Gov. Jay Nixon told reporters Thursday he had no plans to change either his style or his approach in the aftermath of the GOP victories in Missouri.

Voters handed the Republican Party more seats in the General Assembly at any time in the state's history.

Nixon said he did not see a reason to switch tactics, saying he has been a middle-of-the road Democrat.

It was Nixon's first extended public comments about the Republican victories and subsequent legislative party caucuses since the November elections.

In his first office news conference in months, Gov. Jay Nixon Thursday said he plans to reschedule the canceled business trip involving the sale of Missouri products to Taiwan.

Nixon canceled the trip to Taiwan and South Korea last Friday, citing "travel challenges." On the trip, he was expected to sign a letter of intent for a trade deal worth $600 million to Missouri over the next five years.

At the conference, Nixon said tension between China and Taiwan played a role in the decision to cancel, but that he intends to seal the deal when he reschedules the trip.

"I think it's important to know we will continue to work with our partners to reschedule this trade mission," he said. "I value the relationships we have and the growing opportunities we have with both Taiwan and Korea. I think we have other opportunities also, be they in Asia, Europe or South America."

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Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse is Colleen Coble.

 She says the about three fourths of the emergency shelters in Missouri are full so far this year.

Reports from the Coalition in 2009 showed a 60 percent increase in refusing women in the shelters from over-capacity. Reports for this year have not been released yet.

Coble says there are other services being offered if shelters cannot take in women like job training and transportation vouchers.

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The president's proposed federal estate tax could bring millions of dollars in revenue back to Missouri, said State Budget Director Linda Luebbering.

Missouri received an average of $160 million a year from the federal estate tax when it was fully phased in, said Luebbering — money the state lost when the estate tax was fully repealed in 2010.

"If it came back and the federal government decided to share in that revenue with the state, it would actually be a positive for us," Luebbering said. "We're not counting on it, but if it were to happen, it would increase revenue for us."

The estate tax is currently scheduled to take effect again on Jan. 1, at a rate of 55 percent for estates worth more than $1 million.

Pres. Barack Obama proposed a lower estate tax as part of the bipartisan compromise. If passed, the federal government would impose a 35 percent tax on estates worth more than $5 million for the next two years.

"The Republicans have asked for more generous treatment on the estate tax than I think is wise or warranted," Obama said in a press conference. "But we have insisted that will be temporary."

If not passed by the legislature, the estate tax will default to the scheduled 55 percent tax with a $1 million exemption. In either case, this could mean more money for Missourians as long as the federal government is willing to share, said Luebbering.

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For the second time in as many days since abandoning a scheduled trade mission to Asia worth $600 million to Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon refused to talk with reporters at a media event.

After handing out a medal to a World War II veteran in Jefferson City on Tuesday, Nixon, whose office on Friday said the trip was postponed because of "travel challenges," simply walked away.

Nixon was supposed to travel to Taiwan and South Korea starting Friday. While in Taiwan, he was expected to sign an agreement for businesses there to purchase $120 million in Missouri exports for each of the next five years. A Nixon spokesman declined to say whether the Taiwanese business deal would happen.

"We put out a statement Friday afternoon; that's the extent of what we're going to say," said Scott Holste, a spokesman for the governor.

The trip was delayed after leaders of a proposed Midwest-China trade hub at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport said they were concerned Chinese leaders might be angry over the Taiwanese deal, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. China and Taiwan have clashed for years over Taiwanese independence.

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Both the governor's travel expenses and his public relations staff came under questioning by an interim House Budget Committee Monday.

The review is part of days of hearings by the committee in preparation for the legislative session that begins in January.

State Budget Director Linda Luebbering defended the work-load of the the governor's three full-time communications aids. She also acknowledged previous news stories that some of the governor's travel expenses are shifted to other agencies over which the governor has authority.

The Associated Press has reported by between June 2009 and May, the governor's flights at cost more than $260,000 with $80,000 covered by the Economic Development Department.

The governor's total budget for this current fiscal year is about $2 million to cover staff salaries, operational expenses and travel.

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Faced with the prospect of losing a U.S. House seat when the Republican-dominated state legislature redraws Congressional districts next session, St. Louis Democrats say one of their top priorities will be ensuring that the state's first congressional district retains its black plurality.

The first congressional district, represented by William Lacy Clay, Jr., is the only district in which blacks comprise a plurality of voters -- just under 50 percent of the total population -- and state legislators from that district argue it ought to stay that way.

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Governor Jay Nixon made a brief dedication to U.S. veterans for the Wreaths Across America Program Monday afternoon.

