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Show-Me the Gifts

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When it comes to gift giving, lobbyists have the freedom to be generous in Missouri. 

According to a September report by left-leaning research and advocacy group Progress Missouri, lawmakers across the state have received nearly $1 million a year over the past decade.

Reviewing Missouri Ethics Commission reports, Progress Missouri found state legislators and the groups and committees they serve garnered $10.8 million in free food and gifts between 2004 and 2015.

“Most all of that is going to legislators and their caucuses, which is rather incredible because there is fewer than 200 of those,” said Progress Missouri Executive Director Sean Soendker Nicholson.

Nicholson said ethics reforms are needed because the Show-Me State is the only in the nation to have what he called the trifecta: no-limit  campaign contributions, no-limit gifts and no waiting period for lawmakers who take jobs as lobbyists.

Locally since 2004, Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar, garnered the most in gifts: $45,359 for himself, his staff and family. Parson, who is running for lieutenant governor, did not respond to phone and email requests for an interview by press time.

According to the MEC, so far this year Parson has received $1,652 in gifts from lobbyists, mostly covering meals and nonalcoholic beverages. In years’ past, Parson is reported as receiving a leadership development trip to Israel in 2012, and tickets to multiple Kansas City Chiefs games and a Garth Brooks concert.

Sen. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, who served four two-year terms in the House, took home the most in gifts over the past 11 years, according to the Progress Missouri report. Silvey, his staff and family received $57,816, MEC records show.

Lobbying rules
The MEC defines a lobbyist as an individual attempting to influence the actions of government officials. A registered lobbyist must report monthly information about the monies spent on behalf of elected officials, their employees, spouses and dependent children, and any direct business relationships or associations with elected officials.

However, specific gifts and souvenirs do not need to be named, nor do campaign contributions, MEC rules state.

As long as lobbyists invite an entire group, such as a committee, then expenditures don’t have to be tied to individuals, according to state statutes, even if only a few in the group enjoyed the benefits. As a result, about two-thirds, or $7.3 million, in gifts have gone to Missouri legislative groups since 2004. “Like when there’s a Cubs game in a junket and a lobbyist says I spent $1,000 on the entire general assembly, everybody knows that the entire general assembly wasn’t at Wrigley Field. But that’s how it gets reported,” Nicholson said.

While lobbyists target select groups that can require out-of-state travel, he said group events are often open to the public and reporters. And those circumstances are reported the same.

According to LobbyingMissouri.org, a site launched by St. Louis Public Radio to track lobbying activity, over 19,000 gifts valued at $1.8 million have been issued to state lawmakers over the past 24 months. According to the MEC, there are about 1,000 active lobbyists and lobbying organizations registered in Missouri. 

St. Louis-area utility provider Ameren Corp. is top dog during that time with over $94,000 gifted. Other big givers over the past two years include the Missouri Hospital Association, $73,353; Missouri Lawyers Media Inc., $58,899; Missouri Beverage Association, $54,869; and the Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association, $48,094.

Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield – who received nearly $19,000 over the past 11 years – said he was surprised that figure wasn’t a little higher. Dixon said he’s utilized lobbyist’s funds to help pay for Springfield Public Schools’ student trips to Jefferson City as well as stock the refrigerator on Inauguration Day for visitors from the Queen City. 

“I didn’t eat $19,000 worth of food,” Dixon said. “We gave it away to constituents.” 

According to MEC filings in 2015, Dixon, his staff and family have received almost $2,400 in gifts, nearly all for meals. In April, lobbyist Scott Marrs, who represents the city of Springfield, City Utilities and Greene County at the capital, spent $169 on food and beverages listed in the description as for a school group. 

Ethical concerns
Dixon said the Progress Missouri report feeds into a cynicism about government that can be unhealthy. “The reports are not full of all the information,” Dixon said. “The real solution is not more ethics’ laws. We need more ethical people.”

Ted Vaggalis, an associate professor of political science at Drury University, said determining the right policy with regard to lobbyists’ gifts is no easy task. 

“I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, I want to respect the lobbying process. I do think lobbyists have some positive function. I think they provide legislators with an extraordinary amount of information that they wouldn’t ordinarily get, and in a good way – to help them make the right kinds of decisions,” he said. “On the other hand, any time money is involved, people tend to think they are owed something.”

Vaggalis said part of the problem is that lawmakers are responsible to set the ethics rules. 

“I would be more comfortable if the rules were not made by the people receiving the gifts,” he said.

Mike Schilling, a Springfield City Councilman who served eight years in the Missouri House of Representatives until 2000, said there were caps on gifts and campaign contributions, in particular, in his day. When the limits were first lifted in 2006, individual contributions were capped at $325 for House candidates, $650 for Senate candidates and $1,275 for politicians seeking statewide office.  

Schilling said he’d like to see similar caps reinstated. “Government wasn’t any worse for the limits,” he said. 

Even in a more restrictive environment, Schilling recalled a time when a lobbyist was surprised Schilling declined an invitation to dinner. 

“His body language suggested I was being a fool, but I could talk in my office for free,” he said.

The best path forward, Vaggalis said, might be to create an independent commission  that would determine the best guidelines to prevent conflicts of interest. 

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