"I think our committee laid the groundwork," said Rep. Kevin Wilson of Neosho. "Getting ethics reform done was a promise we made at the beginning of session, and we kept up our end of the bargain, even if the Democrats said no."
The Chairman of the House's ethics committee, Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, also lamented the loss of a number of provisions which came out of his committee, but did not make the final bill.
Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, who chaired the Ethics Reform Committee and helped produce a bill that was twice voted out unanimously, said he opposed the discharge motion. He said he had planned on having his committee meet Wednesday to discuss a substitute without limits on it.
The bill at issue was originally passed by the Senate, but the Ethics Reform Committee amended the legislation to essentially replace it with theirs. The committee, chaired by Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, originally passed their own bill but it languished in Rules.
Although the House committee approved contribution restrictions, four Republicans on the committee have said they don't support limits, and chairman Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, said there will likely be more opposition on the House floor and in the Senate, whose bill didn't include limits.
House lawmakers said the Senate's bill was not strong enough, and House ethics committee leader Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Nesho, subsequently proposed a bill that included provisions not contained in the Senate's version: a $1,000 limit on lobbyist's gifts; making bribery by appointees and elected officials a class D felony; and a $5,000 cap on campaign contributions.
By unanimous vote, the House Ethics Committee approved a bill containing 28 provisions pertaining to conflicts of interest, campaign finance laws and ethical conduct by legislators. The bill was proposed by the committee's chairman, Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho.
Shields acknowledged that some of the amendments from Democrats will likely be included in the House's version of ethics reform, which is being drafted by the Special Standing Committee on Government Accountability and Ethics Reform. That committee's chairman, Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, said he expects a draft to be discussed next Monday.
Neither bill was met with overwhelming support; Dusenberg's was called too relaxed, and some Democrats said Bringer's legislation would be too much of a change from the current system, which places no limits on lobbyist gifts. Committee Chairman Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, said the wording was so strict it would prohibit literally every interaction between lobbyists and legislators.
Members including House Minority Leader Paul LeVota, D-Independence and Ethics Committee Chairman Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, lamented the loss of provisions that appeared in previous versions of the ethics bill.
By unanimous vote, the House Ethics Committee approved a bill containing 28 provisions pertaining to conflicts of interest, campaign finance laws and ethical conduct by legislators. The bill was proposed by the committee's chairman, Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho.
By unanimous vote, the House Ethics Committee approved a bill containing 28 provisions pertaining to conflicts of interest, campaign finance laws and ethical conduct by legislators. The bill was proposed by the committee's chairman, Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho.
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