http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-878138.mp3
St. Louis, MO – Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is urging state legislators to craft a comprehensive ethics reform bill in 2010.
In a two-page letter Nixon outlined 4 core elements he says are necessary to strengthen the credibility of Missouri's elected officials.
Reestablishing campaign contribution limits which were repealed in 2008, barring legislators from becoming lobbyists immediately after their term, stopping the practice of transferring funds between committees to obscure the original source and prohibiting elected officials from receiving payment for political consulting.
Republican State Rep. Cynthia Davis from O'Fallon says ethics reform won't accomplish much since any rule will probably have a loophole around it.
Cynthia Davis: "If these legislators can't even get the ten commandments right, what makes us think if we add a whole other layer of 15 more rules we're going to make people more ethical?"
Nixon says he thinks this issue will have sufficient bipartisan support as several proposals by both parties are already being proposed.