Some of the people Governor Nixon wants to serve on state boards and commissions, or even head some state departments, are in trouble with the state senate. These are the people who make policies for state agencies and institutions, or who even head them. They have to be confirmed by the senate.
But some senators don’t like the way Nixon has been handling appointments. “This governor has played games with me on appointments in northwest Missouri….and I’m sick of it,” says Savannah Senator Brad Lager.
Senator Will Krause of Lee’s Summit wonders if Nixon isn’t playing games with the law by appointing independents to positions that Republicans should get on boards and commissions.
Senate leader Rob Mayer says the senate has seen this before. “Last year we had this issue come up,” he says, although he hasn’t noticed it as much this year as last year.
But other senators are making a case of it. Some senators don’t like Nixon withdrawing appointments when the senate is hostile to them, then appointing the people while the legislature is out of session. He’s done that twice with a University of Missouri curator–and might be forced to do it again this week if the senate refuses to confirm.
Mayer, Dempsey News Conference 12:57 mp3