JEFFERSON CITY — What a difference a couple of weeks makes.

When Gov. Jay Nixon first sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to get behind a capital building proposal that would involve floating at least $700 million in bonds, Speaker of the House Ron Richard was supportive.

The House had approved such a proposal easily during the session, and Richard had voted for it. Here’s what Richard told me the day Nixon sent out his letter:

“It seems like a reasonable request to me,” he said in response to whether the bond issue should be discussed in a special session. “I think it’s a good way to put people back to work.”

Richard said he would have to be “sensitive” to what the final number was in the bond issue, and that he told Nixon in a phone call that he didn’t want the state’s credit rating to be hurt. He also said he wouldn’t support the proposal if it involved a tax increase.

Supporters of the plan argued in the session that there would be no tax increase because the state is about to finish paying off bonds that were originally used to finance a building project supported by then Gov. Kit Bond a couple of decades ago.

During the session, it was Richard who supported the bonding issue while Nixon was silent, a point Sen. Kurt Schaefer criticized Nixon for.

But today, after Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder signaled his disapproval of the idea, Richard changed his tune. Now he says it’s a bad idea.

“The Governor’s bonding plan is nothing more than a big spending debt plan,” Richard said in a news release. “The money he wants to use to pay for yet another new government program will bury our state under a mountain of debt for the next two decades. The House will remain committed to fiscal discipline and one-time spending projects that will create jobs and boost Missouri’s economy.”

The entire debate is remarkably similar to the debate during the Legislative session over funding for Metro.

During the early debate over Metro funding, Nixon was largely silent. And early on, Richard was decidedly negative toward the idea, suggesting St. Louis voters had already made up their minds on that issue.

Then Kinder got out front and started making hay in St. Louis about pushing for the Metro funding. Shortly thereafter, Richard said he, too, was in favor of the funding, and he took a shot at Nixon for his silence.

Deja vu?