Flashback to 2010: Speaker Tilley, now a lobbyist, sponsors bill banning legislators from going directly to lobbying

Less than three years after he sponsored legislation that would have prohibited elected officials from jumping right from the legislature into lobbying, former Speaker of the House Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, did just that.

Missouri Ethics Commission records indicate that Tilley, who resigned as Speaker and from the House of Representatives less than three weeks ago, registered as a lobbyist today with three clients- his own firm Strategic Capitol Consulting, Fred Weber, Inc. of Maryland Heights, and Supermarket Merchandising, St. Louis.

Tilley's proposal to stop the merry-go-round between the legislature and influence peddling was part of a sweeping ethics reform bill that he proposed for the 2010 legislative session. That proposal, first revealed in the December 14, 2009, Turner Report, came after Tilley had a long discussion with his father about a continuing series of reports in this blog about Tilley's acceptance of lobbyists' gifts:

Tilley says he read the posts and did not like what he was reading. "I knew that no lobbyist gift was going to buy my vote, but I printed a couple of the stories out and showed them to my dad. He told me he knew I hadn't done anything wrong, but he said it sure looks bad."

From that point on, Tilley has reimbursed any lobbyist who paid for a meal. It is not a matter of legislators going hungry if they don't get fed by lobbyists. "We get paid for our food," he noted. "We receive a per diem."

This is not the first time he has looked at a wide-ranging reform bill, Tilley said. "We discussed doing something like this a year ago. We wanted to take a serious look at ethics. With all of the controversy surrounding a number of Democrats, including Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, Rep. Steve Brown, D-St. Louis, and Rep. Talibdin El-Amin, D-. St. Louis, pleading guilty to charges including bribery and obstruction, "it was time for something to be done to restore people's cnnfidence in government."

Tilley's bill also targets some of the problems that have been noted within his own party. One provision calls for the elimination of legislators also serving as political consultants, an ethical problem noted during the tenure of former Speaker of the House Rod Jetton.

Tilley says he will not be alone in seeking governmental reform. For the past several weeks, he has been talking with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and to senators as well as other House members. "Overall, the bill has received a positive reception," he said. "Obviously, when you try to change the way things have always been done, there are going to be challenges, but I think this bill will pass with bipartisan support."

In a news release Tilley will issue Tuesday, he notes, "The vast majority of eople who serve in the legislature are here for the right reasons, serving their constituents, and advocating their positions, but a few have the ability to taint the rest. My goal is to create a higher standard for all of us and remove the incentives that tend to be abused and cause problems."

Key provisions in the bill include:

-An end to lobbyist gifts and meals to individual members of the legislature

-An end to political consulting while serving as a member of the legislature

-A moratorium on serving as a legislative lobbyist for 180 days after a member leaves the general assembly

-Full disclosure of all members, spouses, and staff of any political employment

-Full disclosure of any financial interest of any general assembly, executive, or statewide offices, including staff and contract agents.

-Prohibition on accepting political contributions for any compensated appointment made by the governor, speaker of the House, or speaker pro tempore of the Senate that requires Senate approval for a period before and after the appointment

-A moratorium on appointing members of the general assembly to executive department positions for 180 days after they leave office

-Prohibition of any political donations being made to the governor by any entity that has a pending decision before an executive department or decision making body.

Tilley says his bill requires one thing that other ethics reform bills have not. His legislation would not only prohibit legislators from accepting gifts from lobbyists individually, but it would also end the practice of contributing to legislative committees.


The legislation that eventually passed in 2010 obviously did not include the end to the governmental merry-go-round, the elimination of gifts from lobbyists, or many other provisions that were in Tilley's initial proposal.

The gravy train rolls on in Jefferson City and Steve Tilley, despite his earlier effort to stop it, is ready to take the ride.

Lame-duck Missouri governor still raising campaign cash with the help of lobbyist

By Jason Hancock

Missouri Independent

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is the guest of honor Tuesday night at a fundraiser for a pair of PACs at the home of a longtime Jefferson City lobbyist.

The event is being advertised as a “celebration of public service” for the Republican governor and First Lady Teresa Parson. It’s hosted by Steve Tilley, a longtime lobbyist and adviser for Parson. It coincides with Parson’s 69th birthday.

Some of the invitations ask for donations to Uniting Missouri PAC, the political action committee created to bolster Parson’s political career.

 

For the last two years, Uniting Missouri has mostly existed to bankroll Parson’s trips to the Super Bowl. But in the weeks leading up to the GOP primary, it spent several hundred thousand dollars supporting the candidacies of Mike Kehoe for governor and Andrew Bailey for attorney general.

Parson is leaving the governor’s office in January because of term limits, and he has repeatedly said he has no intention of ever running for office again.

Other invitations to Tuesday night’s gathering seek to raise money for Missouri Prospers PAC, which was formed last week by Tilley’s son-in-law.

Missouri Prospers is one of a constellation of political action committees connected to Tilley, a former Missouri House speaker who became a lobbyist after resigning from office in 2012.

For years, Tilley’s lobbying clients have spread donations among six PACs associated with him and his firm. The PACs then donate that money to candidates.

It’s a practice that’s drawn criticism from those who see it as a way to skirt limits on how much a candidate can accept from an individual or PAC, as well as a ban on direct corporate contribution to candidates.

 

And in the past it’s drawn scrutiny from federal law enforcement. The FBI began looking into utility contracts in Independence after four Tilley-connected PACs donated to the city’s mayor just days before a key vote.

Each of the PACs had received money from a company connected to one of the contacts.

No charges have ever been filed in any matter involving Tilley, and he has long denied any wrongdoing.

Parson and Tilley have been friends for years, going back more than a decade to when they served together in the Missouri House.

When Tilley resigned from office to become a lobbyist, he still had more than $1 million in his campaign committee. He invested a big portion of it in a Perryville bank, and later used the money to donate to candidates, such as Parson, who would then hire Tilley as a campaign consultant.

Lawmakers felt Tilley had found a loophole in Missouri’s campaign finance laws, ultimately taking aim at his practices by passing legislation in 2016 requiring elected officials to dissolve their campaign committees when they register with the Missouri Ethics Commission as lobbyists.

