When this year's legislative session began, Missouri lawmakers said they were champing at the bit to bolster ethics in the Capitol.
In early January, House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, said ethics would be the Legislature's first priority. Gov. Jay Nixon echoed his statement in his State of the State address. Missouri's ethics laws are "the weakest in the nation," he said.
During this legislative session, at least four dozen bills have been proposed to address ethics reform, from limits on campaign contributions to restrictions on gifts from lobbyists. However, with the session now half over, few of the bills have made it past the starting gate.
In January, House Bill 2166 was introduced to ban gifts from lobbyists to legislators. Co-sponsor Rep. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, heralded the bill as the linchpin to begin mending lax ethics in Jefferson City, but the measure encountered resistance almost immediately. It passed the House on Jan. 27 but has stalled in the Senate since then.
Legislators accrue a fortune in gifts from lobbyists each year. Proponents argued it's common sense to get rid of them, but opponents counter that banning them could reduce transparency in government.
Crooked legislators could find ways to accept gifts on the sly, some say. Others argue a gift ban fails to address the root of unethical behavior in the Legislature.
House members squabbled over the bill for more than two hours before passing the legislation 147-12. In the Senate, it was taken up by the Senate Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee.
"I have not heard a compelling reason why a member of this General Assembly needs to take lobbyist gifts in order to perform their duties," said sponsor Rep. Justin Alferman, R-Gasconade, during House floor debate.
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Appearances matter
Banning gifts is the first step to re-establishing trust with voters, Rowden said in debate minutes before the House voted on the gift bill.
"This is the moment where we get to say we believe in upsetting the status quo because we don't believe the public is accepting of the status quo any longer," he said. "That's the decision. And it's really pretty black and white."
Although a few legislators abuse gift-taking, most are upstanding, Rowden said. Voters are wary when legislators take gifts, though, he said.
"Maybe (voters) don't know some of the nuances that we know. The perception on it is just not good, so I say fix it, get rid of it, so we don't have to fight that battle," he said.
MU political science professor Peverill Squire said gift bans are mostly geared toward assuaging voters' perception their legislators are corrupt.
Kevin Garner, a spokesman for liberal advocacy group Progress Missouri, said the issue encompasses more than voter perception. He cited past gifts Rowden has accepted as an example.
Rowden did not take any lobbyist gifts last year, but in 2014 he accepted more than any other Boone County House member.
In May of that year, he and Rep. Caleb Jones, R-Columbia, each accepted two St. Louis Cardinals baseball tickets totaling nearly $600 from a lobbyist representing Major Brands Premium Beverage Distributors, a company that distributes beer, wine and spirits to grocery stores and other retailers. Both legislators also attended a charity golf tournament, where a lobbyist for Ameristar Casinos Inc. paid $450 for each to play. Jones reimbursed the cost of both items.
"If wining and dining didn't work, then corporations wouldn't be spending money on legislators," Garner said.
Rowden said he believes gifts cannot sway a lawmaker's vote. He called the size of a gift "irrelevant" to a legislator's decisions in most cases.
"I don't think votes are bought. Period," he said.
Squire said gifts may not directly buy votes, but they buy attention. Gratuities from lobbyists might influence which issues lawmakers promote, Squire said.
There is no shortage of Missouri lobbyists looking for attention. In the last five years, the number of companies with statehouse lobbyists has increased by more than 10 percent, according to a study from the Center for Public Integrity. Organizations with registered federal lobbyists have decreased by 25 percent.
Lobbyists from Ameren distributed the most gifts of any organization at the Capitol last year. The company gave nearly $40,000 in gifts to legislators, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission. At least three other organizations distributed more than $20,000 in gifts: the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, the Missouri Beverage Association and the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.
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How gifts are reported
Missouri law allows legislators to take unlimited gifts from lobbyists, a policy at odds with laws in surrounding states.
In Kansas, legislators cannot accept gifts worth more than $40. Gifts are banned in Arkansas, Illinois and Iowa, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Once a month, lobbyists must file a report to the Missouri Ethics Commission, detailing expenditures on legislators, their families and staff. Group expenses - gifts given to legislative committees or the entire Legislature - are categorized separately. The reports are available online.
