Political figures on both sides of the aisle are praising the legacy of longtime Missouri lawmaker Wayne Goode, D-Normandy, who died Saturday at the age of 83. The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports Goode died from leukemia.
Goode served 42 years in the Legislature, from 1963 to 2005. Most of that was before term limits took effect in 1994. Goode served in the Missouri House from 1963 to 1984, and in the Senate from 1984 to January 2005.
Goode served 12 years in the Senate with former State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, who was President Pro Tem for Goode’s final years in the chamber.
“Wayne Goode was plainly and justifiably recognized by all as one of the real giants in the Missouri Senate, and for that matter, the General Assembly in the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century,” Kinder says.
Kinder praises Goode’s encyclopedic knowledge of Missouri’s complicated education foundation formula and of the budget. He notes Goode served as a House Budget Committee chairman.
“Wayne was a great storer of institutional knowledge and wisdom all to himself. He was a guy people on both sides of the aisle looked to for guidance on a lot of issues,” says Kinder.
Kinder credits Goode and the late State Sen. John Russell, R-Lebanon, for helping Missouri through tough budget years from 2001-2004. Kinder notes Goode and Russell entered the Missouri House together in 1963, and that while they shared different political philosophies, they put the state’s interest first.
The “Post-Dispatch” reports one of Goode’s first pieces of legislation in the 1960s allowed the University of Missouri to acquire property in Normandy to establish the University of Missouri-St. Louis. After leaving the Senate, then-Governor Jay Nixon (D) appointed Goode to the UM Board of Curators from 2009-2014.
“The respect from every member of the (Missouri Senate) chamber and every member of the House chamber and the executive branch was always there for Wayne Goode,” Kinder says.
Brad Ketcher, who served as Governor Mel Carnahan’s (D) chief of staff, describes Senator Goode as an extraordinary legislator, tweeting Sunday that “Missouri was so much better for his decades of public service.”
Goode also was known for his legislation involving the environment, including the issue of emission testing on vehicles in the St. Louis area. And he expressed concerns several times about speeding and increasing traffic deaths on Missouri highways.
Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full five-minute interview with former Missouri Lt. Governor and former Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder (R-Cape Girardeau) about State Sen. Wayne Goode’s service and legacy. The interview was recorded on October 5, 2020:
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