Ethics reform

Among members of both parties, ethics reform has been a widely discussed topic leading up to the session.

“Eric Greitens, I and other Democrats all agree that we need to root out corruption,” Kendrick said in an interview shortly after the election. He said he pushed for ethics reform during his first two years in the House. “We will do everything we can to hold the majority party accountable and work with them to make sure we get substantive ethics reform this year.”

Several bills have been pre-filed in both houses for ethics reform, including bills such as banning gifts from to members of the General Assembly, extending the time public officials have to wait before becoming lobbyists and allowing the Missouri Ethics Commission to make financial interest statements available to the general public. Other bills have been filed that would give the Missouri Ethics Commission more power.

“I think one of the things that both parties campaigned on is ethics reform,” said Rep. Martha Stevens, D-Columbia. “We really need to make it a priority. It’s time to deliver.”

Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, opposed some ethics reform bills in the last session.

“I think that it’s somewhat naive to say that we should put government in charge of government,” Emery said. “(Ethics bills) put more laws and more regulations on top of the laws that the governing elite aren’t following.”

Emery believes that the people should be in charge of ethics reform.

“The people who pay attention in elections should be in charge of ethics, rather than putting the government in charge,” Emery said.