COLUMBIA, Mo. – Gov. Jay Nixon said he will continue his campaign for lawmakers to sustain his veto of tax cut legislation, just a day after House Speaker Tim Jones publicly acknowledged that an override is unlikely.

Speaking on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia, where Nixon was to tout his administration’s estimates of HB 253’s impact on higher education, Nixon said Jones’s remarks on Tuesday that he does not “have the numbers” for override may reflect what the Republican Speaker is hearing from his members.

“My sense is that the legislators, many of them did not realize the problems that this bill has, are recognizing very clearly that there is no need to raise taxes on prescription drugs, defend our schools, or jeopardize our AAA credit rating,” he said. “I will continue to communicate what is necessary with lawmakers and stakeholders about the need to sustain this veto.”

Nixon added that as Republicans on the outside continue their push, including the Grow Missouri coalition with some $2.4 million in support from St. Louis area and mega-donor Rex Sinquefield, he, too, plans to “continue our education process to make sure everyone understands the gravity of this bill.”

On Wednesday, Nixon detailed his administration’s estimation of potential cuts to higher education if the veto were to be overridden – between $66.9 million or as high as $116 million if the federal Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 were to be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Jones, speaking to the St. Louis Beacon and St. Louis Public Radio’s collaborative podcast “Politically Speaking” on Tuesday, became the first Republican leadership member to publicly pronounce concern that the bill is “likely not going to be overridden.”

“Overriding this veto will be monumental if it happens, because right now, I have to say: I don’t know that we have the numbers,” he said. Jones added that if he did not find that his caucus fully supports an override, he likely would “not even attempt an override.”