Nixon Dedicates $12M to Produce Jobs Through Community Colleges

Governor Jay Nixon brought his push for new jobs to Springfield Tuesday, announcing a $12 million dollar pot of money available for community college training programs.

WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 10 REPORT HERE

The idea is targeting job sectors with a growing need -- and the state's 12 community colleges will compete for the funds. The Governor said applications will be judged on who can create or expand programs that will get people to work the fastest. The program targets such fields at veterinary and pharmacy technicians, nursing aides and other skilled crafts.

*WATCH CLIPS ABOVE*

"This is not about building a bureaucracy. This is about building people," Nixon said.

WOULD NOT set the program's job goal yet -- saying "we should have a pretty solid matrix" come mid-February when applications are due.

Missouri Unemployment Drops

Down to 9.3%

SIGN OF STABILITY A BRIGHT SPOT FOR NIXON

Missouri's unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a point to 9.3 percent in October, keeping the Show-Me State's jobless rate about one full point below the national average.

Nationally, the unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent last month. This is the eighth consecutive month that Missouri's unemployment rate was lower than the national average. The state's total nonfarm payroll increased by about 4,000 jobs.

"The October unemployment percentages suggest that Missouri’s job market continues to stabilize while demonstrating what independent economic sources have already been reporting about the health of our state’s economy," said Gov. Jay Nixon in a statement. "We are encouraged by these improving indicators and determined to move forward in creating good-paying jobs and continuing to work to secure investment in Missouri."

The Department of Economic Development cited a Moody's Economy.com report that Missouri was one of 11 states showing signs of emerging from the national recession.

Read more HERE.

Nixon Pools $266 M For Water & Sewage Projects

"Thousands of jobs"

Gov. Jay Nixon committed $266 million dollars of federal and state money to water and sewer projects Monday, which he pledged would create or save thousands of construction jobs across the state.

Nixon is dedicating $146 million dollars in federal stimulus money and adding it to $120 million dollars in state funds.

Springfield is getting nearly $16.3 million dollars -- but a city spokeswoman said that money wasn't knew to council. The city had applied for the money several months ago and state officials indicated Springfield had "among the highest scores," according to city spokeswoman Louise Whall.

Nixon said it's hard to tell exactly how many jobs would be created or saved by the package, but added that it will make sure workers will "have a place to work in the fall."

"The workers that are working here, instead of going home when this job ends and waiting for the next job, there's going to be a job for them," Nixon said at the site of a waste water pipeline project, unrelated to this funding stream.

*WATCH Q & A CLIPS ABOVE*

COVERAGE ON KY3 NEWS @ 6 & 10

Missouri Pols Play Unemployment Blame Game

Missouri Republicans hopped all over the new unemployment rate Friday, which hit double-digits for the first time in 26 years.

GOPers said the 10.2 percent jobless number proved that the Obama administration's massive economic stimulus package failed to accomplish its intended goals, eight months after its passage.

"While President Obama told us that the failed stimulus would keep unemployment below 8 percent, more than 10 percent of Americans are unemployed," Congressman Roy Blunt said in a statement.

The country lost 190,000 jobs in October, continuing a downward trend that began last spring.

The Obama administration noted that employment in temporary jobs increased by 33,700. Christina Romer, chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisors, said that number represented a sign of hope amid "painful evidence of continued labor market weakness."

"The motor vehicle industry also posted employment gains. These are hopeful signs that the unprecedented policy actions are working to stabilize the economy and put us on a path toward recovery," said Romer. Read her full statement HERE.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) attempted to tie Missouri's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate to the climb in unemployment.

"Robin Carnahan was among those Democrats who said that she would have voted in favor of the failed stimulus debacle," said NRSC press secretary Amber Wilkerson Marchand.

In an interview with The Notebook back in March, Carnahan did not specifically commit support to the $787 billion dollar stimulus package, but said "we've got to do something."