Since then, Tilley has been a prolific fundraiser for Parson and Uniting Missouri. At one point during the 2020 election cycle, a quarter of the governor’s campaign funds could be connected to Tilley.

And Parson’s years in office have been lucrative for Tilley.

Before Parson took over as governor in June 2018, following the resignation of former Gov. Eric Greitens, Tilley had 25 lobbying clients. A year into Parson’s first term, that number had ballooned to more than 70.

Speaker of the House keeps his promise to reject lobbyists' gifts

(The following is my column for the Newton County News and KY3/KSPR.)

Anyone who has read my newspaper columns or blog posts over the last two decades know that I have strong feelings (to put it mildly) about the influence of money in politics.

I was angered a few years ago when the same politicians who preach constantly about following the wishes of the people, ignored those wishes completely and did away with campaign contribution limits.

Ours has become a system in which the voice of the people is silenced unless that voice is bolstered by a stack of greenbacks.

And then there are the lobbyists.

Back in the days when I interviewed politicians on a regular basis, I had one after another tell me that his or her vote could not be bought for a sandwich and a cup of coffee. (None of them ever mentioned a gambling excursion or hard liquor, but of course, we all know politicians don't frequent gaming establishments and never touch spirits.)

When they delivered those lines, I had no doubt they believed them, because most politicians do not enter public life to enrich themselves. But the perception is there and more importantly, so is the access.

Lobbyists serve an important purpose in our system. They provide needed information on subjects that affect their clients. But anyone who doesn't believe that their access and socialization with legislators doesn't play a major role in the bills that pass through the General Assembly is naive.

In these days of financial difficulty, it is hard to sympathize with legislators who accept more in lobbyists' gifts during a calendar year than many of their constituents make working 40 hours a week for five or six months.

Most of the time, legislation designed to curb lobbyists' influence never makes it out of committee and is usually proposed by legislators who spend most of their time tilting at windmills.

That was not the case during the 2010 session.

I was surprised when I received an e-mail from Majority Leader (now Speaker of the House) Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, saying he wanted to talk to me. Since I had written numerous times about the large number of lobbyists' gifts he had accepted, I was expecting to hear harsh criticism of The Turner Report. That was not what Tilley had in mind.

Tilley told me he had read my posts and did not like what he was reading. "I knew that no lobbyist gift was going to buy my vote, but I printed a couple of the stories out and showed them to my dad. He told me he knew I hadn't done anything wrong, but he said it sure looks bad."


From that point on, Tilley has reimbursed any lobbyist who paid for a meal. It is not a matter of legislators going hungry if they don't get fed by lobbyists. "We get paid for our food," he noted. "We receive a per diem."

Tilley followed up his conversation with a wide-ranging ethics bill, which included the total elimination of lobbyists' gifts. It did not make him popular and despite his power (let there be no doubt about it, Tilley may not have been the Speaker last year, but he was the most powerful legislator in the House), the gift ban did not survive in the watered down version of his ethics bill that eventually passed.

It would have been easy for Steve Tilley to fall back into old habits, but he has not. As Missouri Ethics Commission records posted Monday show, Tilley scrupulously reimbursed lobbyists every cent of every meal or gift he was offered.

 The publicity over his promise was a thing of the past, but Tilley stood by his word.

Tilley's continued stance against lobbyists' gifts is not the only principled stand he has taken. Even thought Missouri law permits it, Tilley refuses to accept campaign contributions while the legislature is in session to prevent any perception of being influenced on any legislation that comes before him.

During the State of the State message last week, Gov. Jay Nixon rightly criticized the problems, both in perception and in reality of eliminating campaign contribution limits. Tilley, who believes there should be no limits (and who has accepted many oversized contributions) says that if Nixon feels so strongly about it, Nixon should stop accepting those hefty checks.

And while it is true that would be easier said than done since it would put Nixon at a considerable fundraising disadvantage to such potential 2012 challengers as Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, Tilley, more than any elected official in the state of Missouri has the standing to challenge Nixon on his statement.

Tilley, unlike many who rise to power in government, has taken a principled stand and has not backed down from it.

Exclusive: Tilley outlines his proposal for major governmental reform in Missouri

Over the past six months, Rep. Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, has not accepted any gifts from lobbyists. If the Majority Leader has his way, other legislators will soon have to follow suit.

Tuesday, Tilley will announce a comprehensive government reform bill designed to restore confidence in Missouri's elected officials and this is not being done just for show, Tilley told The Turner Report.

"I'm not afraid to use the power of my position to make sure this bill gets done."


It has not been that long since Tilley's name was regularly featured in Turner Report posts abput Missouri politicians accepting gifts from lobbyists Previous posts about Tilley can be found at this link.

Tilley says he read the posts and did not like what he was reading. "I knew that no lobbyist gift was going to buy my vote, but I printed a couple of the stories out and showed them to my dad. He told me he knew I hadn't done anything wrong, but he said it sure looks bad."

From that point on, Tilley has reimbursed any lobbyist who paid for a meal. It is not a matter of legislators going hungry if they don't get fed by lobbyists. "We get paid for our food," he noted. "We receive a per diem."

This is not the first time he has looked at a wide-ranging reform bill, Tilley said. "We discussed doing something like this a year ago. We wanted to take a serious look at ethics. With all of the controversy surrounding a number of Democrats, including Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, Rep. Steve Brown, D-St. Louis, and Rep. Talibdin El-Amin, D-. St. Louis, pleading guilty to charges including bribery and obstruction, "it was time for something to be done to restore people's cnnfidence in government."

Tilley's bill also targets some of the problems that have been noted within his own party. One provision calls for the elimination of legislators also serving as political consultants, an ethical problem noted during the tenure of former Speaker of the House Rod Jetton.

Tilley says he will not be alone in seeking governmental reform. For the past several weeks, he has been talking with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and to senators as well as other House members. "Overall, the bill has received a positive reception," he said. "Obviously, when you try to change the way things have always been done, there are going to be challenges, but I think this bill will pass with bipartisan support."

In a news release Tilley will issue Tuesday, he notes, "The vast majority of eople who serve in the legislature are here for the right reasons, serving their constituents, and advocating their positions, but a few have the ability to taint the rest. My goal is to create a higher standard for all of us and remove the incentives that tend to be abused and cause problems."

