If Lieutenant Governor Kinder is any sort of fiscal manager at all, why didn’t he have these alternatives fleshed out months ago? Or is he just waking up to Missouri’s fiscal condition?

If Missouri state government is to avoid the fiscal messes that have only deepened in California, Illinois and other states, our leaders must prioritize. Governor Nixon has stepped up and prioritized. This means not just considering removing state funding propping up a bike race. It has meant reducing or withholding funds for much more worthy projects such as higher education construction and building maintenance, including fund for an updated state cancer hospital.

It’s so sadly ironic that Republican Lieutenant Governor Kinder postures as a fiscal conservative, but Democratic Governor Nixon is walking the walk. I am a fiscal conservative and political independent. This has increased my respect for Governor Nixon and lessened my respect for Lieutenant Governor Kinder and his frivolous spending on bike racing.

The Tourism budget for last year was about $23 million. It was cut for the current year, beginning July 1, to $17.5 million. So Kinder and the tourism commission already had slashed their budget by about 20 percent. That budget was approved by the governor, who then asked all state departments to come up $325 million more in cuts. This $1.5 million is part of the $325 million. So, the Tourism Commission has cut its budget already — as have all state departments — and are being asked to do so again. The head of the department of economic development, which includes tourism, suggested the $1.5 million cut for tourism come from the Tour of Missouri allocation — the state’s entire contribution to the race.
So, today, the commission will discuss alternatives from other parts of the tourism budget, in an effort to keep the race alive this year.

Brookings,

You are soooo shortsighted. “A bike race.” This event has become a showcase event for the state, and the outlay of state dollars has always been minimal. The event is drawing the very best in cycling, and it’s drawn passionate fans from around the nation spending dollars in our state. The return on investment has simply been worth every penny and then some. It’s probably one of the most effective things the state has EVER done to promote tourism. I think Peter Kinder should be commended for his involvement in this from early on. We need more of these ideas to highlight to outsiders what a great place MO is, and they’ve been able to involve the whole state in the process. Big cities and rural areas, which is not so easy to do. I am only a casual biker myself, but have gotten quite a kick out of following this race and seeing it so swiftly evolve into a top event. I fail to see why the state should be funding an “updated state cancer hospital” when every hospital has recently built their own castle of a cancer center, and as non-profits, they’re paying no taxes to state and local government coffers.

Even if it were a beer drinking contest - it brings a lot of money into the state. Good ROI. Cut something that doesn’t make money, like politicians’ salaries.

Regardless of whether you are pro bike race or a budget hawk, the State has left the organizers in a lurch by pulling out sooooo late. I guess its different with the State, but wouldn’t a private sponsor be contractually obligated and have to pay a fee to back out at this late date?

I agree with “fire”. The state pushes tourism and the Tour of Missouri draws thousands from out of state to various areas of our state. It uses uses 1.5 million as front money and returns 20+ million. Seems to me this is a great way to advertise our entire state. Many of these tourists are repeaters that come only for the race. My family and friends all watch the event and are looking forward to it this year. This has become the 2nd best cycling event in the country and is viewed around the world. Need better advertising?????

The tour has not been cut yet. It is just a proposed cut. The state has ways of moving money around. I wouldn’t get to excited until it is all said and done.

Firebrand. Please don’t misunderstand - I think the bike race is a great thing. So great that private funding should underwrite it and make a profit. If the affinity for the event is as extensive as you and others indicate, private funding should pour in.

I do agree that it is late notice, and that’s a major argument for keeping some state subsidy this year. It’s probably better to find a way to supplement it this year and wean it from public subsidy next year.

I’m just about prioritizing. Helping cancer patients and cancer research versus underwriting a tourism event is a no-brainer. Ellis Fischel State Cancer Center isn’t just a hospital - it is a cancer research center. That research will hopefully help generations to come, beyond a single-year tourism event. I think cancer survivor Lance Armstrong would agree with that goal.

brookings: yes choosing between a the tour that provides revenue and high class entertainment and athleticism to the whole state versus a small research center that spends tons of money, makes a profit and produces no tangible results is a no brainer; go with the tour.
what you fail to realize is that corporations see no money from taxes. mo realizes millions in tax revenue on moneys spent by tour organizers and fans. while it is worthwhile for corporations to sponsor the tour i doubt it is worth 1.5 million. the state pays so much because it profits the most. the money the state puts down to support this event is the only reason it is in this state. if it was run entirely by sponsors do you think they would hold this event here, of course not they would go to ny or someplace where more eyeballs would see their adds. private enterprise does not solve all problems.

Brookings,

I am not anti-cancer research, and am a proud graduate of a state university and in favor with (trying) to keep pace with the private’s building booms. And medical/biotech is vital to the MO economy and one of the few things we could still be relevant nationally for, so I don’t quibble with state budgetary emphasis there. But, as others have pointed out, private enterprise, esp. now, is not likely to pick up the slack in funding the 2010 Tour. Do you really think A-B Inbev will “ride” to the rescue? The state needs to find ways to replicate this creativity to other endeavors, not find a way to kill one of its most successful ideas ever to see the light of day. How’s this as a focus point to build off the spirit of the Tour, bound to help all of us, health-wise and dollar-wise: Get Missourians (all ages) off the couch and exercising and eating healthier like the Tour guys instead of habitually being one of the most obese and unhealthy states. I find it amazing so many other cultures don’t have near the cancer (and other) problems we do–all because they take better care of themselves.