Editorial by the Kansas City Star
Sunday, January 3, 2010

News flash: Missouri lawmakers may be capable of embarrassment after all.

All of a sudden, just about everybody with a pulse is proposing ethics reform. It’s a far cry from last year when legislative leaders brushed off the subject as too insignificant for them to bother with.

The FBI, however, has seemed keenly interested in the ethics of certain Missouri legislators, particularly former Republican House speaker Rod Jetton.

GOP lawmakers tolerated unethical behavior by Jetton for years. His grip on House business continued even after he left office.

Only after he was arrested last month on sexual assault charges did some of the GOP’s most influential legislators wash their hands of him.

Also, three Democratic lawmakers from the St. Louis area resigned last summer and pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

Two had lied to authorities about their involvement in a dirty campaign trick; the third accepted a bribe.

Arrests, indictments and FBI interviews aren’t the ideal way to plow the ground. However, they have created fertile terrain for serious ethics consideration.

Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, asserted correctly last week that serious reform must start with reinstating caps on campaign contributions and stopping lawmakers and political parties from setting up committees for the purpose of passing money around.

The average Missourian has a great deal of trouble believing that large contributions don’t influence votes or that a citizen without $5,000 or so to sink into a legislative race has any say in state government.

Voters overwhelmingly supported strict limits in 1994.

The Republican-controlled legislature lifted the caps two years ago, claiming they encouraged donations to legislative and party committees, which are less accountable.

The practice of passing donations among committees is indeed unsavory. But lifting the caps on campaign contributions to politicians didn’t slow it down. Instead Missouri got unlimited contributions and shady committee activities.

Legislators Tim Flook, a Liberty Republican, and Jason Kander, a Kansas City Democrat, have introduced legislation that would make it a felony to launder money through committees.

It’s not an extreme proposal — only a law with teeth will stop the rampant influence buying that has become part of Missouri’s political culture.

Several reform bills filed for the legislative session would ban officeholders from taking money for “political consulting” or lobbying activities. Nixon also included those provisions in his prescription for reform.

These restrictions are obviously needed. Jetton built a political consulting business inside the statehouse while holding life-and-death power over legislation.

A good ethics law would also bar lawmakers’ staff members from political consulting and lobbying.

The prohibitions on legislators should continue for at least a year after they leave office.

Beware of bills that claim to be ethics reform but which paper over the main problem — unlimited campaign cash.

One of those is the bill filed by Republican Steve Tilley, of Perryville, Mo., who is in line to become House speaker next year.

Among other things, his bill would prohibit lawmakers from accepting meals and gifts from lobbyists.

But Tilley, who until recently was a close associate of Jetton’s, is opposed to capping campaign contributions.

It’s true that many lawmakers have been shameless about accepting meals, gifts and trips from lobbyists. Some restrictions would be good. But one wonders why a legislative leader would be bothered by a $15 lunch tab and not a $100,000 contribution.

Charlie Shields, a St. Joseph Republican who is Senate president, has proposed a bill with some good provisions, including barring lawmakers from accepting contributions while the legislature is in session. But Shields also has said he doesn’t think capping contributions is necessary.

He’s wrong about that.

“Money is the problem here,” Nixon said last week. “Significant amounts of money are clearly the problem.”

He’s right, and any bill that doesn’t cap contributions and limit committee transfers is a cheap imitation of serious ethics reform.