Key provisions in the bill include:

-An end to lobbyist gifts and meals to individual members of the legislature

-An end to political consulting while serving as a member of the legislature

-A moratorium on serving as a legislative lobbyist for 180 days after a member leaves the general assembly

-Full disclosure of all members, spouses, and staff of any political employment

-Full disclosure of any financial interest of any general assembly, executive, or statewide offices, including staff and contract agents.

-Prohibition on accepting political contributions for any compensated appointment made by the governor, speaker of the House, or speaker pro tempore of the Senate that requires Senate approval for a period before and after the appointment

-A moratorium on appointing members of the general assembly to executive department positions for 180 days after they leave office

-Prohibition of any political donations being made to the governor by any entity that has a pending decision before an executive department or decision making body.

Tilley says his bill requires one thing that other ethics reform bills have not. His legislation would not only prohibit legislators from accepting gifts from lobbyists individually, but it would also end the practice of contributing to legislative committees.

Tilley said he approached the legislation with three criteria in mind:

1. "It must be comprehensive.:

2. "It must be fair."

3. "It must make an impact and prove effective."

"We expect there will be other proposals and ideas to come forward throughout the legislative process and we are open to discussing and debating each of these, however, we feel the reforms outlined in this legislation are the most straight -forward and effective measures we should pass to right the course of politics in Missouri."

Tilley: The real most powerful man in the state of Missouri

(The following is my column for this week's Newton County News.)


It has to be tough being the most powerful man in Missouri when no one will do what you say.

Of course, Speaker of the House Ron Richard, R-Joplin, is not necessarily the most powerful man in Missouri, though he told KODE reporter Dustin Latimer he was during a May interview.
Richard said he was “more powerful than the governor, more powerful than the president of the Senate. Not that I care about it.”

As Missourians have found out recently, at least one person has more power than Ron Richard- his party’s House Majority Leader Steve Tilley, R-Perryville.

When former Rep. Tom Burcham, R-Farmington, began filing lawsuits against numerous towns, including Granby, for what he called “stacking” sales taxes illegally, Richard attempted to solve the problem with legislation. The legislation sailed through a committee with a “do pass” recommendation, but that was just a waste of energy.

The fate of the bill was decided eight days before that committee meeting when Tilley's campaign committee accepted $110,000 from a committee controlled by Burcham.

Since the majority leader controls what legislation comes to the floor, the bill was doomed.

And who is this man who really has the power in the Missouri House? Steve Tilley is also the man appointed by Richard to be the chairman of the House Ethics Committee, a position he also held under previous Speaker Rod Jetton.

Tilley must have a different definition of ethics than the one in my dictionary:

-Tilley accepted $340 worth of tickets to the indianapolis 500 May 24, according to documents posted on the Missouri Ethics Commission website. The gift came from lobbyist Joseph Piertle, representing the Missouri Primary Care Association.

-On March 10, Tilley picked up $200 in entertainment tickets from Ameristar Casino lobbyist William Gamble.

-On Dec. 31, Tilley brought in the new year with a little help from his friend, lobbyist Jorgen Schlemeier. Schlemeier paid $1,742.28, $580.76 apiece in "lodging, meals, and entertainment" for Tilley, Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau; and former Speaker of the House Jetton to celebrate the ringing out of the old and the ringing in of the new at Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, the Gamble and Schlemeier client that footed the bill for the excursion, according to Missouri Ethics Commission documents.

-Travis Brown, lobbyist for billionaire educational voucher supporter Rex Sinquefield, spent more than $4,000 wining and dining legislators, including Tilley, Richard, and Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, during a two-day spree in November 2008. Brown paid $515 for travel, lodging, and meals for Tilley.Nodler, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and his wife Joncee, received $1,135.98 in meals and lodging from Sinquefield's lobbyist Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, according to Ethics Commission documents. On Nov. 7, each of the Nodlers received $162.13 for meals, with the total increasing to $286.21 apiece for meals the following day. Nodler received lodging totaling $239.30 on Nov. 7. Richard also received the $239.30 for lodging on the 7th, with he and his wife each receiving meals worth $162.13 on the 7th and $25.13 on the 8th.

And this is just a partial list of Tilley's remarkable accomplishments.

When it comes to ethics, that does not fit any definition I have ever heard. When it comes to power, however, it is apparent that Steven Tilley, not Ron Richard, is the man who has it.

And that is unfortunate for citizens of Granby, who may have to foot the bill for Tom Burcham’s frivolous lawsuit.

The greatest hits of Steve Tilley

House Majority Leader and Ethics Committee Chairman Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, was the subject of a Columbia Daily Tribune article this morning detailing how he derailed legislation that would have hurt a major contributor.

As regular readers of The Turner Report, know, this is far from being the only time the Ethics Committee Chairman has had problems with his own ethics. So here are the greatest hits of Steve Tilley:

From the April 1, 2009 Turner Report:

Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, chairman of the House Ethics Committee, accepted $200 worth of concert tickets from Ameristar Casino lobbyist William Gamble March 10, according to documents posted today on the Missouri Ethics Commission website.

From the Jan. 31, 2009 Turner Report:

2008 was a banner year for Rep. Steve Tilley, R-Perryville.

The majority floor leader, who also serves as Ethics Committee chairman, received $4,190.08 worth of lobbyists' gifts during the year, including $1,059.15 in December, according to documents posted earlier this evening on the Missouri Ethics Commission website.

From the Jan. 22, 2009 Turner Report:

The contribution referred to by Terry Ganey in the Tribune article was first mentioned in this post.

House Majority Floor Leader Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, received two contributions totaling $110,000 from the Missouri Leadership Committee, according to 48-hour reports filed Wednesday with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

The Farmington-based committee, which has former Rep. Tom Burcham as its treasurer, contributed $10,000 Jan. 19, and $100,000 two days later, according to the reports.

From the Jan. 17 Turner Report:

Missouri Ethics Commission documents indicate House Majority Floor Leader Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, brought in the new year with a little help from his friend- Ameristar Casinos lobbyist Jorgen Schlemeier.

