Missouri House leader makes ethics reform in state government top priority

Passing a government ethics bill that bars lawmakers from working as political consultants and governors from giving out jobs to sitting legislators will be a top priority in 2010, House Majority Leader Steve Tilley said Tuesday.

Tilley, who unveiled an eight-point agenda for new rules governing official conduct, said the issue will be important enough for him to personally stall other major bills if the Senate balks at the idea.

"As majority leader, my measure of success isn't getting this through the House," said Tilley, R-Perryville. "I am prepared to use the power of the majority leader to get this done."

Tilley's proposals, which he said will be filed as a bill later this week, address issues that have been political footballs over the past several years. Former House speaker Rod Jetton began working as a consultant in 2006 and enlisted several legislative clients, some paying as much as $4,500 a month as a retainer, before being forced out by term limits at the beginning of 2009.

Earlier this year, Gov. Jay Nixon was accused of promising jobs, through staff members, to lawmakers in exchange for favorable votes on bills. Jetton's activities were found to be legal by the Missouri Ethics Commission and Nixon has denied making any promises of jobs.

Other aspects of the ethics measure Tilley intends to file would:

• End lobbyist gifts and meals for individual members of the Missouri Legislature. The ban would not prohibit lobbying groups from offering meals when all members of the legislature are invited.
• Bar former lawmakers from lobbying the legislature for 180 days after they leave office. The ban would effectively prevent lawmakers from working as lobbyists in the first legislative session after their terms expire, Tilley said.
• Disclosure by lawmakers, spouses and staff of outside political employment.
• Expanded personal financial disclosure to include staff and contract agents for lawmakers and statewide elected officials.
• A ban on political contributions to the governor, speaker of the House, or president pro tem of the Senate from anyone accepting a paid position requiring Senate confirmation.
• A ban on political contributions to the governor from any entity with pending decision before an executive department.

In the last several months, three St. Louis Democrats have pleaded guilty to federal felonies and resigned their seats. Jetton, whom Tilley had employed as a political consultant, is charged in Scott County with second-degree assault for allegedly striking and choking a woman during a sexual encounter.

There also have been persistent discussions of federal investigations into legislative actions, and several lawmakers have said the FBI has asked them about arrangements in which committee assignments, perks or favors were received for campaign donations.

Those problems, especially the criminal charges, continue to erode public confidence in lawmakers, Tilley said. "We need to do a better job to improve the perception of Jefferson City," he said.

Tilley's proposal was criticized by the Democrats' floor leader, Rep. Paul LeVota of Independence, who said ethics legislation should restore limits on campaign donations repealed by the Republican-led legislature in 2008. LeVota pointed to a $100,000 donation Tilley received Feb. 6 from Rex Sinquefield of Westphalia, Mo., who has pushed ideas such as school vouchers and eliminating the income tax.

"Prohibiting lawmakers from accepting a plate of chicken wings or a slice of pizza from a lobbyist is admirable but does little to negate the perception of a legislature for sale if lobbyists and other wealthy donors can still give massive amounts of money -- such as the $100,000 donation the majority leader received from a single contributor earlier this year -- to candidates for elective office," LeVota said in a news release.

Tilley, however, said his bill was aimed at ethics rules, not campaign finance. A separate bill, announced jointly by Rep. Tim Flook, R-Liberty, and Rep. Jason Kander, D-Kansas City, seeks to control campaign financing by limiting the way money can be transferred among committees to hide its source and barring individuals from serving as the treasurer for more than one committee.

"There are some provisions in there that I am comfortable with," Tilley said of the campaign finance bill. "But my goal is ethics, and the bigger a bill gets, the more likely it doesn't pass."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Missouri Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO