House Minority Leader raises stir over campaign contribution limits

Intro: The State House Minority Leader asked three Republican members not to vote on an upcoming bill. With more from the capitol, here is Blair Miller. RunTime:0:40
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Jackson County Democratic Representative Paul LeVota sent letters to Republican Representatives Allen Icet, Ron Richard, and Joe Smith, asking them not to vote on a bill that would remove campaign contribution limits.

LeVota says money that the three received during a short lift on limits last year is personal income and will be given to other Republican campaigns.

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Description: This isn't money that would just be sitting there and not used during the election cycle, this is money that would benefit them keeping control of the legislature.

Icet and Smith both said they should be able to vote because the income is not personal, but have not decided yet whether they will.

From Jefferson City, I'm Blair Miller, KMOX News.

Intro: Caps on individual campaign contributions may soon come to an end in Missouri. With more from Jefferson City, here is Blair Miller.

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A bill that would lift limits on campaign contributions is expected to be voted on in the House this week after passing through the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields, the handler of the bill in the Senate, says it is time to get rid of the limits because they have been ineffective.

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Description: When this was orignally passed in '94 and the voters voted on it, I don't think they had any idea that we weould end up with a system with one hundred different packs owned by one person to get contributions so what I hear from the voters is they want transperency; they want to figure out where the money is coming from in politics.

Voters originally passed the limits with almost seventy-five percent of the vote in favor, but legislators on both sides say that limits have major loopholes.

From Jefferson City, I'm Blair Miller, KMOX News.

Intro: Republican House members are undecided on what to do after a House Democrat asked them not to vote on an upcoming bill. With more from the capitol, here is Blair Miller. RunTime:0:46
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House Minority Leader Paul LeVota sent letters to three Republican House members asking them not to vote on a bill that would remove limits on campaign contributions.

LeVota says the three Republicans stand to gain over one hundred thousand dollars altogether from the passage of the bill.

One of the three Representatives said he has supported such action in the past, but is unsure if he will vote.

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Description: This is an entity which is my campaign, I don't know what I'm going to do yet. Part of me says, again, I've voted for it in the past, I've been consistent in the past, so why shouldn't I be consistent in the future?

Representative Joe Smith is another of the three who said he did not know how he would vote yet, but that he liked the idea of limits to help out candidates who are starting out in politics.

From Jefferson City, I'm Blair Miller, KMOX News.

Intro: A leading House Democrat says a bill expected to be voted on will directly benefit House Republicans. With more from Jefferson City, here is Blair Miller.

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House Minority Leader Paul LeVota asked three House Republicans not to vote on an upcoming bill this week that would remove campaign contribution limits.

He says the three stand to personally gain nearly one-hundred and twenty thousand dollars altogether from excess campaign contributions.

Representative Joe Smith, one of the three, says the money in no way affects him, only his campaign, and that he should be able to vote.

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Description: My main opinion of this - it's kind of misleading because it says 'personally keep money'. That's not true. The money went to my campaign. It did not go to Joe Smith directly. I personally will not make a financial gain.

House members are required to vote 'present' if the bill will affect their personal finances.

From Jefferson City, I'm Blair Miller, KMOX News.