At a time when a large number of Missourians are unemployed and others are recovering from natural disasters, a large contingent of Republican legislators took a three-day vacation in New Orleans, picking up ready-made legislation from the consortium of business and right-wing groups that make up ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council).
And though only about a dozen legislators, apparently including no Democrats, attended the conference, some of the lobbyists who footed the bill for their meals and drinks, including wine tasting and cocktail parties, said they were buying the gifts for the House Republican Caucus, the Senate Republican Caucus, and the Missouri General Assembly.
Caught off guard by Turner Report revelations last year about their being wined and dined by lobbyists at the annual ALEC Conference in San Diego, Missouri Republicans apparently vowed to make sure they would never have to suffer that embarrassment again.
The Turner Report investigation noted golf outings for Speaker of the House in waiting Tim Jones, wine tasting for then Rep. Ron Richard, R-Joplin and his wife and dinners and cab fare for legislators and their spouses.
When ALEC held its annual meeting in the Big Easy in August, the legislators still golfed, ate gourmet meals, and had the chance to cleanse their palates with expensive wines.
Documents posted online at the Missouri Ethics Commission website Saturday showed John R. Sondag, AT&T lobbyist, paid $1,440 for meals and drinks for the House Majority Caucus on Aug. 3, and another $60 in meals for the caucus at the Missouri Chamber Dinner at ALEC the following day.
On Aug. 5, Sondag paid for refreshments at the Absinthe House in New Orleans, again for the House Republican Caucus.
Lobbyist William Gamble bought $75 worth of meals for both the House and Senate Republican caucuses, according to the Ethics Commission documents. Seventy-five dollars in meals for the House GOP Caucus at Antoine's Restaurant were credited to Missouri Beverage Association and Independent Colleges and Universities of Missouri, while another $75 was spent on meals for the Senate Republican Caucus, credited to Missouri Beverage Association and Missouri Railroad Association.
Another lobbyist at Gamble and Schlemeier, Betsy Ledgerwood, paid $75.72 Aug. 4 for meals at the Court of Two Sisters for the House Republican Caucus, with Missouri Beverage Association picking up the tab. The same amount was spent for the Senate Caucus, paid for by the Missouri Railroad Association.
Missouri Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Tracy King paid for legislators to take a "cocktail tour," charging $742 to the House Republican Caucus and $182 to the Senate Caucus, leaving no information on which elected officials were sipping those cocktails.
The cocktail tour wasn't the only alcohol-soaked event the legislators attended free of charge. Susan Henderson Moore, State Farm Insurance lobbyist, spent $180 on a "walking wine tour" for the House GOP Caucus, according to the Ethics Commission documents.
Charles Simino, Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association lobbyist, spent $400 for meals and $846.43 for entertainment for the Missouri General Assembly. Ethics Commission documents indicate the entertainment was a "tour," but did not indicate what kind of tour it was. The meal was a dinner at Antoine's Restaurant.
(More to come)
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