St. Louis County Senator Wayne Goode has chaired both the House and Senate appropriations commitees. He says the initiative is selfish because it takes money away from other government programs.
The opposition comes from Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis County, who has served as chairman of both the House and the Senate budget committees during his more than three decades in the legislature.
"I wasn't at all surprised," said Sen. Wayne Goode, D-Normandy, about the failure to make much headway into fixing the formula. In 1993, Goode played a key role in designing the formula that's currently in question. "The basis (for reforming the formula) was just not in place."
Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis County, said he disagreed with Maxwell's decision, and Sen. Jim Mathewson, D-Sedalia, expressed concern about the Senate's situation.
The move angered Republicans -- and some Democrats -- who said it violated Senate customs and traditions. Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis County, was one of those offended by the move.
But the ranking democrat on the Appropriations Committee Wayne Goode urged lawmakers to save the money and use it to negotiate with the House rather than put it into education.
Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis, said the budget is closer to being balanced than the one passed by the legislature last year. But, at the moment, it could spend more money than the state will have.
"I think almost every institution has legitimate needs," said Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis County, in an interview before the meeting. He said the bill was not necessarily as pork-filled as some thought it was. "Even though it has that pork-barrel look to it, they're (the projects) are probably all needed."
JEFFERSON CITY - The two longest-serving members of Missouri's legislature have crossed party lines to reach compromise on the budget, but the move has resulted in criticism from some party members. Sen. John Russell, R-Lebanon, and Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis County, have different constituencies but a similar approach to the appropriations process.
"If I've ever seen a statewide pork-barrel list, this is it," said Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis County. "You pick something here, you want something there, just find something to plug in. I'm not sure that's the way we should do business."
Democratic Sen. Wayne Goode from St. Louis County says cell phone companies should consider the 9-1-1 emergency service a cost of business. Rep. Sen. Jon Dolan from St. Charles says that is not the solution.
Democratic Sen. Wayne Goode from St. Louis County says cell phone companies should consider 9-1-1 phone service a cost of business. But Sen. Jon Dolan, R-St. Charles, says that is not the solution.
"I don't like the name change, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it," said Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis County. "But if we start getting into capital renovations, that's ridiculous and it may be unconstitutional."
"I'm concerned over part of your proposal that involves a constitutional amendment," said Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis County, questioning how much control local governments have over taxes.
Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis County, said money from the core budgets of departments is often used in ways the legislature does not anticipate, although he expressed concern that the legislature's wish to close the office was ignored.