Schlemeier paid $1,742.28, $580.76 apiece in "lodging, meals, and entertainment" for Tilley, Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau; and former Speaker of the House Rod Jetton to celebrate the ringing out of the old and the ringing in of the new at Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, the Gamble and Schlemeier client that footed the bill for the excursion, according to the Ethics Commission documents.

From the Dec. 31, 2008 Turner Report:

Others who were dining on the Sinquefield tab included outgoing Speaker Rod Jetton and his wife Cassie, Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, and his wife Nancy, Rep. Allen Icet, R_Wildwood, Budget Committee chairman; Rep. Mike Sutherland, R-Warrenton; Rep. Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, Majority Floor Leader; and Rep. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa. Only Wasson, who received $25.63 in meals, received less than $100 from Brown, according to the Ethics Commission documents.

During the two days, Brown spent $4,807.11, with all but $238 of that total, a $150 gift for Jetton from the Brown Lobbying Firm and $88 for travel for Tilley from Pelopidas, footed by Sinquefield.

From the July 14, 2008 Turner Report:

Steve Tilley has been carrying the water for billionaire voucher supporter Rex Sinquefield in the House of Representatives and he has been generously rewarded for it.
Tilley's second quarter report, filed today with the Missouri Ethics Commission, showed he received $56,980 during the last three months, with more than half of that total, $29,575, coming in maximum $325 contributions from 91 of Sinquefield's political action committees.

(Photo: Steven Tilley standing by the most powerful man in the state of Missouri, Speaker of the House Ron Richard)

The Kansas City Star and its holier-than-thou attitude toward bloggers

From time to time, the Kansas City Star, in its Midwest Democracy Project online political section, links to something I have written and it pulls some extra traffic to The Turner Report. For that, I am grateful.

Sometimes, however, I am not thrilled with the brief description that is given of what I have written. That was the case today when the Star linked to last night's post about former Speaker of the House Steve Tilley's newly found vocation as a lobbyist.

I have been checking the Missouri Ethics Commission filings each day, waiting for the official notification that Tilley had joined the merry-go-round of elected officials who go directly from representing their constituents (hopefully) to peddling influence with their former colleagues.

With Tilley, it was a bigger story and that story was missed entirely by the reporters at the state's largest media outlets, including the Star. Not only was Steve Tilley moving from being speaker of the house, an extremely powerful position in Missouri state government to being a lobbyist, but he was the sponsor of a bill filed just two years ago that would have prohibited such a move.

That was what I reported about. It was a news story, plain and simple, the kind I have been writing about for 35 years. This was how Jonathan Bender at the Kansas City Star described it today:

The Turner Report is frustrated that only three years after sponsoring ethics reform, former Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley registered as a lobbyist.

No, I was not frustrated. I had an exclusive story, as far as I can tell, about a politician who went from promoting a highly-publicized, but ultimately unsuccessful ethics reform bill, to doing the very things he said he considered to be wrong in the first place.

I was not frustrated with Tilley, I was doing what the Kansas City Star should have been doing- reporting the news.

The Star's Jason Hancock, a reporter whom I am sure is overworked considering all of the budget cuts McClatchy has made in what was once a gold standard newspaper, had a by-the-numbers report in which he capably noted all of the developments from this calendar year in the Tilley saga. The problem for Hancock, is that he has only been at the Star since late 2011 and has only covered Missouri politics for about two years. In other words, he was not at the Star when Tilley was pushing his ethics legislation.

In the past, the Star might have had someone with the institutional memory to recall the omnibus ethics bill. Through a series of firings and buyouts, that institutional memory has nearly vanished.

I have no quarrel with Hancock's reporting or his coverage of the Tilley story. He does solid work.And I am not frustrated with Steve Tilley, no matter what it says on the Star website. What I am frustrated with is the condescending attitude the Star and some other newspapers, takes toward bloggers. If a blogger breaks a story, the newspaper maintains a haughty distance from it, as if a story broken by a blog is not a story at all, but some biased hit job. If it is mentioned at all, it is treated as so much gossip or it is ignored for a while until the newspaper's reporters figure the public has forgotten who initially broke the story and then it is treated like it was the newspaper's story all along with the blog's role left unsaid.

Or the story is treated like the Springfield News-Leader recently treated the stories The Turner Report broke about Seventh District Congressman Billy Long's repeated trips, financed by his campaign contributors, to Las Vegas. The News-Leader, instead of doing its own reporting (and all of my information came from FEC documents) simply quoted from my blog and from the Bus Plunge blog in Springfield, got a response from the politician and considered that to be a story. Apparently, it was a tainted story because it came from bloggers.

I am frustrated with the attitude some reporters have toward bloggers. I was breaking stories before many of the reporters who exhibit holier-than-thou attitudes toward blogs were even born. And I do not think I am anything special because of my lengthy background as a newspaper reporter.

Some of the best reporting going on in this state and across the country is being done by bloggers, including some in the Kansas City Star's home territory. Quite frankly, Tony's Kansas City covers a sizable portion of Kansas City news territory that rarely, if ever, sees a Star reporter.

I am frustrated that the newspapers that I grew up with have been neutered by chain ownership to the point where they can no longer provide an investigative function, but are limited to stenography and get a quote from both sides and call it a day journalism.

I am frustrated, but not with Steve Tilley. What Steve Tilley did, I have been expecting for a long time. That's just a politician catching a ride on the old merry go round. As someone who grew up reading newspapers and loving them and had the joy of working for newspapers for 22 years, I am disappointed with what they have become.

That is the source of my frustration.

Read more here: http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/blog-watch-friday-august-31/#storylink=cpyNo

Lobbyist provides Indianapolis 500 tickets for Tilley

House Majority Leader Steven Tilley, R-Perryville accepted $340 worth of tickets to the indianapolis 500 May 24, according to documents posted on the Missouri Ethics Commission website earlier today.

The gift, which came from lobbyist Joseph Piertle, representing the Missouri Primary Care Association, is just the latest in a long line of big-ticket gifts and contributions for Tilley, who also serves as the House's Ethics Committee Chairman.

