ANALYSIS: Nixon brought new tone to Missouri Capitol

JEFFERSON CITY — The shrill sound coming from Missouri's Capitol has been toned down. That new civility may be Gov. Jay Nixon's biggest accomplishment during an inaugural year that is perhaps best described as "OK."

While Nixon's economic proposals passed the legislature, his health care policies fizzled. Financial realties forced him to make cuts, but he did so without gouging education or seeking tax increases. And Nixon seems to have weathered his first scandal — his administration's initial cover-up of poor water quality tests at the Lake of the Ozarks.

All things considered, "I think he's done OK," said Richard Fulton, a longtime political science professor at Northwest Missouri State University.

Nixon's first year as governor seemed generally unremarkable, added George Connor, chairman of the political science department at Missouri State University.

"It almost seems like he's treading water, but I'm not sure that any governor could do much better," Connor said.

The circumstances Nixon encountered upon taking the oath of office on Jan. 12 were certainly not what any politician would prefer. He faced a projected budget deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars, caused by rising unemployment and falling tax revenues.

That forced the new Democratic governor to immediately scale back his campaign pledge to restore the 2005 Medicaid cuts enacted by his Republican predecessor, Matt Blunt, that had eliminated or reduced government health care benefits for hundreds of thousands of low-income Missourians.

Instead, Nixon proposed a modest expansion of the state's Children's Health Insurance Program and the addition of 35,000 adults to Medicaid, funded with money from hospitals and the federal government.

House Republicans rejected both proposals, asserting they might one day grow to cost the state too much money.

Finances also forced Nixon to shift his approach on higher education. Lawmakers took no action on his campaign platform to provide four years of free college tuition to students who start at a community college. To try to make college affordable, Nixon instead struck deals with Missouri's higher education institutions to hold their tuition flat in exchange for flat state funding this year and (if lawmakers approve) no more than about $50 million in cuts next year.

Nixon already has cut or vetoed $634 million from the $23.7 billion approved by lawmakers for state operations and capital improvements during the current fiscal year. About 2,300 full- and part-time state employee positions have been eliminated.

"Even though he ran as a governor who would restore things, he quickly became a governor who cut things," Connor said. But "in one sense, the best buzz that he's going to get is for being the Democratic governor who made cuts, who was fiscally responsible."

Republican and Democratic lawmakers did send Nixon one of his priorities — legislation enlarging some tax credits for businesses (while restricting others), expanding job training and eliminating Missouri's corporate franchise tax for three-quarters of the businesses paying it.

Through it all, Missouri's elected officials remained generally respectful of one another — a trait that sometimes has been lacking during the past decade.

In 2004, future Republican House Speaker Rod Jetton heckled Democratic Gov. Bob Holden during the State of the State address because of budget cuts to education.

In 2005, some Democratic lawmakers accused Republicans of killing people by enacting Blunt's proposed Medicaid cuts.

But now, "even when we disagree, we agreeably disagree," said House Majority Leader Steven Tilley, R-Perryville.

Tilley partially credits Nixon for what he describes as a "very cordial, good working relationship" between legislative leaders and the governor.

Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, offered similar praise of Nixon: "The one thing he did very well is reach out to the legislature. He's working with a legislature of a different party."

That's not to say there aren't cracks. Senate Majority Leader Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, said the relationship with Nixon is "getting fragile," because he has continued "to cut side deals with higher education" without including lawmakers in the negotiations.

Also lingering is a Senate committee review of how Nixon's Department of Natural Resources failed for about a month to inform the public of water samples showing high levels of E. coli bacteria in the Lake of the Ozarks. The committee's interviews revealed that some members of Nixon's office knew about the poor water tests, despite previous assertions to the contrary.

Nixon sought to transform trouble into action by ordering a review of the lake's water quality and nearby sewage discharge sites. He intends to propose legislation in 2010 toughening the state's water quality laws.

The lake E. coli controversy is "like a shadow that's sort of following the governor," Connor said. Yet even so, Republican lawmakers have been restrained in their criticism.

Nixon gave himself a passing grade for his first year as governor. He described the failed health proposals as his biggest disappointment. And he cited the Capitol's less-partisan atmosphere atop his list of successes.

"The tone change in this town this year has been very rewarding to me, and I'd like to believe that my tone has helped," Nixon said.