Missouri Governor Eric Greitens made a rare appearance in Kansas City Wednesday morning to sign bills he says will help the state with job growth.
Three bills will make it harder to file a lawsuit against a business. Greitens said they will "protect jobs in Missouri from trial lawyers chasing business out of the state." They are Senate Bill 31, House Bill 339, and Senate Bill 66.
The fourth bill he signed will set up several "adult high schools" throughout the state what will help people get their diploma. Greitens said this applies to one in 10 Missourians.
While answering questions afterward, the conversation quickly shifted to the governor's veto of state funding to help build UMKC's new arts conservatory. The state would have forked over half of the $96 million construction at 18th & Broadway.
He defended the veto, indicating a "building for dancers and artists" is not the taxpayers' priority. He said taxpayers would have to foot a $75 million bill over 10 years in upkeep.
"It is important that the state continue to fund higher education, community colleges, technical colleges, four year universities, ways that get results for the people in the state," Greitens said.
UMKC is turning to private donors for the funding, which Greitens touts as a win for Missouri.
The governor went on to stress the importance of going to private donors for projects such as a conservatory.
"I'm a proponent of the arts. I like the arts. I did lots of documentary photography work when I was doing international humanitarian work all over the world," Greitens said.
While his visit to Kansas City largely focused on signing bills aimed at job growth, the governor also defended his decision to let minimum wage revert back to $7.70 in St. Louis, the standard across the state.
"We need to build an economy, a thriving economy. We're raising take-home pay for those in Missouri, and the way to do that is to create a thriving environment where businesses can grow jobs," Greitens said.
The governor also touched on the state legislature's special session on abortion, saying the Missouri Senate wasn’t working as quickly as he would like them to.
"I would like for them to have done this more quickly than they have. I'd like for them to come in, I think the House passed a really good bill. I'd like to see the Senate come in and pass this bill quickly so that we can protect pregnancy care centers and put in place some common-sense health and safety standards,” Greitens said.
