Missouri lawmakers see support for ethics reform

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Some Missouri lawmakers say support is building to put the clamps on state ethics laws that are among the loosest in the nation, but they warn any reform probably won't include campaign contribution limits.

The state allows lawmakers to accept unlimited gifts from lobbyists, accept campaign donations of any size, allow their staffers to work as paid political consultants during legislative sessions and lets lawmakers become professional lobbyists the moment they leave office.

Missouri is the only state in the nation with that assortment of laws, The Kansas City Star reported.

Lawmakers have sought several times to change that, but each time those efforts have run into opposition.

Some think the 2015 session will be different. Several longtime opponents of ethics reform are out of office, and legislative leaders are voicing support for addressing the issue.

Advocates of reform aren't taking any chances, though. Two years before the next statewide election, an ethics reform ballot measure already has been filed with the secretary of state's office.

"The Legislature and governor can put a package together to take their best shot," said Brad Ketcher, a veteran Democratic strategist who helped craft the ballot measure. "If there are folks of goodwill in the Legislature ready to take this on, more power to them. We can press the Legislature, and if they fail, we have a year to collect signatures."

The ballot measure would go much further than anything the Republican supermajority would likely be able to pass.

It would enact strict campaign contribution restrictions on lawmakers, but not on statewide candidates. It would ban lobbyist gifts of more than $5, and legislators would have to wait two years after leaving office before becoming a lobbyist. Their staff members would be barred as working as political consultants.

Also, all legislative records would be subject to the state open-records laws.

"We need to modernize our ethics laws in this state," Ketcher said.

Rep. Noel Torpey, an Independence Republican, is leading his party's effort on the issue in the Missouri House. He said he believes GOP leaders are on board with some level of ethics legislation.

"There is really no reason for us not to get some ethics reform done," he said.