Area lawmakers differ on whether to ban lobbyist gifts

Area Republican lawmakers differ over whether to ban lobbyist gifts even as Gov.-elect Eric Greitens has called for such action.

State Reps. Kathy Swan, Holly Rehder and Rick Francis voiced support for banning lobbyist gifts.

Rep. Donna Lichtenegger questioned the need to ban all lobbyist gifts, particularly meals for lawmakers.

State Sen. Wayne Wallingford of Cape Girardeau opposed the idea last year and remains opposed to it this session, which began Wednesday.

“I guess, if we don’t trust our legislators, why did we vote them in office?” he asked as he prepared for the start of the 2017 legislative session.

Wayne Wallingford

Wallingford said he doesn’t see anything wrong with lawmakers accepting meals from lobbyists.

He said he never has cast a vote based on whether a lobbyist bought him a meal.

Wallingford said he serves on legislative committees and seldom has time to discuss legislation with lobbyists except when dining.

Meals account for most lobbyist gifts, he said.

Wallingford said he frequently asks lobbyists to provide pizza and drinks for school students from his district who visit the capitol.

Donna Lichtenegger

“Lobbyists are happy to do it,” he said.

He said he and other lawmakers are lobbied regularly by trade industry associations and individual constituents who are pushing for various bills.

“Everyone who talks to me is a lobbyist,” Wallingford said.

In his election campaign, Greitens pushed for ethics reform to eliminate political corruption in state government.

But Wallingford said he has seen no evidence lobbyists are buying lawmakers’ votes.

Rick Francis

State senators and representatives, who spend about five months in session each year, receive a salary of nearly $36,000.

They also receive a mileage reimbursement of 37.5 cents a mile and a $112 per diem for lodging and meals during the legislative session, according to a 2016 online report from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Lichtenegger of Jackson said lobbyists help educate lawmakers about particular issues.

“Lobbyists write a lot of legislation,” she said.

“Every single profession has a lobbyist out there,” said Lichtenegger, who voted to ban lobbyist gifts last year even though she had reservations. “They are not bad people.”

But Swan of Cape Girardeau, Rehder of Sikeston and Francis of Perryville voiced support for such a ban, which for the second year in a row is a top priority of House leadership.

The measure passed the House last year but failed in the Senate.

Rehder said she and other lawmakers could live with such a ban.

“You are not doing this to make money,” she said of being a lawmaker.

When lawmakers accept lobbyist gifts, “it looks bad,” she added.

Swan said, “I am fine paying my own way. It makes it very clean.”

Francis, newly elected to the House in November, said he has “no problem in banning lobbyist gifts.”

He added, “We are not here to serve special interests.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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