Shields

In keeping with the new bipartisan tone in the Capitol, newly elected Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields got a warm reception from both Democrats and Republicans for his opening speech in the flower-bedecked chamber today.

Shields, R-St. Joseph, called for the state to craft a long-term strategy to increase Missourians’ personal income, education levels and access to health care.

“While our current financial situation creates difficult choices, it also creates opportunities,” he said.

Shields quoted Fortune 500 CEO David Holl as saying that a financial crisis should be used to “make the difficult decisions that you refused to make when times were good.”

In nominating him for the top leadership post, Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, said Shields was “a man of integrity, a man who works hard, a man who understands issues.”

Scott added that he used to share an apartment with Shields in Jefferson City, and he knows Shields “to operate on less sleep than any other human I know.”

Shields was sworn in by a former foe, Buchanan County Circuit Judge Dan Kellogg, whose long gray hair stood out as he sat next to the closely cropped Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. Shields beat Kellogg, a Democrat, for the House seat in 1992.