This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 23, 2013: St. Louis radio station KTRS (550 AM) has pulled the ads placed by a group tied to Texas Gov. Rick Perry because the ads encourage Missouri businesses to move to Texas, which has no income tax.
“Gov. Rick Perry, ‘Don't Mess with Missouri,’ and don't mess with St Louis,” said KTRS general manager Mark Dorsey in a statement that is posted on the station’s website and also running on the air.
In an interview, Dorsey added that he hoped other area radio stations "follow our lead...and they'll also pull it.'' At least seven area stations have been running Perry's ad, he said.
The station’s action comes as some Missouri Democrats have been raising questions about the Missouri Chamber of Commerce’s decision to host Perry at a luncheon next week, while he is in the state.
Perry, a Republican, is participating in the effort by some business groups to persuade the Missouri General Assembly to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a tax-cut bill known as HB253. Nixon is a Democrat.
The TV and radio ads in question, timed to run in the state before Perry’s visit, are paid for by a Texas business coalition seeking to entice businesses to move to Texas. Perry is featured in the spots.
When the ad order initially was placed earlier this week, Dorsey said, the radio station had been “under the assumption these commercials were going to promote tourism to Texas.”
The ad began running Tuesday. By Thursday, Dorsey said, the station had taken a few calls from listeners who raised questions about the content. He then listened to the ad himself.
"It's our mistake that we didn't catch it from the get-go,'' Dorsey said. "A group of us in the managedment team decided we're not going to stand for this."
Dorsey said that KTRS had been started 16 years ago with the help of local businesses and that he felt such an ad undercut the station's pro-local-business message.
“Once we, the management of KTRS, realized these commercials were instead focused on stealing locally owned companies away from St Louis, we suspended airing these commercials immediately,” Dorsey said.
“We understand people have different viewpoints on public policy and we welcome that debate everyday on our airways. But as one of the few remaining locally owned radio stations in the country, we feel the need to stand strong with other small locally owned business and defend our region.”
A spokeswoman for Perry said the group behind the ads, TexasOne, has been upfront that the ads are aimed at encouraging businesses to move to Texas.
"All across the country, Gov. Perry has taken the same message that states competing against each other benefits everyone by creating jobs and promoting economic freedom," the spokeswoman said.
Later Friday, Nixon issued a statement lauding KTRS' decision.
"I applaud KTRS Radio for taking this stand on behalf of Missouri businesses. Once again, Rick Perry needs to get his facts straight," Nixon said.
"Compared with Texas, Missouri has lower sales taxes, lower property taxes and higher student test scores -- advantages that continue to attract jobs and investment from global brands like Boeing, Monsanto, General Motors, Ford, Expedia and Cerner," Nixon added. "That's why a growing number of local business groups are coming out against the risky experiment that would undermine Missouri's competitive business climate and raise taxes on prescription drugs..."
The governor's office also issued a list of comparisons where Missouri fared better than Texas, among other things citing Missouri's lower sales taxes, property taxes and fuel taxes.