The law does not set a minimum dollar amount for reporting gifts, but Missouri statutes dictate lobbyists must report "anything of value."
In 2014, Rowden took about $2,500. That year, his legislative salary was about $36,000. In 2013, he took about $1,200 in gifts. Rowden did not accept any individual gifts last year, but he accepted $75.14 in meals on behalf of his legislative assistant, Stuart Murray, according to the reports. Rowden hasn't accepted any gifts so far this year.
Rowden said he's changed his mind about gifts over the years.
"That was really the calculation for me - I'm not really getting anything out of it besides a free meal here or there, so it made sense just to cut the cord," Rowden said. "As you talk to people ... you get a better awareness of the public perception around how these things work. My opinion changed."
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Give and take
Lobbyists doled out thousands of dollars in meals, baseball tickets, hotel rooms, concert tickets and other items in 2015.
Last year, the five House members who received the most gifts, both individually and on behalf of their family and staff were:
• Kevin Austin, R-Springfield: $9,989.51
• Anne Zerr, R-St. Charles: $6,326.56
• Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage: $5,996.47
• Clem Smith, D-St. Louis: $5,725.99
• T.J. Berry, R-Kearney: $5,627.87
In the Senate, the top five were:
• Joe Keaveny, D-St. Louis: $9,968.75
• Gina Walsh, D-St. Louis: $7,575.52
• Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis: $4,899.44
• Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown: $4,841.48
• Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City: $4,599.61
A lobbyist from the Jewish Federation of St. Louis paid for a trip to Israel for Austin, Zerr, Keaveny and Walsh, which accounts for a large portion of their gift totals.
For each, the trip cost at least $4,300. The lobbyist paid for travel, lodging, entertainment and meals, but the cost per legislator varied slightly. Keaveny and Austin each brought a family member on the trip, which cost approximately $1,000 per person in addition to the legislator's expenses.
In addition to individual gifts, lobbyists gave more than a quarter million, mostly in catered meals, to groups, including committees and the entire General Assembly. Early last year, former House Speaker John Diehl, R-Town and Country, banned committees from holding hearings at country clubs and restaurants, where lobbyists often provided catered meals.
Constituents sometimes squawk at gifts like expensive event tickets, but the public reports let voters challenge their representatives if the gifts they accept are too extravagant, Rep. Mike Colona, D-St. Louis, said.
If voters from his district inquired, they would discover Colona accrued more than $4,000 in lobbyist gifts last year and two years ago, including an $800 event ticket last March from Ameren. Only two House members took more gifts than Colona in 2014, according to the reports.
He was one of only a dozen House members who voted against the gift ban. During House debate, Colona pointed out most of the reported gifts are meals, and having dinner with a lobbyist can help legislators take time to understand issues that matter to voters.
"You and I know a steak dinner isn't going to change our opinion on an issue. Weirdly enough, kind of what it does is educate us more on that issue," Colona said during House debate. "Breaking bread together - are we still going to do that? I don't know."
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Is it enough?
Not all Americans agree gift bans work. A 2006 Pew Research Center study found 75 percent of Americans were worried about lobbyists' influence on Congress, and 76 percent favored a gift ban, but about half of the people surveyed thought a gift ban would not curtail lobbyists' leverage.
Some representatives, including Colona, have said the gift ban is only window dressing to avoid tackling campaign finance reform. Missouri is one of only 12 states with no cap on individual donations to campaigns, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"I don't think buying a dinner will influence a vote," Colona said. "A million-buck donation to a campaign will."
Squire, the MU political science professor, agreed the lack of campaign contribution limits is troubling.
"The biggest ethical issue we have right now is unlimited campaign contributions," he said. "There's some legitimacy to the idea that without changing campaign finance reform, other reforms aren't effective."
Legislators could circumvent a gift ban, Squire said. To dodge the ban, legislators could accept gifts and reimburse the lobbyist with their campaign funds, he said. Legislators cannot use campaign contributions for personal use, but contributions can be used for "necessary expenses incurred in connection with the duties of a holder of elective office," according to Missouri statutes.