On the specific legislation, Carnahan said, "I didn't read the 18-hundred page bill and wasn't asked to vote on that. There's no reason for me to kind of talk about something I didn't have any input on. (You can watch the full clips from that interview HERE.)

Meanwhile, Missouri Democrats tried to reach back to the Bush administration to pin blame for the country's continuing economic problems. Missouri Democratic Party executive director Brian Zuzenak said that Blunt's 93 percent voting record with President Bush makes him responsible for one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression.

In the 7th Congressional District, Sen. Jack Goodman said the 10.2% unemployment rate "is another sure sign that the Pelosi-Obama stimulus has failed."

Goodman, who voted against a large state spending bill that included stimulus money, has tried to carve himself out as the most fiscally conservative Republican in the race to replace Roy Blunt.

"Stimulus bills, bailouts, and government takeovers have done little more than increase the national deficit by trillions of dollars that future generations of Americans will struggle to pay off," Goodman said.

Poll: 50% Greene County Residents Believe Missouri Heading in Right Direction

A new Missouri State University poll shows Greene County residents are a bit more optimistic about their financial futures than you might think.

And a plurality believe the state is heading in the right direction.

WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 10 REPORT HERE

QUESTION: Do you think that a year from now, you and your family will be better off financially than you are now, worse off, or about the same as you are now?

BETTER OFF 38%
WORSE OFF 10%
ABOUT THE SAME 47%

QUESTION: Do you think things in Missouri are generally heading in the right direction or wrong direction?

RIGHT DIRECTION 50%
WRONG DIRECTION 32%
NOT SURE 17%

Both polls based on 591 responses from Greene County residents between Sept. 26th and Oct. 11th. The margin of error is 4%.

PLUS: MSU POLLING DIRECTOR CALFANO ON WHAT RIGHT DIRECTION NUMBER MEANS FOR GOV. NIXON:



"I also think it might be a welcome sense of relief for Governor Nixon."

*WATCH CLIPS ABOVE*

MORE from the polls:

Future Economic Thoughts:
38% Democrats believe they'll be better off; 44% of Republicans
60% 18-34 year olds believe they'll be better off; Just 21% of those 55 & Older

State of Missouri Right Direction/Wrong Direction:
REPUBLICANS: 50% Right Direction, 34% Wrong Direction
DEMOCRATS 60% Right Direction, 27% Wrong Direction
MALES 47% Right Direction, 36% Wrong Direction
FEMALES 53% Right Direction, 29% Wrong Direction

Skelton Meets With Labor Secretary

Congressman Ike Skelton recently met with U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to discuss the unemployment rate in the 4th Congressional District.

"We talked about a number of matters during the meeting. But, I was particularly eager to share my concerns about the high unemployment rate in the Fourth District and to discuss how we can boost jobs and job training in rural Missouri. It is vital that we prepare our workforce to compete and succeed in the 21st century global economy," said Skelton in a statement.

"While last week’s report indicating 12,000 jobs were saved or created by the Recovery Act in the Fourth District is welcome news, more work remains. I am hopeful that the Secretary will take seriously my concerns and will share them with her colleagues in the Administration," he added, without getting into specifics.
***

MEANWHILE: The U.S. Senate voted to give the unemployed up to 20 weeks of additional unemployment benefits and expand the home buyers tax credit program.

Sen. Kit Bond's communications maestro notes that Sen. Kit Bond supports extending unemployment benefits but objected to the homebuyer tax credit extension.

"I object to including an expansion of the homebuyer tax credit program in the bill, which comes at a high cost to taxpayers, has been ripe with fraud and abuse, and runs the risk of recreating another housing crisis," Bond said.

More Polling

Missouri State University's political science department releases numbers on Greene County voters perception of the economy and if they believe Missouri is heading in the right or wrong direction.

DEVELOPING . . .

