Lobbyists

It was a short but busy day for the Missouri House, as they sent three bills - on lobbyist gifts, human trafficking and hair braiding - to the Senate on…

Missouri Republicans had a lot to be optimistic about when the General Assembly convened in January. For the first time nearly a decade, the GOP held the…

Updated 6 p.m. April 28 to correct that Missouri would be among the only states with an abortion notification law — The only thing Missouri lawmakers must…

Free stuff from lobbyists — anything from free meals to concert and game tickets to trips abroad — are part of the perks of being a lawmaker.Such gifts,…

The Missouri House has moved fast on the latest effort to ban gifts from lobbyists, and it could send the proposal to the Senate this week.House members…

If there was one big lesson that John Lamping learned during his tenure in the Missouri Senate, it was that it’s very difficult to pass a bill – but very…

Through the first six months of the year, Missouri lawmakers accepted $675,000 in gifts from lobbyists.On Monday, we'll be taking a look at some of the…

Lobbyists spend nearly $1 million each year on gifts for Missouri lawmakers. The types of gifts vary greatly -- from expensive meals and drinks to tickets…

This week the Politically Speaking crew welcomes Secretary of State Jason Kander to the podcast. Kander, a Democrat from Kansas City, narrowly captured the statewide office in 2012 after a hard-fought contest with Republican Shane Schoeller.During the show, Kander discussed his push to alter Missouri’s campaign finance and lobbyist laws. He announced on the show that he’s throwing his support behind an ethics bill, to be introduced shortly by state Rep. Kevin McManus, D-Kansas City, that would bar lobbyist gifts, cap campaign contributions and force former lawmakers to wait before becoming lobbyists.

Ah, the summer recess. A time for legislators to unwind, have a few cold ones, and get taken to baseball games by lobbyists.Even though Missouri lawmakers…