The Governor spoke for five minutes and the Patriot Guard Riders presented a wreath to him for their high success with raising money this year.

Head Coordinator for the Wreaths Across America Program spoke after the Governor made his opening remarks, and said the high success was a result of help from other companies which delivered at least 80 wreaths to each cemetery in Missouri.

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A bank headed by the chairman of the Missouri Bankers Association has filed suit challenging a state law restricting committee-to-committee transfer of campaign funds.

The provision passed by the legislature last spring was described as prohibiting transfers of money between political committees.

Supporters argued it would provide more transparency in campaign finance sources because the actual source of a contribution could not be as easily hidden by transfers of money between committees.

But the law also covers some types of banks.

Legends Bank in Linn and its president John Klebba, argue in their petition that the law violates their free speech rights.

Republican legislative leaders had promoted the campaign-transfer restriction and other transparency provisions has a more effective approach than the governor's call to restore limits on campaign contributions.

Montee was elected Saturday by the state Democratic Committee.

The switch in party leadership comes just weeks after the party suffered its biggest defeat in decades, including Montee's own defeat for re-election as state auditor.

Several Democrats have complained privately about the role of the party leading up to the campaign and had mentioned Montee as a possibility to shake things up.

Montee replaces Craig Hosmer, a former state House member and attorney in Springfield. He had not sought another two-year term as chair.

Flakes of plaster fall from the ceiling of the House Chamber and construction workers are called in to fix it before legislative session resumes.

Director of Operations for the House of Representatives Keith Sappington says he noticed the deteriorating plaster earlier this summer, but the problem has gotten worse this winter.

Sappington also says the workers will need three weeks at most to fix the ceiling, but it will definitely be fixed before legislative session.

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Gov. Jay Nixon has postponed upcoming trade mission visits to Taiwan and South Korea because of "travel challenges," his office said Friday.

Nixon was scheduled to travel to the two countries from Dec. 10 to Dec. 16. He planned to sign a letter of intent with Taiwanese leaders for businesses there to buy $120 million of Missouri products over the next five years, the Associated Press has reported.

The governor's office did not release any more details why the trip was being delayed, or when Nixon would travel to the two countries.

There will be not just one, but three Democratic party chairs heading committees in the Republican-led House of Representatives come January, including senior House member Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia.

The three Democratic chairmanships are the most to be granted to the minority in the history of the state House, said next year's house speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville.

"I visited with my dad a few weeks ago. My dad basically said, 'Listen, you have the opportunity to hop in a boat, float down the stream, end the ride and not do a lot but be excited that you were speaker. Or you can hop out of the boat, create some waves and charter a new course.' And that's exactly what I'm going to do," Tilley said.

With a vast majority of Republicans in the legislature, the appointments are a step to share power with the Democrats, he said.

Tilley announced his intention to appoint Kelly as chair of the Appropriations Committee on Public Safety and Corrections, Rep. Linda Black, D-Bonne Terre, as chair of the Corrections Committee and Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, as chair of the Urban Issues Committee.

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Missouri's Housing Development Commission will have to vote again on changes to its former employee conduct policies.

The beginning of the meeting was closed to the community to discuss a lawsuit regarding a former employee, but the agency's director Margaret Lineberry says the vote should've been held in public.

Lineberry says policy discussion will resume publicly later this month.

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A solution to Missouri's meth problem has arrived, but many state officials oppose the proposal.

Governor Nixon announced a policy on Tuesday to take Sudafed and other cold medicines off the shelves. People will be able to get the drugs by prescription only.

For nearly a decade Missouri has led the nation in meth production in the nation.

A detective in Jefferson County supports the policy. In 2009 Oregon, with the law already implemented, seized 13 meth labs. In Missouri, Jefferson County officials seized over 200.

Some state officials oppose the policy and say it is unlikely to pass into law.

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Missouri's State Auditor, Susan Montee, released an audit on the Missouri Technology Corporation Wednesday morning.

Montee says she and her staff found several issues involving conflict of interest with MTC board members.

After Montee and her staff began the audit, she says MTC later put into place a conflict of interest policy in June 2009.

She also says they found issues with misuse of money, involving travel expenses.

The corporation also did not meet it's goal of securing investments in technology-based companies.

The Missouri Gaming Commission voted unanimously to award the city of Cape Girardeau the state's 13th and last available gaming license Wednesday.