As noted in earlier editions of The Turner Report, Tilley picked up $200 in entertainment tickets from Ameristar Casino lobbyist Wiliam Gamble March 10. And from the Jan. 17 Turner Report:

Missouri Ethics Commission documents indicate House Majority Floor Leader Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, brought in the new year with a little help from his friend- Ameristar Casinos lobbyist Jorgen Schlemeier.

Schlemeier paid $1,742.28, $580.76 apiece in "lodging, meals, and entertainment" for Tilley, Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau; and former Speaker of the House Rod Jetton to celebrate the ringing out of the old and the ringing in of the new at Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, the Gamble and Schlemeier client that footed the bill for the excursion, according to the Ethics Commission documents.

In addition to the lobbyists' gifts, Columbia Daily Tribune reporter Terry Ganey recently exposed how Tilley in his role as floor leader derailed legislation that would have kept his old friend, former Rep. Thomas Burcham, R-Farmington, from winning lawsuits against cities whose voters approved public safety sales tax. From Ganey's article:

The Missouri Municipal League sought passage of a bill to resolve a sales tax issue that had generated lawsuits against small cities around the state. Tom Burcham, the lawyer filing the suits, manages a political fund that contributed $110,000 in January to the “Friends of Tilley” campaign.

As majority leader, Tilley decides which bills come up in the House. Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, supported the Municipal League’s bill, but Richard said Tilley would not bring it up.

Thanks to Tilley's actions, lawsuits have been threatened against cities all over the state, including Joplin and Granby in the southwest corner.

Tilley campaign account spends $2,700 on induction of Rush Limbaugh into Hall of Famous Missourians

Speaker of the House Steve Tilley decided not to make a run for lieutenant governor this year, instead throwing his support behind incumbent Peter Kinder, but Tilley's campaign account is still going strong, according to his quarterly report filed Friday with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Tilley accepts no lobbyists' freebies, but the expenditures category of his report indicates he reimbursed Pelopidas, Rex Sinquefield's lobbying group for $800 worth of "tickets."

Tilley also used more than $2,700 to pay for expenses associated with the induction of radio personality Rush Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians.

The report shows Tilley paid Locarni Marble Company in Carthage $1,809.44, Precision Art in Jefferson City $159.70, and River City Florist in Jefferson City $353.26.

The expenses are listed as "R. Limbaugh Hall of Fame."

Among the $75,039.88 in expenses Tilley reported were contributions to numerous Republican colleagues' campaign committees, $2,318 for travel to Scottsdale, Ariz., and $4,220 for mileage reimbursement.

Tilley also reimbursed a Perryville woman $253.95 for drinks for a Sarah Steelman event.

The report shows Tilley received $6,520 during the quarter, with $5,520 of that coming from interest. He still has $1,193,776.26 in the bank.

Tilley has not ruled out a future run for elected office.

Tilley not running for anything, but campaign account pays for $3,000 in meals during first quarter

Speaker of the House Steve Tilley's name will not appear on any ballot in August or November this year, but his campaign account is alive and well with more than a million dollars in it, according to his quarterly report filed today with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

And even though Tilley announced Nov. 10 that he would not run for lieutenant governor, he still used his campaign account to pay for nearly $3,000 worth of meals during the first three months of this year, according to the report.

In 2009, Tilley stopped accepting meals and gifts from lobbyists and proposed an ethics proposal, which he released exclusively through The Turner Report. His latest report, however, indicates that he used $453 to reimburse meals from St. Louis lobbyist John Bardgett.

The report also shows he used his campaign account to pay for the following:

-Dominicos Italian, meals and entertainment, $614.17, March 1

-Alexandro's Restaurant, meals and entertainment, $419.68, Feb. 16

-Missouri Ticket Guys, meals and entertainment, $500, Feb. 10

-Scottrade Center, meals and entertainment, $277.50, Jan. 30

Tilley's meals also included one far from the borders of Missouri. The report has a listing for $133.40 for "meals" at Inaka Sushi in Las Vegas. Nev., where Tilley bought a second home on Sept. 1, 2010, a purchase first revealed in the Oct. 26, 2010, Turner Report.

The continued big spending from the Tilley account has been well documented by veteran reporter Rudi Keller of the Columbia Tribune, who noted recently that the speaker took the unusual, but legal, step of using campaign money to buy into a bank.

House Speaker Steve Tilley, a prolific fundraiser who stepped back from a bid for lieutenant governor, made an unusual investment with his excess campaign cash when he purchased 12,000 shares of stock in a community bank based in his hometown of Perryville.

That purchase is noted in his quarterly report, which shows he spent $900,000 on those shares and also invested $210,000 with Scotttrade Brokerage Account.

Though Tilley is not running for office in 2012, he has said he plans to maintain the committee because he has nor ruled out a future run for office.

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Ethics Committee chairman rakes in $29,000+ in Sinquefield bucks

Steve Tilley has been carrying the water for billionaire voucher supporter Rex Sinquefield in the House of Representatives and he has been generously rewarded for it.
Tilley's second quarter report, filed today with the Missouri Ethics Commission, showed he received $56,980 during the last three months, with more than half of that total, $29,575, coming in maximum $325 contributions from 91 of Sinquefield's political action committees.

If you don't think Tilley earned his money, check out this passage from the April 11 Turner Report:

An amendment to the bill would have allowed parents of autistic children to receive public money to put their children in private schools. The 80-58 vote came on an amendment to strip that wording out of the teacher pay increase bill.

Though many of those who supported the voucher proposal also were purported to be for the teacher pay increase proposal for the bill (which mostly was designed for teachers in small rural districts and for teachers who were willing to work in poor districts including those in the inner city), at least one has spitefully indicated if he doesn't get his way on vouchers, the pay increase proposal is dead:

House Majority Leader Steven Tilley said he will not allow the legislation to be brought up for a vote, because he says the bill now only helps teachers — not children.

"That bill will not see the light of day," Tilley, R-Perryville, told The Associated Press.


Perhaps someone should tell Rep. Tilley that providing the pay to encourage experienced, qualified teachers to relocate to troubled inner-city schools does help children.

Providing better pay to keep qualified teachers from leaving education to take more lucrative positions in other fields also helps children.

When it comes right down to it, the only ones not helping children are Rep. Tilley and those who are so narrow-minded in their pursuit of voucher legislation that they cannot see the harm they are doing.

