House Bill 60 (2017) – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

Missouri House again fast-tracking ban on lobbyist gifts to legislators

Missouri House leadership is working to again make a proposed ban of gifts to lawmakers the first bill of the session to leave that chamber.

Representative Justin Alferman (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Justin Alferman (R-Hermann) is sponsoring House Bill 1303 which is based on the gift ban proposal passed out of the House in 2017. That bill, HB 60, was the first sent out of the House in 2017 but was never voted on in the Missouri Senate.

On Monday two House Committees held hearings on, and voted to pass, HB 1303. It is expected to be debated Wednesday by the full chamber and could be sent to the Senate on Thursday, in keeping with House Speaker Todd Richardson’s (R-Poplar Bluff) statement on the opening day of the session that he expected that bill to be voted out this week.

House Democrats questioned several provisions in the legislation including one that aims to restrict the cost of gifts that would still be allowed under the legislation – things like plaques and awards.

Representative Tracy McCreery (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

St. Louis Democrat Tracy McCreery was concerned that the language of the bill would lead to fewer items falling under mandatory reporting by lobbyists, instead being included in legislators’ personal financial disclosures. She said those disclosures by legislators are less accessible by the public.

“What I’m trying to do is make sure by fixing one thing we’re not opening up another opportunity for abuse where all of a sudden things are considered to be awards,” said McCreery.

“Honestly, Representative, in dealing with this type of ethics reform it’s always going to be whack-a-mole,” Alferman told McCreery. “Anyone who is decisively trying to circumvent ethics laws is already an unethical person and it’s really hard to be able to think about every which way those type of individuals are going to circumvent the law. I’m trying to capture the 98-percent of problems that will be alleviated with this bill.”

Amendments offered by McCreery and other Democrats were voted down along party lines, but the bill was passed out of the Committee on General Laws 12-0. One Democrat said that even without the changes they wanted to see, the bill would still be an improvement over current law.

HB 1303 would still allow lobbyists to make expenditures to the entire General Assembly – things like a dinner to which every member of the House and Senate are invited. Members would have to have at least 72-hours’ notice before such an event, and it must be held in-state, so that all lawmakers would have the opportunity to attend.

“I just don’t want us to get into a ‘gotcha’ moment for going to something like a Missouri Chamber dinner or something of that nature that we’ve all been invited to. I don’t think anyone’s going to say that there’s an influence being levied at those large events. You don’t have the one-on-one interaction like you do if a lobbyist takes you out for a dinner where 100-percent of their focus is on you,” said Alferman.

Last year’s legislation, HB 60, was passed out of the House 149-5. Alferman expects similarly strong, bipartisan support for HB 1303.

House advances ban on lobbyist gifts to local government and school officials

The state House is close to passing another ethics reform proposal – this one aimed at the influence lobbyists have on local elected officials.

Representative Shamed Dogan has proposed banning lobbyist gifts to local government officials since 2015. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Representative Shamed Dogan has proposed banning lobbyist gifts to local government officials since 2015. In 2016 it was added to a proposed ban on gifts to legislators and statewide elected officials. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 229 would bar gifts from lobbyists to local government officials, superintendents, school board members, members of charter school boards, and the staff and family members of such people.

The proposal is described as extending to local elected officials the same ethical reforms the House has proposed for members of the legislature and statewide elected officials, most recently in House Bill 60 which was sent to the Senate in January.

“It would simply bring local elected and appointed officials into the same standards that we’ve set for ourselves in terms of banning lobbyists gifts for them,” said the bill’s sponsor, Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin).

“It clears up the definition of local government lobbyists, which is somewhat murky right now. Not everyone who gives gifts to local government officials right now is required to register as a local government lobbyist, so this requires them to do that,” said Dogan.

The bill originally extended its prohibitions only to governments and school districts with annual operating budgets of more than $10-million. It was amended to remove that cap.

Representative Deb Lavender offers an amendment removing a provision that extended the gift ban only to officials in local governments and school districts with annual operating budgets of $10-million or more. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

That amendment was offered by Kirkwood Democrat Deb Lavender.

“I think you can make a case the smaller you are – county, city, town or village – operating with a budget of $10-million or under that, you might actually be more apt to consider taking a gift or have your vote influenced,” said Lavender.

Odessa Republican Glen Kolkmeyer said he is glad the proposal would extend to superintendents, after an incident he said happened in the Wellington-Napoleon School District.

“The superintendent lobbied hard to put in a computerized climate control system in the school. It was a quarter of a million dollars. By the time they paid interest, because they had to finance it, it was a third of a million dollars, for them to use it for two or three years and for the next superintendent to walk in the door and scrap it,” said Kolkmeyer. “I’m glad that this includes school superintendents because I think some of our superintendents are living pretty high on the hog by some of the perks that are given them.”

