House GOP ends late-night meetings

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gone from the House this session are late-night public hearings and the ability for lawmakers to act as though they were present for votes when they weren't.

It's part of what is touted as a new, more open House, which is controlled by the GOP for the first time in 48 years.

While budget-drafters will work after dinner, the latest time most House committees will meet is 5 p.m. The hearings that sometimes dragged on past midnight have been eliminated.

House Speaker Catherine Hanaway said she made that change "because people are tired. They've hopefully been working hard and legislating since 8 a.m. and aren't going to do their best work at night."

New rules also will make it harder to fabricate a voting record. Members used to routinely change their votes after the fact simply by asking the clerk to correct the House journal. That way, a legislator who had been absent could feign attendance, thus drawing the daily expense allowance. And a waffling legislator could switch a vote, so long as it didn't alter the outcome.

Now, members must file an affidavit with the chief clerk, explaining the need for a correction. The sworn statement will be printed in the House journal.

Another example of the growing openness came last week when the Judiciary Committee posted a notice outside the House speaker's office about a planned luncheon at lobbyist Bill Gamble's house. Later, other notices showed that the Tax Policy Committee will meet at the Jefferson City Country Club, while the Local Government Committee convenes at the Hotel Deville.

Informal dinners

The meetings are actually informal dinners where committee members gather to socialize and eat on a lobbyist's tab. Though they have been the norm in the Capitol for decades, they've never been so clearly disclosed.

The new Republican leadership decided to invite public scrutiny of the dinner meetings because state law requires dinners to be open if public business is discussed.

"Generally, where they cross the line is, they introduce the lobbyist or group that's paying for it and say, 'Why don't you tell us what you're working on this year?'" said House general counsel, former Rep. Don Lograsso, who recommended the posting of notices about committee dinners. If a committee majority is present, "I think the law requires it to be open."

Rep. Richard Byrd, R-Kirkwood, was the first to put some of the new guidelines into practice when he posted the notice announcing the meeting at Gamble's house. Gamble represents many groups, including casinos, pharmacists and hospitals.

Byrd ended up canceling the luncheon because of a conflict with a Missouri Bar event. But he still plans to publicize committee outings. "Even if eight of us are going out to a movie together, I would stick a notice on the bulletin board," he said.

But the openness doesn't extend to the GOP caucus' Monday-night study sessions. So far nursing homes have sponsored a seminar on their industry's problems.

Hanaway said new legislators -- 56 of the 90 Republicans are freshmen -- need the chance to ask dumb questions in private.

"When you're trying to learn to ride a bike," she said, "you don't go enter the bike race. You need that time period when you can have the training wheels on."