Of course, the higher pay for teachers was a smokescreen for the voucher legislation for many legislators.
***

Tilley, who is House Majority Leader and Ethics Committee chairman found legal, though not necessarily ethical, ways to raise money for his re-election campaign. Among the methods he used:

-As mentioned, Tilley received maximum $325 contributions from 91 committees formed by retired billionaire Rex Sinquefield. The contributions came from such colorfully named committees as Missourians Needing Educational Alternatives, Your School, Your Choice, Missourians for Economic Growth, Missourians Supporting Teaching Excellence, My Job, My Wage, Merit Pay for Missouri Teachers, Missourians for Tax Reform, and Public Charter Schools for Missouri.

-Another $4,515, all in small amounts from 23 pharmacists or pharmacies from Willow Springs, Neosho, Reeds Spring, Excelsior Springs, Benton, Chesterfield, Kansas City, Independence, Moberly, St. Clair, Poplar Bluff, Mountain Grove, Strafford, Buffalo, Greenfield, Portageville, New Haven, Columbia, and Ozark.

-$1,170 in small amounts from optometrists from Monett, Lamar, Warrensburg, El Dorado Springs, Bridgeton, Cape Girardeau, Joplin, and Kirksville.

-$13,400, consisting of eight $1,675 contributions from legislative district committees.

-$1,300 from four maximum $325 contributions from different Missouri Bankers Association PACs.

Tilley appoints Kinder, Joplin residents to disaster preparedness commission

(From the Missouri House of Representatives)


Members of a newly-formed commission will spend the next few months assessing the state’s ongoing disaster recovery efforts as well as the preparedness level of state and local government for future catastrophic events. Formed by House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, the Interim Commission on Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery will be chaired by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and will have a membership made up of state representatives and private citizens. Tilley said the state needs to take a detailed look at how it responds to disasters like those that ravaged Missouri in 2011 in order to be better prepared in the future. 

“Last year was extremely difficult for Missouri with the tornadoes that hit Joplin and other parts of the state and the flooding that devastated so much of our farmland. We’ve seen communities rally together during the recovery period and it has been inspiring to watch,” said Tilley. “However, we need to make a detailed assessment of the role state and local government have played in this process to determine whether they have provided the best possible service to the people of the state. The disasters of 2011 exposed some of the weaknesses in the state’s plan. We need to learn from those lessons and work together to make certain future disasters are handled in the most efficient and effective way possible.” 

“This is an opportunity to dig into the details to make sure the resources we allocated for disaster recovery are producing the results they should for the people of Missouri,” said Kinder. “I thank Speaker Tilley for giving me this opportunity and I look forward to working with the members of the commission to find areas where we can improve our level of preparedness and our response efforts in the future.” 

Tilley also named House Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller, R-Willard, to serve as vice chairman of the commission. Tilley said Schoeller will be an enormous asset to the committee because of the knowledge he gained as chairman of the Interim Committee on Disaster Recovery in 2011. 

“It was eye-opening to travel around the state and see firsthand how communities were responding to disaster. We learned a great deal about what worked well and what could be done better,” said Schoeller. “I hope we can take the lessons learned from the recovery efforts in 2011 to improve our response plan for future events. The people of Missouri deserve to know that government is making their safety the highest priority.” 

Tilley said the commission will assess the preparedness of state and local government leading up to the disasters, the response to the initial impact of the disasters, and the recovery efforts in affected areas. The commission also will consider the legislative and administrative changes to assist current recovery efforts and improve future disaster preparedness, response and recovery. 

The commission will submit a report of its findings and recommendations no later than December 31, 2012. 

In addition to Lt. Gov. Kinder and Speaker Pro Tem Schoeller, the commission consists of the following House members: Reps. Don Gosen, R-Chesterfield; Rep. Steve Hodges, D-East Prairie; Shelley Keeney, R-Marble Hill; Rep. Sylvester Taylor, D-Black Jack; and Bill White, R-Joplin. Citizen members include Bennie Crossland, Crossland Construction; Morris Glaze, Joplin City Council; Dwight Douglas, Freeman Health Systems; and Jim Honey, Jasper County Associate Commissioner. 

Most powerful man in state, Ron Richard, powerless to stop Tilley

The most powerful man in the state of Missouri, Speaker of the House Ron Richard, R-Joplin, was powerless to stop House Majority Leader (and Ethics Committee Chairman) Steve TIlley from killing legislation that would have benefited Richard's hometown.

That is the only way to interpret the situation following a careful reading of the article veteran political reporter Terry Ganey posted this morning on the Columbia Daily Tribune website.

In the article, it is noted that Tilley killed legislation that would have prevented major contributor Tom Burcham from being able to make a killing by suing city governments that have sales taxes that are not specifically for capital improvements or general purposes. Burcham, who had success with such lawsuits, is now bringing action against the city of Joplin where voters approved a sales tax for law enforcement purposes.

As majority leader, Tilley decides which bills come up in the House. Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, supported the Municipal League’s bill, but Richard said Tilley would not bring it up.

“The majority leader wouldn’t let me put it on the calendar,” Richard said. “He said he wasn’t ready to talk about it just yet. I told the Municipal League, ‘We need some help to convince the majority leader there are a lot of cities that are in jeopardy.’ ”

While Tilley decides what bills come before the House, Richard, who described himself as more powerful than the governor or the president of the Senate (but not Tilley, apparently) during a May interview with KODE could easily have used his bully pulpit to put pressure on Tilley to back down.

It must be a lonely job being the most powerful man in the state and being impotent.

Winners and losers in Tuesday's election

My take on the winners and losers from Tuesday's election. Please feel free to leave comments.

WINNERS

Susan Montee- It is rare that a candidate has had so many things weighing in her favor. Though she is running in a state that has been voting more and more Republican in national races, she has name recognition from her time as state auditor, a weakened Peter Kinder as an opponent, the contrast between Kinder, the supposed womanizer, and the female candidate, and a third party candidate in Cynthia Davis, who will drain at least a few votes from Kinder and maybe more if some of the big money boys who financed Brad Lager's campaign decide they want to make sure Kinder doesn't win.