FOR Ky3 News @ 10

Bond One of Only Two Opposing Procedural Vote On Unemployment Benefits

McCaskill Abstains
Sen. Kit Bond was one of just two Senators voting against an amendment that could pave the way for the federal government to extend unemployment benefits.

The vote to invoke cloture was 85-2. That is well above the 60 needed to limit amendments and move the legislation toward a final vote, which is likely later this week. It provides up to 14 additional weeks of unemployment benefits.

HERE's the vote breakdown.

BUT: The Associated Press notes the vote also effectively blocked Republicans from trying to terminate at year's end the financial rescue plan known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. The GOP is arguing that Democrats are using unspent TARP money as a slush fund to pay for programs unrelated to financial stabilization. Republicans also cried fowl about a move to cut off debate and not allow votes on amendments.

The legislation also includes an extension of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, that is set to expire. On Monday, Bond's office said the senior Senator was wary of extending that benefit because of widespread fraud, cited by the Inspector General.

"According to the Brookings Institution, the vast majority of home-buyers who used the credit would have bought a home without it and at best, the credit simply brought forward home sales that would have occurred in the future. The Brookings Institution estimates that only 15 percent or 350,000 sales were directly attributable to the tax credit," said Bond in his floor speech. "For the vast majority of cases, the home-buyer tax credit amounted to a free gift since it did not affect their decision to purchase a home," he added.

Nixon Launches Microsoft Training, Gets Jobs Questions

Governor Jay Nixon announced a partnership with Microsoft Monday that will provide free computer training to nearly 25,000 Missourians.

It's called "Elevate America" -- and at no cost to the state, people can get online tutorials and earn certifications on variety of information technology platforms. Nixon touted the 24,750 available slots at a stop in Springfield.

*WATCH CLIP ABOVE*

To get a voucher needed to participate, click HERE and hit up the "Microsoft Voucher" tab.

PLUS: THE UNEMPLOYED ASK FOR HELP

Man, drawing unemployment, searching for work asks Gov. Nixon: "What are my options if the federal extended benefits run out?"

Nixon: "I expect . . . they're going to continue to extend that. But you don't want unemployment, you want a job."

Adds: "We will work to make sure that we sensitize our federal partners about how important it is to keep these basic unemployment benefits moving . . ."

*FULL EXCHANGE ABOVE*

Seniority Will Drive Some State Park Cuts

Some senior state parks employees will be able to avoid layoffs by taking more junior positions, according to a Department of Natural Resources spokesperson.

Employees learned Monday that more than 100 positions will be eliminated due to declining tax revenues.

But exactly which employees will lose their jobs won't be determined for another three weeks.

DNR spokesman Travis Ford said employees with seniority will have more options. "In some cases, they have the right to do that," Ford told The Notebook Monday.

"We know it's going to be more than 100. We don't know exactly what the number will be," Ford said.

Job reductions will be spread across the state, from the central office to regional offices, down to individual parks.

"The most important thing we had to do is to let these employees know today. It's not fun to announce but we needed to get them notified," Ford said.

Ford said senior employees will have three weeks to decide whether they'd like to stay on in a more junior position.

He said the the department would have more specifics on what jobs will be cut and where in early November.

Get more from the Associated Press HERE.

Springfield CEOs Urge Nixon: Invest In Existing Business

Springfield business leaders pitched their economic ideas to Gov. Jay Nixon on Tuesday as he considers a bond issue to fund statewide capital improvements.

The governor was in the city for a brainstorming session to help form his 2010 economic legislative agenda. Most of the business leaders urged the governor to focus resources on what already works.

Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation has been one of the city's most successful enterprises but Chief Executive Officer Jack Stack said that even he is having trouble getting access to the capital necessary to grow.

“It is unbelievably tough. The game has changed radically,” said Stack.

Read & Watch the KY3 News @ 6 Report HERE.

Martinez Resigns

"We Need To Take Our Effort . . . To The Next Level"

Gov. Jay Nixon's director of Economic Development has resigned after only a little more than eight months on the job.

The St. Louis Business Journal first reported the resignation HERE.

In a brief statement, Martinez reportedly wrote to Nixon, "I am sorry we have been unable to meet and therefore we have been unable to discuss and reconcile our different views on how to move the state that we both love forward."

Martinez, a St. Louis lawyer, was the first woman to hold the position of Economic Development director.

NIXON STATEMENT:

"Today, I accepted the resignation of Linda Martinez as director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. I appreciate the work Linda has done over the first eight months of this administration. Her efforts to create jobs and to give the department increased economic development tools, including the successful passage of a bi-partisan jobs bill, will continue to pay dividends to the people of Missouri. I wish her success in her return to private practice, where she will continue to be an asset to this state. It is clear that we need to take our effort to create jobs to the next level. To that end, I have started a Show-Me Business Tour to meet with business leaders across the state to hear about the opportunities and challenges facing their companies," Gov. Nixon said.

"There is much work to be done to attract more businesses to Missouri and put more of our citizens back to work. We will immediately begin a search for a new director. Until that time, Deputy Director Katie Steele Danner will be the interim director of the department," he added.

Hotel Lodging: Nixon's Tourism Cut Will Cost Jobs

The Missouri Hotel Lodging Association estimates 2,500 hotel workers will lose their jobs due to Gov. Jay Nixon's administration's cuts to the tourism division.

The Department of Economic Development is cutting the division's budget by 35 percent.

"When Governor Nixon announced he was asking state agencies to trim their budgets last week, Missouri's travel industry had no idea that DED would take $7 million of its $11.3 cut from the Division of Tourism, ordering most other departmental agencies to trim only 10 percent or less. The proposal by DED is tantamount to placing a lesser value on tourism, an industry that has significantly propped up the state's economy during these lean times," Ramona Mormann, executive director of the Missouri Hotel Lodging Association, told The Notebook.

The Governor's office has said tourism had a $4.5 million dollar balance to use left over from last year. But the tourism director disputes that calculation.

"For every $1 invested by the state in marketing tourism, Missouri's economy sees a return of $48.13. A cut of this size will be felt by travel-related businesses in both metropolitan and rural parts of the state," said Mormann. "Missouri's hotel industry stands behind its projected job loss figures, noting that a cut of this magnitude will result in a five point drop in hotel occupancy and a $334 million decline in revenue for Missouri's travel industry. To single out tourism to shoulder the burden of cuts from a DED budget of over $73 million will cost Missouri jobs and visitor-generated tax revenues at a time when the state's economy can least afford it," she said.

Loophole Allows Unemployment Benefits For Those Not Laid Off

At a time when the number of unemployment insurance claims is at its highest in years, a loophole lets some people collect money even though they weren't laid off.

Attorney Stacey Page admits the unemployment system can sometimes be too lenient.

"Most of the time, if an employer doesn't contest it, it goes through," said Page.

She says, to deny unemployment benefits, it's up to the employer to prove the person was discharged for misconduct. In fact, that's what it says right on a Missouri Division of Employment Security document.

WATCH Cara Restelli's KY3 NEWS REPORT HERE

Nixon in Springfield Wednesday For Jobs Bill Signing

Gov. Jay Nixon will be in Springfield Wednesday afternoon to sign ceremonial copies of bill that expands incentives the state can use to attract new business.

***

Read the "Quality Jobs" legislation HERE.

Nixon's Springfield event will be held at the Chamber of Commerce on 202 S. John Q Hammons Parkway at 2:30 p.m.

Missouri Unemployment Drops in April

8.7% to 8.1%

Missouri's unemployment rate in April dropped by more than half a percentage point to 8.1 percent, the Associated Press notes.

The drop from 8.7 percent in March breaks a nearly yearlong string of rising unemployment numbers and is the greatest monthly drop since at least January 1976.

