But an amendment brought debate to a halt. Senator Chuck Purgason sabotaged the bill by proposing an amendment that would double the bond bringing the total to 2 billion dollars -- a move made while Purgason put his pinkie to his lips imitating Dr. Evil from the movie Austin Powers.
The main roadblock came from Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, who spoke against the bill for nearly half an hour before introducing an amendment which would increase the total from $700 million to $2 billion. It was a move Purgason said was designed to hurt Kelly's proposal. He said Missouri started this year with an $800 million deficit, and state government shouldn't be growing at a time when its revenue is declining.
The group is Sen. Brad Lager, R-Maryville, Sen. Luann Ridgeway, R-Smithville, Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis County, Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, and Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Jackson County.
Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, questioned if he should be asked to vote on funding new projects even though the MOHELA funded construction in his district has stalled.
During the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Republican Senator Chuck Purgason said the issue should be settled between Noodlers Anonymous and the Missouri Department of Conservation, not by uneducated legislators.
During the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Republican Senator Chuck Purgason said the issue should be settled between Noodlers Anonymous and the Missouri Department of Conservation, not by uneducated legislators.
"One of the reasons that was put forward was to raise the cap on Quality Jobs and said that raising that cap would create 30,000 jobs when, in fact, we haven't even reached the cap from the last year's cap," said Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield. "So it's kind of hard to understand if employers haven't accessed the program enough to get up the cap level, how increasing the cap will increase jobs. It just doesn't make sense."
A final concern, voiced by state Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, was whether federal stimulus funding would create the thousands of jobs that Nixon has anticipated.