Steve Tilley- Sure, Sarah Steelman didn't win, but she did garner more votes than John Brunner, who put eight million of his own money into his campaign. Where Tilley benefits is from Peter Kinder's win. Tilley decided not to run for lieutenant governor when Kinder elected to go for a third term. Tilley's brilliant maneuver to use his position as Speaker of the House to appoint a Kinder-led committee to study disasters during the last couple of weeks of the campaign gave voters a different image of him, at odds with the Horny Toad commercials. Assuming that Jay Nixon is re-elected (and barring something disastrous, that is going to happen) Tilley has to be considered at this point to be in the top tier of candidates in 2016. At that point, Peter Kinder and David Spence are not going to be on the list. (Lager would have been had he won.) I have a hard time seeing Shane Schoeller using secretary of state as a springboard to the governor's mansion. He is going to have a hard enough time beating Jason Kander. Barring someone coming out of nowhere, that leaves Tilley, Tom Schweich, or maybe some surprise candidate like Jim Talent. Schweich doesn't have the temperament or the skill to keep up with Tilley. All of that being said, I also have no problem seeing Tilley staying out of elective politics and sticking with the twin hobbies of making money and being a political kingmaker in this state.

Landslide Stacey Newman- She won. Every vote counts.

Duke- Bill Stouffer's toast, but his dog is a winner.

Rex Sinquefield- He only sank $385,000 into Brad Lager's campaign, unlike the $900,000 the Humphreys family of Joplin contributed, and $385,000 is just a drop in the bucket to King Rex. Plus, he backed Jamilah Nasheed and Shane Schoeller, among others. Sinquefield, sad to say, is not going away.

Claire McCaskill- She wanted Todd Akin; she got him. But the one thing she had better not do is underestimate him.

Jay Nixon- He didn't have to spend any money and the Republican party already thinks he has a second term wrapped up or his general election opponent would not be Dave Spence.

Missourians- No robocalls for a few weeks.

Mike Huckabee- I'm not sure how much endorsements mean in these elections, but apparently Mike Huckabee's was worth a lot more than Sarah Palin's.

LOSERS

David Humphreys- His family wasted almost $1 million (possibly more) in an effort to keep Peter Kinder from being renominated. When the best you can show is an Ed Emery victory, it has not been a good election.

Cole McNary- He won the state treasurer's nomination on the Republican ticket, but how in the world did someone talking him into sending out a news release bragging that he had received more votes than any other candidate. Of course you did, Cole, you were unopposed.

Polls and Pundits- They all said John Brunner was going to win and there was never a chance that was going to happen. People got through the election not having the slightest idea what Brunner stood for. Sarah Steelman and to a greater extent, Todd Akin, left no doubt about their stances on issues and Akin  ran a smart campaign, allowing Brunner and Steelman to snipe at each other, while Akin just siphoned off votes.

John Brunner- There is not a one of us who could not find a better use for $8 million.

Bill Stouffer- Great dog, lousy candidate.

Sarah Palin- Hopefully, the mama grizzlies are on the path to extinction.

God- Ed Emery credits God with his victory (voters helped, too, but Emery allowed them to escape the blame). God certainly deserves better than to be saddled with this kind of burden).

I await your comments.

Tilley: I may have called a woman a slut when I was younger

The fallout over Speaker of the House Steve Tilley's decision to enshrine talk show host Rush Limbaugh in the Hall of Famous Missourians continues to be a sore point with many in the state.

A diary on the Show Me Progress blog indicates Tilley met with a dozen representatives of Students for a Better Missouri, did not allow the session to be recorded and videotaped (you don't want those things winding up on YouTube, after all) and answered their questions about the Limbaugh decision:

One of the male students asked if the way a person is chosen for induction should be changed to avoid controversy, but Tilley did not respond to the question, instead again saying he believed his choice to induct Limbaugh was the correct choice. 

Several in the group said the words, and the continued use of those words,  by Limbaugh used when talking about Fluke - "slut", "prostitute", "whore" - were offensive and abusive to all women, and told Speaker Tilley it would be a poor reflection on the State of Missouri, and that it would seem Missouri condoned this treatment of women, if the State went forward with the induction.  Tilley said Limbaugh's comments, while unfortunate, would not deter anyone from coming to the State Capitol.  One woman said she would not feel welcome in the Capitol if the bust is placed in the Hall of Famous Missourians.  Tilley said that was unfortunate but did not feel it would stop any others from going to the Capitol. 

When asked if he had ever called a woman a slut, Tilley said he could not remember if he had. "Maybe when I was younger I might have," he said.

Progress Missouri maintains pressure on Tilley about Limbaugh bust

The pressure on Speaker of the House Steve Tilley to back down from his decision to induct Rush Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians is ramping up, but Tilley is determined to hold ground. in a release issued earlier today, Sean Soendker Nicholson of Progress Missouri once again called on Tilley to reverse the Limbaugh decision. Speaker Steve Tilley is digging in, standing by Rush Limbaugh and his decision to enshrine the right-wing radio host in Missouri's Capitol. Responding last night to thousands of outraged emails and phone calls, Tilley said the outburst of opposition to Rush's bust is "almost laughable" and accused you and me -- not Limbaugh -- of intolerance! Talk about a guy who doesn't get it. Speaker Tilley and his colleagues in the House need to keep hearing from Missourians who are not okay with his decision to place Limbaugh in a place of honor in the People's Capitol. Contact the Speaker and your representatives today. Tell them Rush Limbaugh's hate has no place in our Capitol.

LeVota: Richard and Tilley are hypocrites

In a news release issued today, House Minority Leader Paul LeVota, D-Independence, says Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, and Majority Leader Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, are hypocritical in their reaction to Democrats' actions to remove the payday loan bill from a committee:

A seldom-invoked constitutional provision House Democrats used last week to remove payday loan reform legislation from committee and place it on the House debate calendar was last used in 2005 by House Republicans, including chamber leaders who now complain the action subverts the legislative process.

“This is just another example of hypocrisy by the speaker and majority leader,” said House Minority Leader Paul LeVota, D-Independence. “The Missouri Constitution grants lawmakers the right to strip bills from committee as a means of overcoming obstruction, and House Republicans in the past have exercised that right. Apparently they were for discharge petitions before they were against them.”

