A conservative group is targeting Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon with new ads in support of a ballot measure limiting the governor's budget-balancing powers.
The Missouri Club for Growth says it began airing TV ads today in support of proposed Constitutional Amendment 10 on the November ballot.
The proposal would allow legislators to reverse a governor's decision to freeze or slow the rate of spending for items in the state budget. It also would limit the governor's ability to assume new revenue from policy proposals when making budget recommendations.
A Nixon spokesman says the governor opposes the amendment because it could weaken safeguards against overspending.
The new ads accuse Nixon of, quote, "playing political games" with budget cuts.
The Club for Growth declined to reveal the funding source for the ads
According to the group’s quarterly reports to the Missouri Ethics Commission, Billionaire Rex Sinquefield has donated over one and a half million dollars since 2010.
The documents show specifically that Sinquefield contributed $125,000 in the quarter ending inSeptember of 2010, $500,005 and $160,000in July and October of 2012 and $750,000 to the group in July of 2013.
