This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: With some fanfare, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Monday vetoed a bill aimed at outlawing enforcement in Missouri of any foreign law deemed "repugnant" to the state or federal constitution.
Regardless of intentions, the governor said the bill, SB267, attacks "a problem that doesn’t exist" and would actually threaten international business and adoption contracts involving Missouri firms and families.
"This kind of demagoguery does a disservice to our constituents and the legislative process," said Nixon, a former state senator, as he joined several area adoption groups at the St. Louis County office of the Lutheran Family and Children’s Services.
The bill’s chief sponsor, state Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, contended that the measure wouldn’t threaten foreign adoptions — and accused the governor of misrepresenting the bill’s aim and wording.
"It’s unfortunate that a sitting governor would use such silly, baseless information in vetoing a bill," Nieves said in a telephone interview.
The measure, said the senator, “simply says that no foreign law shall be considered if that foreign law is repugnant to the Missouri constitution…There’s no boogeyman, there’s no hidden agenda.”
Nieves also denied some contentions, on both sides, that his bill targets Islamic Sharia law.
Nixon: Legislators fail to read their own bills
Monday’s veto is expected to be one of several high-profile rejections by Nixon in the coming days. At the news conference, the governor also displayed a bit of his legendary temper (which he usually tries to keep in check in public) when asked about another bill likely to be vetoed shortly.
Nixon blasted legislators for passing bills that, in his view, were fraught with errors and then seeking to shift the blame to his administration.
"They ought to put their nose down and read the bills they’re passing," the governor said hotly, after interrupting a reporter’s question about the tax-cut measure — HB253 — that Nixon long has signaled he would veto.
But the governor sought Monday to keep the focus chiefly on Nieves’ bill, which he said "would create uncertainty for Missouri companies and individuals who do business overseas at the very time when exporting Missouri-made goods to international markets is helping create good jobs right here at home in the Show-Me state."
Nixon, a lawyer and former state attorney general, added that SB267 "also would call into question the validity of marriage and divorce decrees and put other contractural agreements on shaky legal grounds. Especially alarming… this bill could jeopardize a family’s ability to adopt children from another country."
Alan Erdman, president and chief executive of Lutheran Family and Children’s Services, said that the bill would — at minimum — make international adoptions more expensive by requiring more lawyers. It also could prompt countries simply to bar adoptions to families in Missouri, Erdman said.
Nieves has sought to counter that argument by recently posting his views on the agency’s Facebook page. Erdman said the agency chose not to respond.
Also lauding Nixon’s action was the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, which said in a statement that SB267 “ was not only unnecessary, but could have many negative unintended consequences."
"Because the bill outlaws any consideration of a foreign law in cases involving family issues, it could negatively impact foreign adoptions, custody disputes based on overseas marriages, and arbitrations based on religious law," the ACLU said in a statement. "International business in Missouri could also be affected, since individuals would not be able to enforce contracts based in another country’s legal system.”
Nieves: Governor misrepresents bill
Among other things, SB267 states that “any court, arbitration, tribunal, or administrative agency ruling or decision shall violate the public policy of this state and be void and unenforceable if the court, arbitration, tribunal, or administrative agency bases its rulings or decisions in the matter at issue in whole or in part on any foreign law, legal code, or system that is repugnant or inconsistent with the Missouri and United States constitutions.”
Nieves said that Nixon had intentionally chosen to avoid referring to the “repugnant or inconsistent’’ language to imply wrongly that the bill would negate any foreign law.
Nieves added that he will now focus on whether to try to accumulate the votes to override Nixon’s veto during the General Assembly’s fall veto session. If not, Nieves said he plans to re-introduce the bill next session – but will add a provision to make clear that it doesn’t apply to overseas adoptions.
Nixon reaffirms opposition to tax-cut bill
At the news conference, the governor offered up his most pointed language when asked about the tax-cut bill. Nixon pointed out last week that a provision does away with a 35-year-old sales tax exemption for prescription drugs, which would result in a $200 million a year tax hike.
The bill’s sponsor and GOP legislative leaders say that was an oversight and have promised to correct the error next session, if Nixon signs the tax-cut measure into law anyway.
Nixon made clear he wasn’t likely to go that route.
"The legislators are looking in the wrong direction if they’re look at pointing their finger at somebody else when they voted for a $200 million increase on Missouri seniors and others who need their drugs," Nixon said.
House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, is among those Republicans who have blamed Nixon’s Department of Revenue for not noticing the problem when the draft bill was sent over.
Nixon said Monday that the department had sent over the correct language to legislators drafting the bill and that any flaws were the fault of the legislators or their staffs. He emphasized that he hadn’t become aware of the sales-tax issue until last week, after his staff had discovered it.
