Friday, November 13, 2009

Nodler resigns as Budget Committee chairman


Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, a candidate for the Seventh District Congressional seat currently held by Roy Blunt, announced this morning he is stepping down as Senate Budget Commitee chairman. The following news release was issued:

Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, today announced he will resign his position as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee effective Monday, November 30. Nodler has served on the committee for all seven of his years as a state senator, and chaired the committee for the past two sessions. Nodler said his decision earlier this summer to seek a Congressional seat led to his decision to resign. Senator Nodler looks forward to the opportunity to be more actively involved in a broader range of legislative issues outside of the budget process during his final session.
“As a candidate for Congress, it would not be possible to give sufficient attention to both the time demands of a campaign and the time demands of being chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee,” he said. “I also have a deep appreciation for the long-standing and strong tradition of the Senate Appropriations Committee being the most bipartisan committee in the Legislature. Republicans and Democrats work together and that carries through to floor unity to keep our budget recommendations intact throughout the process. Protecting the tradition of bipartisanship is vital to the success of the budget process. As a candidate, it would be difficult to maintain that tradition while I am involved in a partisan primary.”

Nodler also said he is stepping aside to ensure that there can not even be the appearance of political ambition in any way influencing the actions of the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“We play by the rules in the Missouri Senate and the members of the Appropriations Committee are determined to avoid any appearance of conflicts of interest,” Nodler said. “I decided to become a candidate after the last legislative session ended, and I am leaving the committee before the work for the next session begins so there can not be even the appearance of political considerations compromising the integrity of our budget process.”
The committee’s recent significant successes include creating accountability measures to accept, track and spend federal stabilization and stimulus dollars in Senate Bill 313 that was authored by Nodler and signed by the governor. Missouri is the only state in the Midwest to have its AAA Bond rating renewed by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings; and despite facing revenue shortfalls, the state is in a better financial standing than most states across the nation.
“We have kept our national bond rating when others have not been able to. No I.O.U.’s have been issued by the state of Missouri, like other states,” Nodler said. “K-12 education funding has increased and higher education funding has been preserved. By making difficult decisions, Missouri can meet the state’s obligations without a tax increase.”
Nodler commented that it was an honor to be trusted with the important task of leading and shaping the state’s more than $23 billion dollar budget.

“I am grateful for the confidence of both Senate Leaders Mike Gibbons and Charlie Shields who named me as their appropriations chairman,” Nodler said. “I also have great appreciation and respect for my colleagues on the committee; we have worked to build the best bipartisan environment that I believe the committee has ever had. I would also like to commend the professional staff. Their hard work and dedication, along with that of the committee members, has allowed us to succeed in passing budgets that protect taxpayers while facing very difficult challenges.”

The committee’s public hearings on the budget begin December 7, 2009.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Senator Nodler did the right thing today. His seven years of service on the Senate Appropriations Committee and two years as the Chairman has provided sound financial management of Missouri tax dollars. Lord knows we need that in Washington.

Nodler has the knowledge, skills, maturity and leadership ability to work from day one as a Congressman.

Thanks for sharing his complete news release.

Ghost of Gene Taylor said...

Before he leaves the Missouri Senate, Nodler needs to fix all the problems at MSSU created by Dwight Douglas and Bruce Speck. Nodler got Douglas two terms on the Board of Governors, and Douglas then created the worst mess the university has ever been in.

Anonymous said...

Douglas was on the Board before Nodler went to the Senate. Douglas was chosen by Democrat Governor Bob Holden at the request of Holden's old college friend Mike Franks from Neosho. I am not going to say that Douglas is good or bad but credit should go where it is do; to the Democrats that put Douglas in place.

Anonymous said...

Who was our state senator when Douglas was appointed?

Anonymous said...

This shows who has integrity and who doesn't. I don't care for republicans, but here is a case of one that seems honest.

Anonymous said...

State Senator before Nodler was Marvin Singleton.

Anonymous said...

the point is, Douglas nomination may have been suggested to governor Holden by democrat Franks, but the senator who consented was Nodler.

Anonymous said...

The point is Douglas came from Holden not Nodler. The point you want to make just isn't valid.

