Sat, Nov 21 2009
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Two Southwest Missouri lawmakers vie for legislative leadership offices “It gives the community better access to state government. When your hometown has legislators in leadership, a lot of bureaucratic red tape seems to disappear,” said Cardetti.
“There would be an automatic benefit to our area; it would cause good things to happen,” Nodler said. The speaker influences the flow of legislation, and the speaker’s home normally attracts state spending, programs and other attention “from department and agency heads who know where the speaker comes from,” Nodler said. Similar benefits go to the home of the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Before accepting that post, Nodler was committee vice chairman and a member of the panel for five years. He also is chairman of the Joint Committee on Legislative Research. “The effect on the district will come from state agencies wanting to make sure the appropriations chair is aware of the benefits of their programs,” he said. “It’s normal for them to want to get the chair’s attention. It would be dishonest to say I’m unaware of that, but I didn’t do anything more than accept the appointment.” Nodler said he will follow the example of former committee chairman Sen. Chuck Gross, using a caucus staff member as a “gatekeeper” to accept and review funding requests. “They’ll take the request first,” he said. “I don’t want someone saying their success or failure hinged on whether or not they could get a meeting with me. We want to be fair, and there must be a process to analyze the requests.” He said that doesn’t mean he won’t continue to advocate for his district, noting his work on behalf of Missouri Southern State University, Crowder College and other local interests. Nodler also said the appropriations position is a daunting one, because it’s the committee’s job to produce a balanced state budget. “People make a lot of the state’s fund balances, but they’re declining because the state is spending more than it’s generating,” he said. Richard’s plans Richard said that in his campaign for speaker, he has visited every district that has a Republican legislator to ask for support and “to make sure I know what their needs are.” He said that if he is elected, his first goal would be to continue the GOP majority, and the second would be to expand the leadership role for chairmen of House committees. “They are the ones with the pulse on what’s going on with legislation,” he said. “The speaker can’t be an expert on everything.” Richard said he also would work with House Democrats. He said that has been his practice as chairman of the House Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development. 
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