As previously reported, Rep. Tim Flook, R-Jackson County and Rep. Jason Kander, D-Jackson County, have prefiled a bill that would also ban the movement of money from one committee to another.
A bill was pre-filed by Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, on the first day of eligibility Dec. 2; that day, Rep. Paul Levota, D-Jackson County, announced his own plans to file an ethics bill in the House. Monday, bipartisan ethics legislation was officially filed by Rep. Tim Flook, R-Liberty, and Rep. Jason Kander, D-Jackson County. Two additional bills pre-filed in the House propose further restrictions on lobbyists.
Reps. Tim Flook, R-Liberty, and Jason Kander, D-Jackson County, pre-filed legislation Monday that would make it a crime to obstruct ethics investigations as well as launder money through political action committees. Although the bill was filed following a number of criminal and ethical violations by some current and former members of the legislature, neither representative was willing to say the body as a whole has ethics problems.
A joint House-Senate committee to oversee the spending of stimulus funds would be created in another part of the bill. Rep. Jason Kander, D-Jackson County, said the committee would mimic work already done.
Democrats voiced concerns about who would assume office between the time a vacancy occurs and a special election is held. When Rep. Jason Kander, D-Kansas City, asked Smith who would oversee the Attorney General's office, for instance if that position were relinquished, Smith said the governor's office would.
Rep. Tim Flook, R-Liberty, and Rep. Jason Kander, D-Jackson County, announced they have filed a bipartisan bill that would strengthen existing ethics laws.
Rep. Tim Flook, R-Liberty, and Rep. Jason Kander, D-Jackson County, announced they have filed a bipartisan bill that would strengthen existing ethics laws.
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