Anonymous said...

so we are in agreement then. Nodler was the senator of record when Douglas was appointed. While nominations may be made by governors, they must be consented by district senators. While Nodler may want to pass the ball to Holden and the democrats for Douglas' appointment, the fact is usually governors do not nominate someone if the local senator objects. Many times the process is reversed, regardless of partisanship. senators nominate and governors go along.
Also, Douglas was reappointed to a second term under Nodler.

In my opinion, and that of almost everybody here at Southern, both Nodler and Douglas are responsible for our mess.

Anonymous said...

It's called the Neosho mafia. Nodler, Franks, Douglas, Farber...

Anonymous said...

The faculty is most at fault for the mess.

Anonymous said...

Governors appoint, The Senate confirms, not just one senator, the whole senate, so no we are not in agreement. A majority of the board was appointed by Democrat Governors. What Nodler did was send MSSU $45 million in extra operating money and funds for the dental hygene program and more $21 million in capital projects, if MSSU made a mess of it, don't blame Nodler.

Anonymous said...

The facts are:
Nodler tried to blame democrats Holden and Frank for the Douglas appointment, but he was the senator who had to approve(consent) because the Senate will not approve anyone without the local senator agreeing. And Nodler was the local senator. So don't try to pass on to democrats the worst appointment ever made in southwerst missouri.
Nodler also tries to take credit for things that democrats are responsible for. He claims he "sent" MSSU 21 million in capital projects. In fact the 19 million Southern received for the Health Sciences Building was originally approved by democratic governor Holden and eventually it was funded by Matt Blunt through his infamous Mohala (?) bond proposal. Yes Nodler should take credit for the 2 million pork he sent for a "storm shelter" which Bruce and Douglas tried to turn into a 8 million indoor football practice field. They should return that money to the state. There are a lot of handicapped children who could use that money Gary, but you wouldn't care much about disabled kids, would you senator.
The rest of the money he claims he "sent" to MSSU would have come to Southern through the regular appropriations process no matter who was the local senator.
We should remember who has done this to us.We've shown Bruce a vote of no confidence. Let's show Nodler a no confidence vote when election day comes!

Anonymous said...

Nodler has not claimed anything, I have. As to the $19 million it was never, never requested, supported or funded by Holden, that is an outright lie! It was funded through Senate bill 389 written by Senator Gary Nodler after Holden left office. Holden never ever approved any money for the Health Sciences building or even requested it. If you will check the facts from Paul Wagner, the Deputy Commissioner who provided the MSSU board an account of the funds recieved by the university as a direct result of distribution adjustments made in the appropriations process by Senator Nodler, these dollars would never have come without Nodler, it is an indisputable fact, if you doubt it just ask Deputy Commissioner Wagner. As for handicapped children it was Nodler who got the funds for the Joplin Autism school, yes Nodler and no one else. These are the facts, the appointment of Douglas came from Holden, the democrat, the money for the school came from Nodler the Republican and the lies come from you Anonymous 4:37 PM, and thank you for giving me the great compliment thnking I am Senator Nodler,it is an honor to mentioned in the same breath with him. Nodler hasn't tried to blanme anyone for the douglas appoinment, he probably has no problem with that appointment, but it was Holden's and no one else. Douglas was appointed by Holden at the request of Franks, just ask Franks! Nodler got the money for the health sciences building, Nodler and no one else. The $2 million for the storm shelter was in the governors budget request to the legislature it was not added by Nodler but was part of the budget request, Nodler did add it back after the House removed it and it should be spent on the safety of students as it was intended. Facts are troublesome things for you anonymous 4:37 PM. Your comments are so wrong, so false they indicate a pathological problem, you should seek professional help.

Anonymous said...

Lighten up, Francis!

Anonymous said...

I agree. The "mess" that has been created was made by the faculty who want the monkeys to run the zoo.

I am now hanging up the phone when I get a call asking for a donation from the school.

Anonymous said...

Faculty to blame? You are kidding, right? You are obviously uninformed. The blame lies clearly on the Board of Governors (i.e., Dwight Douglas) who extended Speck's contract when they were aware of serious issues. Now MSSU can't even hire a provost because Speck continues to serve. Who would want to work for someone who has had every direct report resign and the faculty overwhelmingly vote no confidence? That's not the faculty's fault. They did the right thing.