Online lobbyist reports show gifts to state legislators worth thousands

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- It's now a little easier for Missourians to see how much their elected officials are receiving from lobbyists.

A new search function on the Missouri Ethics Commission Web site allows lobbyists' monthly expense reports to be cross-referenced with the gift recipients -- be they individuals, small groups of lawmakers, official committees or the entire legislature.

Compliance director Mike Reid, who has worked for the Ethics Commission since it was created 15 years ago and plans to leave at the end of June, said the new search function is designed to give people more access to public information.

"We've been trying to keep our Web site current, so we are trying to go toward what people would like," he said. "We're trying to make it more user-friendly and give as much information to people that they can use."

For example, the disclosure forms show that lobbyists in the first four months of 2006 paid for $109,000 worth of meals and other gifts at events to which all members of the legislature were invited.

Gov. Matt Blunt over that same period accepted $200 worth of meals and gifts, while Attorney General Jay Nixon had none of his tabs picked up in 2006.

Combined, the four main groups in the legislature -- the House Republican, Senate Republican, House Democratic and Senate Democratic caucuses -- accepted $37,200 worth of meals, gifts and other items. That total does not include meals or gifts provided to individual Republican or Democratic lawmakers.

The House Republican Caucus reported gifts worth almost double the value of those received by the other groups. More was spent on the Senate Democratic Caucus, which controls less than one-third of seats in its chamber, than the Senate Republican Caucus.

The Ethics Commission's new search function also shows the expenditures on caucuses formed by lawmakers with similar interests and on the House and Senate committees that conduct hearings about proposed legislation.

Lobbyists spent more than $88,000 -- the vast majority of which was used to fill lawmakers' stomachs -- on committees that study issues and approve legislation for floor debate.

The amount each caucus accepted varied widely, with the high-profile Black Caucus accepting $12,000 in gifts and the Western Missouri River Caucus receiving $483 in meal expenses.

The various legislative caucuses came under fire this year because when lobbyists spend money on caucuses, they must report only what they spent on the group as a whole and not break down what was spent on individual members. Although a list of the members of each caucus is an open record maintained by House and Senate, the groups are informal and their meetings often are not publicized.

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On the Net

Missouri Ethics Commission: www.moethics.mo.gov