HB 1727 -- Ethics, Lobbying, and Campaign Contributions

Sponsor:  Zimmerman

This bill changes the laws regarding ethics, lobbying, and
campaign contributions.

ETHICS AND LOBBYING

The bill:

(1)  Prohibits members of the General Assembly from contracting
with or soliciting any other member for the purpose of securing
services for political campaigning, fundraising, or consulting
that in any way relates to the election of any state or federal
office;

(2)  Prohibits an elected official or his or her staff from
registering or acting as a lobbyist for a period of one year
after leaving office or employment of the state or any political
subdivision.  These officials and their staff are allowed to act
as lobbyists for governmental entities immediately upon leaving
office or employment;

(3)  Prohibits any person from concurrently serving as a
treasurer or deputy treasurer on more than one committee.  Any
person, upon a determination by the Missouri Ethics Commission
that he or she is the treasurer or deputy treasurer of more than
one committee, must vacate his or her position on all committees;
and

(4)  Prohibits a committee from transferring any funds received
by the committee to any other committee as specified in Chapter
130, RSMo, except that a continuing committee may transfer funds
to a candidate committee.  A surcharge penalty payable to the
commission of $1,000 plus the amount of the nonallowable
contribution is established for a violation of the
committee-to-committee transfer prohibition by any committee, and
the receiving committee is required to return the nonallowable
contribution to the contributing committee within 10 business
days.  Any knowing and intentional transfer of funds in violation
of this section will be a class A misdemeanor, and a willful
transfer made with the intent to conceal the actual source or
nature of the funds will be a class D felony.

CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

Beginning January 1, 2011, the bill:

(1)  Limits campaign donations from any person other than the
candidate in any one election to candidates for statewide office
to $2,000; for state senator, $1,000; and for state
representative, $500.  Contribution limits for local candidate
donations are based upon population and are specified in the
bill.  Candidate committees will be exempt from these limits;

(2)  Requires contributions from children younger than 14 years
of age to be counted equally toward their parents' contribution
limits or, in the case of a single parent, counted fully against
that parent's contribution;

(3)  Establishes a surcharge penalty payable to the Missouri
Ethics Commission of $1,000 plus the amount of the nonallowable
contribution for a violation of the campaign contribution limits
by any committee and requires the candidate to return the
nonallowable contribution to the contributor within 10 business
days; and

(4)  Requires a separate accounting procedure for funds used
before January 1, 2011, and allows the use of those funds based
on the current laws.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:11 pm