If the gift ban passes, lobbyists could still pay for group events if the entire General Assembly and all state officials are invited. Also, legislators could still accept gifts such as plaques and awards worth less than $50.
Republican legislators have been loath to embrace campaign finance reform.
"I know you all want it. We don't. It's just not going to happen," Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, R-Joplin, said at a February press conference at the governor's mansion for Associated Press Day.
Despite the hurdles he's encountered, Rowden said he's still confident the gift ban will pass. There are still opportunities to show Missourians a victory for ethics reform, he said.
"If we can get (the bills) across the finish line, we get go home to our constituents and say "Look, we're serious about this,'" he said. "This isn't just window dressing. This isn't just shallow, rhetorical talk. This is the real deal. This is what people asked for."
Gifts included meals, lodging, tickets to events
Here are some of the other gifts the top legislators accepted. Unless otherwise noted, the gifts were meals.
Rep. Kevin Austin, R-Springfield:
• About $750 from Missouri Automobile Dealers Association for Scott Pearson, his former legislative assistant. One item was a hotel room.
• Two Chiefs tickets totaling $500 from the Kansas City Chiefs Football Club. One was for Pearson.
• About $360 from Comcast for Pearson. Items include Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Blues tickets.
Austin is a member of the House committees on economic development, business attraction and retention and administration and accounts.
Rep. Anne Zerr, R-St. Charles:
• About $215 from the Missouri Hospital Association.
• About $185 from Missouri American Water.
• About $175 from the Missouri Pharmacy Association.
Zerr chairs the House Committee on Commerce.
Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage:
• About $1,400 from Cerner Corporation, including lodging for a conference for him and a staff member.
• About $900 total on 43 occasions from the Missouri Beverage Association.
• About $540 from the Missouri Council of School Administrators.
Flanigan chairs the Select Committee on Budget and the Joint Committee on Legislative Research.
Rep. Clem Smith, D-St. Louis:
• About $350 from Ameren, including tickets to see comedian Kevin Hart.
• About $160 from the Missouri Beverage Association.
• About $160 from Independent Colleges and Universities of Missouri.
Smith is the ranking minority member of the Select Committee on Utilities, the House Committee on Utility Infrastructure, the House Committee on Workforce Standards and Development and the Select Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
Rep. T.J. Berry, R-Kearney:
• About $2,000 in Chiefs and Royals tickets from Kansas City Power and Light.
• About $1,100 for a total of 4 Royals playoff tickets from AT&T Inc.
• $500 in concert tickets from Hunt Midwest.
Berry is the chair of House Select Committee on Utilities.
Sen. Joe Keaveny, D-St. Louis:
• About $740 from Missouri American Water, including St. Louis Cardinals tickets for him and his staff.
• About $500 from BJC HealthCare for his staff, including Cardinals tickets.
• A $480 Missouri football ticket from MU for a staff member.
Keaveny chairs the Senate Committee on Progress and Development and is the Senate minority floor leader.
Sen. Gina Walsh, D-St. Louis:
• About $460 total from the Missouri Beverage Association on 21 occasions.
• About $400 from Burton & Liese Government Relations, including meals for staff and for a school in St. Louis.
• About $330 from Protect Missouri Workers for framed copies of SCR.
Walsh is the vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Progress and Development and the Senate Select Committee on Capital Improvements. She is the assistant minority floor leader.
Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis:
• About $1,000 from the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys for continuing legal education for staff member Blake Lawrence.
• About $630 total from the Missouri Beverage Association on 12 occasions.
• About $418 for an MU basketball ticket from Pelopidas LLC.
Nasheed does not chair any committees. She is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown:
• About $950 for a Missouri football ticket and a Kenny Chesney concert ticket from Kansas City Power & Light for a staff member.
• About $530 from the Missouri Railroad Association.
• About $360 from the Missouri Rural Water Association.
Munzlinger is the chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources. He is the majority caucus whip.
Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City:
• About $1,200 from Ameren, including a Cardinals ticket and tickets to see Kevin Hart.
• About $950 for Royals tickets from Kansas City Power & Light.
• Two football tickets totaling $500 from the Kansas City Chiefs Football Club.
Curls does not chair any committees. She is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is the minority caucus chairwoman.