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.

Firebrand, thanks for your civil and thoughtful answer. I don’t necessarily disagree with the aspect of using the event as a bully pulpit for healthy lifestyles. We could all use more of that. For that matter, perhaps the existing privately owned professional sports teams in Missouri could recruit their athletes to help carry this message with some real in-state familiarity from celebrities who may be better known to Missourians. As I stated earlier, I can agree in principle that it’s too late in the game to yank funding and disrupt many small businesses that may be counting on selling gasoline, food and lodging and souvenirs. But the event needs to start weaning off state funding and standing on its own. Perhaps if the third year is a success, than can be one emphasis for the organizers. I don’t know anyone who is against cancer research and I didn’t mean for my comments to be interpreted that you are against it, either. But in the great scheme of things, where the various state budget messes are concerned, and Illinois and California spring immediately to mind, Missouri must take a more conservative approach overall in its spending priorities. I find it ironic that the Democratic governor, Jay Nixon, is taking the lead in this regard and the self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, Republican Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder, is in the opposing corner in favor of state subsidies. Kinder was also driving a questionable deal to spend state money to build a facility at Missouri Western in St. Joseph to lure the Kansas City Chiefs training campa back to Missouri. I agree in principal that it’s a worthy goal, but I should think St. Joseph business leaders or those from KC and northwest Missouri could have stepped up and bought bonds or even contributed private philanthropy to build that new workout facility on the campus. We have simply gotten too free with spending state money in areas that do not allow for basic services to be adequately covered, including health coverage for children and the poor. That’s my issue, not the worthiness, in principle, of a nice tourism event like this bike race. Thanks for hearing me out.

“That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.”-Thomas Jefferson. We live in a time of instant gratitude, blame, and greed. We hide behind screen names and second guess over politics and money. Do you really think cancelling this event is going to help Missouri that much? How about a $1.5 million reduction in state provided benefits for politicians? Politicians are not going to get us out of this mess, we are. When we start to take away events and memories like these from our children, what comes next? We are becoming more fat, more greedy, and more ignorant as a nation. ITS TIME to wake up! If seeing this event gets one child on a bicycle and prevents them from dying of heart disease at 35, it will be more than worth my tax money.