Cape Girardeau's plan pulled ahead of proposals from St. Louis and Sugar Creek. The commission's approval green-lights construction on a Isle of Capri casino, estimated to cost $125 million and, according to Cape Girardeau Mayor Harry Rediger, create 450 jobs. Rediger said city officials had been working on the proposal since March, and called the opportunity an economic "game changer."

Not everyone agreed with the commission's decision.

Rodney Crim, Executive Director of the St. Louis Development Corporation, said the license was "taken" from the city of St. Louis, and the economic analysis of Cape Girardeau's proposal was flawed. Crim said St. Louis' proposal would have created 600 jobs and $30 million in tax revenue for the state.

"These jobs are in an area of the city that desperately needs them," Crim said, "and so we thought we had the best proposal. We're sure we had the best proposal."

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Republican Roy Blunt has officially defeated Democrat Robin Carnahan, as the Missouri Secretary of State's office certified the results of the Nov. 2 election.

Across the state, 46.8 percent of those eligible actually voted, the Secretary of State's office has said.

Candidates who lost by less than 1 percent of the vote can request a recount within seven days, according to Missouri law.

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The Missouri AFL-CIO, one of the state's major labor voices, opposes the plan President Obama announced Monday that would freeze the salaries of all federal workers.      

Missouri AFL-CIO Treasurer Herb Johnson says the pay freeze will be terrible for families around the country.

"That money would no longer be in circulation, and it's just one more notch against the recovering economy," Johnson said.

Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., praised the move.

"As someone who has spent the last two years fighting to reduce government spending despite the objections of the current majority in the House, I am encouraged by the White House's proposal," Luetkemeyer said in a statement.

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The Tax Credit Review Commission presented Tuesday (Nov. 30) its proposals for trimming state expenditures on tax credits.

Under the commission's plan, approximately $220 per year in tax credits would be saved for the state's budget.

The biggest cut would be to the historic preservation tax credit that has been used for major redevelopment projects in Missouri's larger cities.

It suggested reducing the cap on the tax credit by nearly half, from $140 million to $75 million.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said the tax credit has been key for revitalizing the city's downtown area.

"As a mayor, I certainly understand the economic realities of what's happening not just in my city, but the state of Missouri and all over the country. Having said all that, the historic tax credit in particular has really been a tremendous asset to the city of St. Louis," said Slay.

The commission did not include a proposal pushed by a few senators for the legislature itself to control spending on tax credits through the annual appropriations process.

Instead, the commission proposed that the legislature review continuing specific tax credit programs every six years.

"[That six years] would give both the legislature and the administration plenty of time to review some of these credit programs, test their efficiency, see if improvements are being made," said Commission Co-Chair Chuck Gross, "If the shortened list...continues to perform, they can be reinstated and extended for another period and some additional legislature could review it down the road."

The report also recommends eliminating 28 tax credit programs and trimming down another 30 to make the state's tax credit programs more efficient.

In its report, the commission said they expect the total savings to be $220 million if the legislature approves their recommendations. The savings would help decrease the expected $400 million gap in the fiscal year 2012 budget.

The governor created the commission earlier this year after his call for scaling back tax credits hit a brick wall in the legislature.  House leaders refused to take up the matter saying tax credits are an important tool in economic development for the state.

• Read the .pdf file of the final report.

Nearly 80 new members of the Missouri legislature are gathering at the state Capitol for orientation this week.

Discussion focused Tuesday on how to avoid corruption charges that have hung over the statehouse for the last two years. The incoming lawmakers also got advice on how to stay connected with their districts, the meaning of fiscal notes that legislative staff attach to bills, and the resources available to them at the statehouse.

The newly elected representatives and senators attending the meeting range from a former truck driver to a former FBI agent.

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Proposals from Casino Celebration in St. Louis, Isle of Capri in Cape Girardeau, and Paragon Gaming in the Kansas City area are candidates for Missouri's last casino license.

Since the St. Louis President casino closed in July, the state Gaming Commission has evaluated several applicants. By law, Missouri is limited to 13 riverboat casinos, which the commission regulates.

The Isle of Capri proposal in Cape Girardeau would generate the most jobs and the highest tax revenue because it wouldn't "cannibalize" the business of existing casinos, the commission said Friday.

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A power outage left the Capitol in darkness for just more than two hours Monday.

AmerenMissouri spokesman Mike Cleary said an electrical fault in a circuit that serves the Capitol building triggered the outage.

The power outage coincided with the new legislator orientation session. Earlier in the day, House Speaker Ron Richard said the freshmen meetings would go on as scheduled, whether or not the power was restored.

"If we have to do it by candle light, we'll do that too," Richard said.

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