JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Following a week off for the legislative spring break, the Missouri House returned Monday afternoon to pass another ethics bill. Unlike the previous ethics bill passed thourgh the House this session, this one puts rules and provisions onto locally elected officials.
HB 229, sponsored by Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, seeks to prohibit all types of lobbyists from making any expenditure for local government officials, superintendents, school board members, or their staff or family members.
Dogan cited an instance in his own hometown in which administrators were given tickets to a World Series game by a company which the administrators extended a contract to.
“I found out that gifts like that $250 World Series tickets, or $500 World Series tickets, even, are not only allowed but not even reported,” Dogan said. “We need to make sure that local elected officials have to meet the standards that we do, and that these gifts have to be disclosed.”
Dogan’s plea was heard by the House, as the measure passed with a resounding 149 votes in favor, with just five dissenting. It joins the other ethics bill, which was the first measure passed by the House this session, in the Senate, where both wait for approval.
The House also took up a bill they managed to perfect before spring break: Rep. Shawn Rhoads’ HB 255 on ticket resale.
Rhoads’ legislation seeks to allow for the resale of tickets by requiring those selling non-transferable event tickets to also sell tickets that can be transferred. In effect, the purchaser of the ticket would be allowed to give it away or resell the ticket in the event that they are unable to attend.
The House passed that bill 121-29.
Another bill of interest that passed was HB 645, which allows any law enforcement agency in the state the ability to supplement its workforce as necessary with qualified retired peace officers when a local or national disaster or emergency occurs. Those officers would serve as volunteers under the proposed law, which passed in the House with a final vote of 142-8.
The House also passed bills on the disposition of human remains, bingo game management, adult high schools, and psychologist licensure.
All of those bills have now been sent to the Senate.
The House also passed to resolutions, one expressing support for Israel and the other recognizing the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument at the College of the Ozarks campus as the official Gold Star Families Memorial Monument of Missouri.
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
