinder said, "destroys the credibility of the Division of Tourism and the state of Missouri if this goes forward.”
The Missouri Tourism Commission voted 7-0 today to maintain $1.5 million in funding for the Tour of Missouri bicycle race, despite the fact Gov. Jay Nixon's administration has frozen funds for the international sporting event in September.
In a conference call, many of the commissioners said the independent panel has an obligation to fund the Tour of Missouri this year, but future years would be subject to further debate.
"We as a commission have made this decision and we have to stand by it," said Tourism Commissioner Marci Bennett of St. Joseph.
Nixon's Department of Economic Development has recommended the governor's budget office withhold $1.5 million from the Division of Tourism specifically for the bicycle race that's heavily promoted by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican and de facto critic of the Democratic governor.
“It seems like this is a tug of war between the governor’s office and Tourism,” said Commissioner Kelly Swanson, owner of the Port of Kimberling marina and campground on Table Rock Lake.
In April, the Missouri Tourism Commission voted in favor of contributing $1.5 million of its approximately $24 million budget to promoting the bicycle race.
In order to spare the race, Tour of Missouri officials say they need reassurances from Nixon's office that the funding will not be cut by next Friday.
At issue is the Nixon administration ordering the Division of Tourism to submit all expenditures to DED officials for prior approval.Unlike most state agencies, the Division of Tourism is directed by the autonomous Missouri Tourism Commission.Kinder, who chairs the commission, and his general counsel, Rich AuBuchon, said the Nixon administration's restrictions against the Tourism Division is "unprecedented" in state government.
“I am unaware of any other division in state government that has that kind of restriction put on them,” said Kinder, a second-term statewide officeholder and former state senator.
AuBuchon later added: "This type of action is unprecedented and I believe usurps the power of the commission."
Some commissioners hinted that the Tourism Commission is being targeted by Nixon for a political fight with Kinder.
“I do find its strange that we’re the only agency being scrutinized through the voucher system,” Swanson said. “If they’re going to do it, they need to do it to all of the agencies."
Katie Steele Danner, the new deputy director of DED, told the commission the spending restrictions were in response to the governor's mandate that all state departments cut a total of $60 million from the 2010 budget Nixon signed into law last month.
“I have been ensured that this is a temporary situation until we can get our arms the expenditure restriction challenges,” said Danner, who is from Hollister.
Danner said she needed to collect additional information about how much the state subsidizes the Tour of Missouri and who controls the money.
Bob Smith, director of the Division of Tourism, said his agency turns over the $1.5 million to Tour of Missouri Inc., a nonprofit set up by Kinder's office to manage the race in conjunction with a private contractor.The Missouri Development Finance Board, which Kinder used to chair until Nixon took office in January, also contributed $500,000 to the Tour of Missouri from fees it receives for selling tax credits to major developers, Kinder said.
With less than 60 days until the 12-city professional bicycle race begins, Kinder and commissioners pleaded with Danner to get the governor to spare the Tour of Missouri from his budget ax as soon as possible.
Canceling the race this close to the start, Kinder said, "destroys the credibility of the Division of Tourism and the state of Missouri if this goes forward.”
Associated Press: Tourism Signals Support for Tour of Missouri
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Missouri Tourism Commission has reaffirmed its support for the Tour of Missouri bicycle race in the face of a potential state budget cut.
Gov. Jay Nixon's administration has frozen $1.5 million of tourism funding intended for the race and is considering whether to eliminate the money to help balance the state budget.
Organizers say that would force the cancellation of the September bicycle race.
At a meeting Thursday, members of the state Tourism Commission questioned whether Nixon's administration has the legal authority to control how it spends its money. Commissioners voted to reaffirm their $1.5 million commitment to the race.
Nixon budget director Linda Luebbering said the potential Tour of Missouri cut remains under review.
http://ky3.blogspot.com/2009/07/tourism-signals-support-for-tour-of.html
Gov. Jay Nixon's administration has frozen $1.5 million of tourism funding intended for the race and is considering whether to eliminate the money to help balance the state budget.
Organizers say that would force the cancellation of the September bicycle race.
At a meeting Thursday, members of the state Tourism Commission questioned whether Nixon's administration has the legal authority to control how it spends its money. Commissioners voted to reaffirm their $1.5 million commitment to the race.
Nixon budget director Linda Luebbering said the potential Tour of Missouri cut remains under review.
http://ky3.blogspot.com/2009/07/tourism-signals-support-for-tour-of.html
Star: Tourism to governor: Pay me my money down
by Jason Noble
Kansas City Star
JEFFERSON CITY The Missouri Tourism Commission voted unanimously this afternoon reemphasize its commitment to the Tour of Missouri bicycle race.
Implicit in the vote was a plea to Gov. Jay Nixon to release a hold on state funding for the event. The hold, which restricts the state's Division of Tourism from paying its $1.5 million share of race costs, was put into place Wednesday, shortly after the funds were identified as a possible budget cut .
Organizers of the $3.3 million tour have said cutting the state contribution would submarine the event less than two months before it's scheduled to begin. That could open the state and tour organizers to breach-of-contract lawsuits, leave spectators, cycling teams and sponsors in a lurch and cost the state economy tens of millions of dollars in lost revenues, they say.
The Nixon administration has said it is reviewing numerous cuts, of which the tour funding is one, and has made no final decisions.
If the hold was removed, the commission could pay $1.5 million upon request to Tour of Missouri Inc., the organization that officials runs the event.
The commission's vote from this afternoon doesn't carry any authority, but telegraphs members' frustration with the delay and possible cut.
Much of the conference call in which the vote took place was spent discussing similarly symbolic acts and airing discontent with the Nixon administration's actions.
Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, the commission chairman also pledged to call the Nixon personally on the matter.
Nixon is a Democrat and Kinder is a Republican. Political antagonism between the two appears to be at least somewhat at play in the current situation.
At one point in the free-flowing and at times stream-of-consciousness meeting, Kinder warned of the negatives facing the state if officials indeed pulled the plug on the tour:
"It destroys the credibility of the Tourism commission and the state of Missouri, in my opinion, if this goes forward" he said.
Also on the call, the tour backers seemed to pick up an ally in Katie Steele Danner, a deputy director in the state Department of Economic Development who said she would advocate for the tour to the administration officials who control its fate.
Danner is one of the DED officials whose name appears on a memo to budget officials proposing the cut.
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