In news releases issued through his office, Gov. Matt Blunt has touted ethics reform. He became the first governor in Missouri history to ban gifts from lobbyists for any employee of the governor's office.
That ban, as I noted in the April 9 Turner Report, apparently does not apply to the governor.
At that time, I noted that Missouri Ethics Commission records showed lobbyist Mark J. Rhoads, representing the voice of the payday loan industry, Community Financial Services Association of America, bought a $22 lunch for Matt Blunt Jan. 10.
On Aug. 6, Jeffrey T. Sweet, lobbyist for Boeing, presented the governor with a $295 model of a Boeing C-17 aircraft, according to a disclosure report posted today on the Ethics Commission website.
Though Blunt's ethic reforms started in 2006, according to a news release earlier this year, he still accepted gifts from lobbyists on six occasions the following year, including a $120 meal from Mel Nicholson, representing SSM Health Care on Aug 21, 2007, and two meals from Daniel Mehan of Missouri Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 15 and Feb. 21, 2007.
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