Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Bi-partisan ethics bill proposed by Kander, Flook

Another welcome sign of a possibility of a change in the culture of Jefferson City came Monday with the announcement of a bipartisan ethics bill from Rep. Tim Flook, R-Liberty, and Rep. Jason Kander, R-Jackson County:

Reps. Tim Flook, R-Liberty, and Jason Kander, D-Jackson County, pre-filed legislation Monday that would make it a crime to obstruct ethics investigations as well as launder money through political action committees. Although the bill was filed following a number of criminal and ethical violations by some current and former members of the legislature, neither representative was willing to say the body as a whole has ethics problems.

"The problem is perception," Flook said. "Any of those incidents can be written about in the press. They can be discussed at the kitchen table or at the coffee shops, and it casts doubt on what we're all trying to do down here."


The legislation has not been posted yet on the Missouri House of Representatives website, but an outline of Kander's plan and a letter he sent to legislators was printed in the October 10 Turner Report.

I will have more information on this bill in future posts.

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