Dogan said he’s seen similar situations unfold in St. Louis-area school districts.

Dogan has also cited, in promoting his bill, an experience he had while a Ballwin Alderman. He learned the city administrator had accepted World Series tickets from a trash company that had a no-bid contract up for approval with the city.

Just as HB 60 would allow lobbyists to contribute money to events to which all state elected officials and legislators are invited, HB 229 would allow lobbyists to pay for events to which all members of a political subdivision or all members of the General Assembly are invited.

HB 229 has broad bipartisan support. One more favorable vote will send it to the Senate.

House proposal to ban lobbyist gifts advances through first committee

A state House proposal aimed at banning gifts from lobbyists to elected officials has taken its first step toward debate by the full chamber.

Representative Justin Alferman said HB 60 is nearly identical to a gift ban proposal he filed in 2016, which was passed out of the House with 147 votes in favor. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 60 is sponsored by Hermann Republican Justin Alferman, who presented the legislation to the House Committee on General Laws.

“We are trying to eliminate the undue influence of lobbyists on legislators in the building. That is the individually, personally consumable gifts from lobbyists to legislators,” Alferman told the committee. “These are the one-on-one dinners, these are the press boxes at sporting events in the state. That’s what we’re trying to limit.”

In addition to the prohibitions on expenditures by lobbyists for elected officials, the bill would remove reporting requirements that would not be necessary with a ban in place. It would exempt from those prohibitions flowers and plants, items such as plaques given to lawmakers recognized by an organization, speaking fees, and items that are returned.

The bill would allow lobbyists to provide meals that are offered to all members of the House and Senate as well as all statewide elected officials. Omitted was a requirement that an invite to those elected officials be made in writing at least 72 hours before the event. Alferman said that will be amended into the bill because it is “vital” that it be included.

“What we’re trying to do is alleviate any possibility that you would have, say, ‘Hey guess what, me and six other people in the General Assembly, we’re going out right now and we’ve got a lobbyist who’s paying for it,’ and you send out an email blast and say you know what, ‘We’ll give you five minutes to show up. Well, no one showed up except us. We’re going to report it to the entire General Assembly.’ That’s wrong and I know for a fact that has happened in the past and you’ve had group expenditures for a meal of ten, or five, or less,” said Alferman.

“Giving the 72-hours written notice … to all members of the General Assembly including, but not limited to the attorney general and the auditor, I don’t think any lobbyist is crazy enough to try to circumvent this statute, if enacted, having to send a copy to the attorney general, the chief law enforcement officer of the state,” said Alferman.

Democratic Representatives Tracy McCreery, Lauren Arthur, and Peter Meredith were critical of HB 60 saying it falls short of being an all-out ban of gifts from lobbyists to elected officials. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Democrats said the proposal falls short of being an absolute ban on lobbyist gifts to elected officials, and called for it to be more restrictive.

“What people campaigned on, what our governor-elect campaigned on, and what has been promised to voters is an outright, complete ban and that’s not what this is,” said Representative Lauren Arthur (D-Kansas City). “This has loopholes that you could drive a truck full of swag through.”

Democrats focused their criticism of House Bill 60 on its exemptions.

Arthur asked whether the exemption for flowers could include a lobbyist paying for flowers for a lawmaker’s wedding.

“Flowers are expensive for a wedding and if a legislator decided, ‘I’m really close friends with this lobbyist. They’re attending my wedding and I’d like to ask them to pay for my flowers,’ that no longer becomes a small expense,” said Arthur.

Alferman said in looking at bans in other states, most have an exemption for flowers and plants, “and I don’t think a single legislator told me that they had a problem or that this was a, ‘exemption you could drive a truck through.’”

St. Louis Democrat Tracy McCreery thinks the bill should include a definition of “speaking engagement,” as it allows lobbyists to continue to provide meals to lawmakers at those. She said a definition would tighten up that exemption.

“I have been at a conference before where the host of the conference set aside time for every elected official in the room to speak for a minute or two so it could qualify,” said McCreery.

Alferman said he took offense at the use of the word, “loophole,” in describing the exemptions in his legislation.

“By implying that it’s a loophole you’re implying that it was done in a devious nature and deliberately and it certainly was not,” said Alferman. “I’m very open to tightening down any of this language to make it better so long as we are actually moving for progress on this and not just trying to hinder the bill’s success.”

Alferman expects the legislation to have a greater chance of passage this year than in 2016 when it cleared the House but not the Senate. That is due in part to support from Governor Eric Greitens, who after being sworn in today signed an executive order aiming to ban lobbyist gifts to members of his staff.

The General Laws Committee voted to pass HB 60 and it next goes to a hearing by the House Rules Committee, Tuesday afternoon at 1:30.

House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) has said he wants a gift ban bill to be the first thing the House sends the Missouri Senate this session.