JEFFERSON CITY -- Mid-Missouri Republicans give the governor high marks for his State of the State speech.

The governor last night went out of his way to recognize the cooperation of the loyal opposition during the 2009 session and area Republicans Thursday were magnanimous in their response.

The Nixon Administration came into office with an economy in retreat and a  minefield for a state budget.  He chose immediately to balance the budget without new taxes or new debt and disarmed many critics in the process.

"We could never have accomplished that without steady fast bipartisanship,” Nixon said. “I want to thank all of you for standing together last year and putting Missouri first. I thank you very much.”

With Missouri now better positioned for recovery than many other states, Nixon's address found a more receptive republican audience this time around.

"I thought the governor did a great job,” Rep. Mark Bruns (R-Jefferson City) said. “He had a great delivery to his speech. I thought the substance was good.”

"I've stood with Democratic and Republican lawmakers on these issues,” Nixon said.

One Republican lawmaker said he thinks Nixon, despite the frustrations of a bad economy, genuinely likes being governor and that comes through in his speeches. The lawmaker continued to say that is not was the case with several of Nixon's predecessors.  

"I thought it was a good speech,” Rep. Steve Hobbs, (R-Mexico) said. “A little short on detail, but the tone was good. The cooperation, workin's together, I look forward to seein' those come true.”

By contrast, republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder went on the attack, spotlighting the administration's use of tax refund money to cover cash flow, its mishandling of the E. coli situation at the Lake of the Ozarks, and the payroll in the governor's office.

"I was shocked to learn that while we offered to cut our office budget, the governor actually asked for more funding,” Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said. “That, to me and thousands of unemployed Missourians, is unacceptable.”  

"I thought he brought out some valid points,” Hobbs said. “There's some differences there and that's our job to work through those differences.”

"You've got to realize the Republican/Democrat split there,” Bruns said. “The potential for a gubernatorial race coming up soon.”

"We did the state of the state,” House Minority Leader Rep. Paul LeVota said. “We did our political rhetoric and now it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.  And the right thing will be done at the end of the day.”