Rep. Jason Kander, D-Kansas City, who fought hard for some actual ethics reform in Missouri and ran into a buzzsaw, issued the following statement on Gov. Jay Nixon's signing today of the watered-down bill that eventually was passed:
“I am pleased the Governor signed the ethics legislation into law today. I am proud to have authored many important provisions in the bill, but I remain incredibly disappointed at the crass political gamesmanship exhibited by the Republican House leadership while the rest of the legislature worked to get this bill passed. As a result of their obstruction, many important reforms were left out and much of what is left in the bill is watered down. With this law we’ve taken the first of many needed steps forward toward cleaning up business as usual in Jefferson City. I will continue to fight hard to get us to our goal of a government we can be proud of.”
The Kansas City-based magazine, Pitch, offers a thorough recounting of Kander's battle in
an article posted today:
That committee soon drafted a bill that incorporated several of Kander and Flook's ideas, giving Kander hope that reform was in the works. But then, as they often do in Jeff City, things began to stall.
One of Jetton's innovations as House speaker was the rules committee, which he operated like a chop shop for legislation that he opposed. And though Jetton had left the House in 2008 because of term limits, some of his methods remained in place: With four weeks left in the session, that rules committee grabbed the ethics reform bill and sent it back for reconstructive surgery. Once supportive of the legislation, Richard and his fellow Republican leaders began to fuss about constitutionality and "language problems."
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