Lobbyists' freebies become harder to track in Mo.

ST. LOUIS -- It's becoming more difficult to track how much money is being spent to catch the ear of Missouri lawmakers as they increasingly reimburse lobbyists for freebies.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that reimbursing lobbyists for meals and sports tickets keeps lawmakers names off lobbyists' monthly expense reports.

The reimbursements have been questioned when campaign funds are used to pay back lobbyists. That's because state law says campaign contributions "shall not be converted to any personal use."

But campaign finance law also says money can be spent on "ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in connection with the duties of a holder of elective office." Also permitted are "expenses associated with the duties of candidacy or of elective office pertaining to the entertaining of or providing social courtesies to constituents, professional associations or other holders of elective office."

Legislators who defend using campaign funds to reimburse lobbyists say attending dinners and ballgames is part of the job and that legislation is part of the discussion.

But Mike Reid, a former ethics compliance director who now lobbies for the lobbyists, recommends that lobbyists turn down reimbursement checks if they come from legislators' campaign accounts.

"If you saw that it was really from the campaign account, you could be helping that person convert campaign funds to personal use," said Reid, who represents the Society of Governmental Consultants, as well as the Missouri School Boards Association and other clients. He sent his advice in a letter to the consulting group's members this summer.

The practice of reimbursing lobbyists with campaign money has been growing during the last few years since former Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, announced that he would decline or pay back any freebies.

Legislators say they don't want to end up like state Sen. Jim Lembke, R-Lemay, who was defeated Nov. 6, in part because of a campaign portraying him as being wined and dined by lobbyists.

Unlike some legislators, he said, he doesn't believe it's appropriate to use campaign funds to wipe out lobbyist expenses.

"When I go out and raise money for my campaign account, I believe that the people who are contributing to me have an idea what that might be used for, and that's to get me re-elected," not reimburse lobbyists, Lembke said.

Though lawmakers argue their votes aren't bought for the price of nice meal, many are watching carefully to see if their names pop up on a lobbyist expense report and quickly reimbursing lobbyists.

"It seems like more and more of them want to pay, compared to 10 years ago," said Steve Knorr, who lobbies for the University of Missouri and fields frequent requests for event tickets. Whether the reimbursement comes from the lawmaker personally or a campaign account doesn't matter to MU, he said.

"To me, that's kind of between them and their donors," Knorr said. "As long as we're getting reimbursed, from our standpoint, cash is cash."

Democratic Rep. Scott Sifton of the Affton area, who beat Lembke in the state Senate race, plans to prefile a bill in December that would ban lobbyist gifts. While similar bills have died in previous years without a hearing, Sifton said he hopes the issue gets traction this year.

He argues that during the legislative session, lawmakers receive a $104 daily expense allowance from taxpayers. He contends that should easily cover renting an apartment, as well as meals.

If a lobbyist picks up the dinner tab, "legislators can then pocket more of their $104 that day. I'm just not sure that's the best use of taxpayer money," he said.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com