– A spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Friday that the governor is not trying to “poach” jobs from Missouri during his trip next wee
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (PoliticMo Photo)
k but is trying to teach the state a lesson.
“All across the country, Gov. Perry has taken the same message that states competing against each other benefits everyone by creating jobs and promoting economic freedom,” Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said. “Missouri’s success is important to our economic strength as a nation, and if Texas can push Missouri to implement more competitive economic policies, we all benefit.”
The comment came in response to mounting criticism of a television and radio ad campaign preceding Perry’s visit. Commercials running on broadcast stations statewide are critical of Gov. Jay Nixon for vetoing the General Assembly’s tax cut package, House Bill 253, and tout Texas’s economic and regulatory environment.
On Friday, KTRS in St. Louis said they would pull the commercials, purchased by a private-public partnership in Texas tasked with promoting the state nationwide, because the station feared they were “focused on stealing locally owned companies away from St Louis.”
“When the order was placed, KTRS was under the assumption these commercials were going to promote tourism to Texas,” he said. “We understand people have different viewpoints on public policy and we welcome that debate everyday on our airways. But as one of the few remaining locally owned radio stations in the country, we feel the need to stand strong with other small locally owned business and defend our region. Governor Rick Perry, Don’t Mess with Missouri, and don’t mess with St Louis.”
The station was praised by Nixon on Friday, who said in a statement that the station was “taking a stand for Missouri business.” Nixon said in Missouri, there are “lower sales taxes, lower property taxes and higher student test scores – advantages that continue to attract jobs and investment from global brands like Boeing, Monsanto, General Motors, Ford, Expedia and Cerner.”
Perry is scheduled to be in Missouri next Thursday.