Nixon: 2016 is the year for ethics reform

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon speaks Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, at a news conference in the governor's office at the state Capitol.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon speaks Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, at a news conference in the governor's office at the state Capitol.

This is the year for Missouri lawmakers to pass "ethics reform," Gov. Jay Nixon told reporters at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

"I'm pleased there is a growing, bipartisan consensus that ethics reform must get done and will get done this year," he said.

Nixon also said a proposal to re-establish a separate Water Patrol is a bad idea.

And he doesn't support building a new football stadium in downtown St. Louis unless there's a long-term commitment from the Rams or some other National Football League team to play in St. Louis.

Since the 2015 legislative session ended last May, Nixon noted many lawmakers have cited the need to pass an ethics reform bill.

"I've laid out a comprehensive plan to reform Missouri's "anything goes' ethics laws and to restore the public trust," he said.

The plan includes:

• Restoring limits on contributions made to political candidates.

• Banning gifts lawmakers get from lobbyists.

• Ending lawmakers' occasional practice of holding committee meetings outside the Capitol at restaurants or country clubs.

• Prohibiting lawmakers from serving as political consultants to fellow lawmakers.

• Closing the "revolving door" that allows lawmakers to become lobbyists when their terms end.

• Placing "reasonable limitations" on the way former officeholders can spend money they received as campaign contributions but didn't spend for those election campaigns.

• Creating "a safer, healthier, more respectful working environment."

• Shortening the length of legislative sessions that now run about 5½ months.

Nixon said he's open to the give-and-take of legislative debate but warned lawmakers there should be "no more excuses, no more symbolic gestures and half-hearted attempts" on ethics reform.

"Just talking about it isn't going to be a passing grade," he added. "These problems are real, and they are undermining the confidence of the public in the very government they rely on."

Asked about state Rep. Diane Franklin's proposal to split the Highway and Water Patrols back into two separate agencies, Nixon told reporters: "That's a mistake. Although there's always room to improve in law enforcement, the unity in command is necessary."

Water and highway safety has been enhanced, not damaged, by the 2011 merger of the two patrols, he said, and people shouldn't point to the May 2014 drowning of an Iowa man in a trooper's custody as "a reason to reactively change public policy."

Nixon acknowledged facing pressure from some lawmakers opposed to state support for a new NFL stadium in St. Louis.

He expects pro football's owners will decide in the next few weeks whether the Rams will stay in St. Louis or return to Los Angeles.

"No stadium will be built unless we have a long-term commitment from an NFL team and a significant private investment to match the public dollars," Nixon said.

And, one day after more than 100 Republican lawmakers released their Dec. 18 letters urging the University of Missouri to fire two women involved in this fall's campus protests, Nixon said he won't micro-manage the university. "My focus when it comes to higher education is making sure it's affordable and the quality's improving," he said.

Still, Nixon said he understands why people are unhappy with Assistant Professor Melissa Click's "completely unacceptable behavior" for violating a journalism student's First Amendment rights to pursue a story.

"If people are upset, I'm OK with that," Nixon said.