Article III, Section 22 of the Missouri Constitution allows 55 House members to remove a bill from committee and place it on the House debate calendar. On April 7, 60 House Democrats signed the petition discharging HB 2116, a payday loan reform bill sponsored by state Rep. Mary Still, from the House Financial Institutions Committee. The action came after committee Vice Chairman Don Wells, R-Cabool, conducted a hearing on payday lending to which only industry lobbyists were invited to testify. Wells owns Kwik Kash, a payday loan business.

In a story today by the Missourinet, House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, and House Majority Leader Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, complained about the use of discharge petitions. From the story:

“House Speaker Ron Richard, a Republican from Joplin, says the bill will go nowhere in the wake of Democrats taking such a drastic step. ‘There is a right way and a wrong way to do things around here,’ Richard said. ‘I’ll be asking the majority leader not to take it up.’

“Majority Floor Leader Steven Tilley, a Republican from Perryville, says he has no plans to. ‘If it gets to the calendar, I have no intention to take it up because it subverts the speaker, it subverts the committee chair and the committee process,’ Tilley said.”

Neither Richard nor Tilley had a problem with “subversion” in May 2005 when they were signatories to the last known discharge petition filed in the House. (See petition below.)

In that instance, 55 representatives, all Republicans, signed a petition to discharge a proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 23) that would have required impeachment trials to be conducted by the state Senate instead of the Missouri Supreme Court. Republicans controlled the House in 2005, as they do today.

“As far as I know, there has never been a massive public outcry for changing the procedures for impeachment trials,” said Still, D-Columbia. “By contrast, there is widespread public support for protecting Missouri families from predatory lending practices. Instead of defending the interests of payday lenders, House Republican leaders should stand up for consumers and allow the reform bill to be debated.”

Although the discharge process allows lawmakers to place bills on the House debate calendar, the House Rules give Tilley, as majority leader, the authority to determine what bills are debated.

Tilley endorses Sarah Steelman, to serve as campaign chairman

(From the Sarah Steelman Senate campaign)

Missouri Speaker of the House of Representatives, Steven Tilley, today announced his endorsement and support of Sarah Steelman for the U.S. Senate. In addition to his endorsement, he will serve as the Campaign Chairman.

"I am truly honored to have the endorsement and support of the Missouri Speaker of the House Steve Tilley in my race for the U.S. Senate," said Steelman. "Not only has he offered his support, but he will be taking on a substantial role in my campaign for United States Senate as Campaign Chair. Speaker Tilley's proven leadership serving Missourians, coupled with his personal commitment to my campaign, is humbling and I look forward to working with him as we take back the Senate and get this country headed in the right direction."

Speaker Tilley has served in the Missouri State House of Representatives for eight years. During his tenure as Speaker he has fought tirelessly for pro-life legislation, protecting our Second Amendment rights, eliminating the franchise tax, and creating a pro-business environment that gets government off the backs and out of the way of small business.

"I have decided to get involved in this race because the importance of this upcoming election cannot be underestimated. Missouri simply cannot afford six more years of Claire McCaskill. Our nation cannot afford two more years of a democrat controlled senate and the fate of Republicans taking back the majority in the United States Senate hinges on Missouri. Sarah Steelman is the only candidate that ensures true reform in Washington and a victory over Claire."

"Washington D.C. is broken. If we continue to elect the same type of person we will continue to get the same result; self service over what's best for Missouri. Sarah has a proven track record as a fighter and her conservative credentials are unmatched. Sarah is going to win this election and shake up the status quo."

Speaker Tilley has successfully helped balance the budget in all of his years of service in the state legislature calling it "common sense."

Sarah Steelman, in her recently released 'Sarah's Show-Me Solutions for the first 60 days' is making it a priority to implement a cut, cap, and balance amendment in the United States Congress and expressed her excitement of Speaker Tilley's support.

"To have the support of a proven leader such as the Speaker in Missouri is truly an honor. Leadership is something that is missing in D.C. and something that Mr. Speaker understands well. I'm tired of the status quo in Washington and I know that Missouri and Mr. Speaker are as well. I am truly honored to have his support and will continue to promote the leadership that he brought in Missouri to the broken system in D.C."

Tilley steps down; Shane Schoeller is new Speaker of the House

(From the Missouri House of Representatives)

House Speaker Steven Tilley announced today that he will resign the office of Speaker and his position as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives. Tilley’s resignation will be effective as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, Aug. 13.

Tilley stated his optometry practice, working on campaigns and spending time with his two daughters as the key factors in his decision.

“Over the past eight years I sometimes put the interest of the caucus and the House ahead of my family,” Tilley said. “My decision to resign early is one I made with my daughters and that puts my family first”

Tilley will continue his optometry practice in Perryville and will remain active in politics and public policy.

Pursuant to House Rules, Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller, R-Willard, will carry out the duties of the Speaker’s office until such time as House members elect a new Speaker.

Ethics Committee Chairman takes more than $4,000 in lobbyists' gifts

2008 was a banner year for Rep. Steve Tilley, R-Perryville.

The majority floor leader, who also serves as Ethics Commitee chairman, received $4,190.08 worth of lobbyists' gifts during the year, including $1,059.15 in December, according to documents posted earlier this evening on the Missouri Ethics Commission website.

Some of that total was noted in the Jan. 17 Turner Report:

Missouri Ethics Commission documents indicate House Majority Floor Leader Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, brought in the new year with a little help from his friend- Ameristar Casinos lobbyist Jorgen Schlemeier.

Schlemeier paid $1,742.28, $580.76 apiece in "lodging, meals, and entertainment" for Tilley, Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau; and former Speaker of the House Rod Jetton to celebrate the ringing out of the old and the ringing in of the new at Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, the Gamble and Schlemeier client that footed the bill for the excursion, according to the Ethics Commission documents

.

Tilley started and ended December with big gifts from lobbyists. Ethics Commission records show that on Dec. 3, Anheuser-Busch lobbyist Ted Powers provided Tilley with $417 worth of tickets to Sea World.

Earlier Turner Report postings about Rep. Tilley's gifts from lobbyists and campaign contributions can be found at this link.