THE BAD NEWS: In April, Missouri still lost 9,300 jobs in manufacturing, retail and leisure and hospitality.

AND: April also generally posts lower unemployment rates because seasonal work and outdoor industries are hiring but school is still in session.

VIDEO: Nixon Touts Summer Internships for Students

Thousands of Missouri students will be able to take advantage of paid internships this summer, courtesy of the federal government.

Governor Jay Nixon said the state will receive $25 million dollars from the federal stimulus package to help match up students between ages 16 and 24 with high-tech companies that could use the extra help. Springfield's Associated Electric Cooperative is one of the area employer participants. After touring the company Tuesday, the Governor said he hoped the program would help prepare students for "next generation" jobs, as well as begin to pull the state out of its economic rut.

*WATCH HIS COMMENTS & TOUR ABOVE*

"The program will provide much needed short-term employment in a difficult economy. Young people will be able to earn a little extra money this summer to help their families make ends meet," Nixon added.

So far more than a thousand students have applied for 6,000 slots. More than 200 employers have also expressed interest.

"And for employers out there, we're paying, so we're asking for more and more employers to work with us," Nixon urged.

To register for the program, click HERE.

Mo. Unemployment Climbed to 8.7% in March

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) -- Missouri shed nearly 11,000 jobs last month as the state's unemployment rate also climbed.

Job figures released Monday by the state Department of Economic Development show that Missouri's jobless rate in March climbed to 8.7 percent from 8.3 percent in February.

The state lost 2,500 construction jobs and 4,800 manufacturing jobs, along with losses in several other sectors. But 1,900 retail trade jobs were added in March.

Missouri's unemployment rate has climbed in nine of the last 10 months. The March unemployment rate is the state's highest since December 1983.

Engler: "We're Not Near Pressure Time Yet"

UNDER PRESSURE

GOP Floor Leader Kevin Engler believes the Senate may not reach a compromise on legislation to expand tax incentives for businesses until the upper chamber faces the pressure that comes with the end of the legislative session.

"If we don't get these done in two to three weeks, we're ok. It's still possible to get them done," said Sen. Engler, referring to stimulus funding, the Ameren nuclear plant bill and the economic development legislation as three items that will take up the most time and fuel the most contentious debate during the last month of the session.

*5 weeks remain in the legislative session. It ends May 15th*

***

On Wednesday, the Senate debated Governor Jay Nixon's top economic priority for more than 10 hours without reaching a compromise. Conservative Republicans want to reign in the tax credits doled out to businesses who set up shop in Missouri by installing a cap. A group of liberal Democrats have been filibustering the bill to prevent a credit cap that they argue would inhibit development and revitalization in urban areas. The House version of the bill would eliminate the current $60 million dollar cap on tax credits.

"I've never seen the same bill being filibustered on both sides of the aisle for opposite reasons," Engler said. "Some things have to be done under pressure. We're not near pressure time yet."

Engler defined "pressure time" as the final two weeks of the session. He said that's when outside influences will begin to take hold and pressure both sides to cut a deal.

"You'll get groups to tell their side, 'you've got to give some reforms,' so we can keep our program or get our bill," Engler explained.

The earliest the Senate will take up the economic development bill again will be in two weeks. Next week's debate will be entirely focused on the 2010 budget.

Labor Dept. Finds 39 Fraudulently Using Unemployment

The Missouri Department of Labor reports that audits of unemployment insurance have lead to 39 people pleading guilty to fraud charges.

***

According to Director Larry Rebman, routine audits revealed that 39 ineligible individuals received the benefits. "These individuals provided false information on weekly applications for UI benefits which caused benefits to be paid improperly," said Rebman in a release.


The individuals are charged with stealing by deceit and are court ordered to pay close to $150,000 in restitution. Those charged face a Class C felony and will be ordered to make restitution.

Rebman says HB916 would prevent those with outstanding penalties due to fraud, receiving unemployment insurance.