Speaker of the House spent $1,100 in campaign funds on ALEC junket, dues

Speaker of the House Tim Jones, R-Eureka spent $1145.47 from his campaign account for a trip to the ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) conference July 30-August 2 at the Hilton Hotel in Dallas, according to his quarterly disclosure report filed this week with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Jones, who is prevented from seeking another term by term limits, is listed on his campaign committee reports as seeking an unspecified statewide office in 2016.

The Ethics Commission report shows Jones used campaign money to pay his $500 ALEC dues on July 2, then paid $134 to Southwest Airlines for travel, $207.47 to the Hilton Hotel , and $324 to Southwest Airlines.

ALEC provides ready-made pro-business and anti-public education bills to legislators, who then submit them as their own when the legislative session opens.

The Dallas junket is the subject of an ethics complaint filed by Progress Missouri because lobbyists were charging much of what they were spending to the entire General Assembly, though only a half dozen Republican legislators, including Jones, Speaker of the House in waiting John Diehl, R-Town and Country, and Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, actually attended the conference.

From 2011: Turner Report Coverage on Tim Jones and ALEC