Missouri legislators must clean up campaign finance
The Kansas City Star, November 25, 2009
Partisans are fond of portraying political corruption as a mere symptom of the “other side’s” broken ideology. As I begin my second year in the Missouri General Assembly, I am convinced that a bipartisan few have taken advantage of a broken system that knows no party.
In 2010, those of us in state government can either speculate about whether the FBI will crack down on Jefferson City corruption, or pass ethics reforms that empower our own law enforcement professionals to take action.
Missouri’s “anything goes” system of campaign finance seems designed to promote, not deter, laundering of political contributions. It is common practice by many Missouri politicians to shuffle funds from one political action committee to another to “wash” contributions and mask their source.
We should ban committee-to-committee donations and make it a felony to transfer political money for the purpose of hiding the original donor.
Although elected officials are ultimately responsible for ineffectual ethics laws, they are not the only players in the game. On both sides of the aisle, potential conflicts of interest occur when those serving in a political campaign role also have a position in the state office of an elected official.
Yet most are not required to disclose their political employment. If you want to work for an elected official and be a political consultant at the same time, it’s not too much for us to ask that you publicly disclose your dual roles.
Outside the walls of the Capitol, a bipartisan array of political consultants who do not hold government positions are free to contract simultaneously with elected officials and the corporations that seek to influence state government. Yet these consultants are not required to register as lobbyists. That needs to change.
And if we are to make these new provisions mean something, we need a state felony provision that applies to anyone who tries to obstruct an ethics investigation. Missouri law inadvertently discourages politicos from cooperating with investigators from the Missouri Ethics Commission because there is no penalty for misdirecting an investigation.
In Missouri, a corruption suspect is just one lie away from a clear record. But tell the same fib to the feds and the suspect has earned a felony conviction. The feds have this one right.
These proposals are just a few among many needed changes, and I am thankful that several of my colleagues have, in years past, suggested other ways to stay ahead of the small bipartisan minority that abuses the public trust.
We must fight corruption the way we treat the flu — as an ever-adapting virus that requires an evolving vaccine. Honest governments, like healthy societies, are the result of eternal vigilance.
From the state budget to health care to education funding, we face many challenges. But without serious ethics reforms, I worry about the ability of our legislative body to make sober, mature choices on these issues. If we want a system that creates sound policy, we can start with a sound system.
Jason Kander serves the 44th District in the Missouri House of Representatives. He lives in Kansas City.
