Previously:

HB 732: steak and sea bass (January 28, 2015)

HR 380, HR 476, HR 923: once more, into the abyss (April 30, 2014)

Impeaching Nixon? (November 17, 2013)

We see what you did there.

The social media frenzy over that House committee hearing dinner with lobbyists in a country club must have been upsetting.

Representative Nick Marshall (r) in Jefferson City on the floor of the House. [file photo]

A bill, introduced today by Representative Nick Marshall (r):

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 744 [pdf]

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE MARSHALL.

1601L.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 37, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to entrances to certain state offices, with penalty provisions.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Chapter 37, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 37.860, to read as follows:

37.860. 1. The commissioner of the office of administration shall install, operate,

and maintain an audio and visual recording of the main entrance to the official offices in the capitol building of the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and president pro tempore of the senate. The recording shall be broadcast live on the internet and shall be archived for no less than seventy-five years. The method of archiving the recording shall allow for reproduction of specific time frames of video upon request.

2. The commissioner shall develop a request form to reproduce video, which shall be made available online and in print form. The actual cost of reproduction may be charged to the person requesting the video, but in no case shall such charge exceed ten dollars per hour of recording or parts of thereof. The cost of installing, oerating, and maintaining the audio and visual recordings required under this section shall be borne by and paid out of any funds appropriated to the office of administration.

3. Upon taking office, the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, and president pro tem shall inform the commissioner of the location of the main entrance to their respective offices, which shall only be changed during each term in office upon application and approval of the commissioner.

4. No registered lobbyist as defined in section 105.470 shall enter or exit the office of governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, or president pro tem except by the main entrance specified to the commissioner.

5. No registered lobbyist as defined in section 105.470 shall discuss any bill, law, contract, or bid for contract with the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, or president pro tem unless such discussion takes place in such elected official’s official office in the capitol building.

6. Any willful violation of this section by a registered lobbyist as defined in section 105.470 shall be a class A misdemeanor. Any willful violation of this section by the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, or president pro tem shall be cause for removal from office.

[emphasis in original]

Gee, the penalty is kind of impeachy.

Interestingly, there’s nothing in this about legislative committee hearings being recorded and streamed on the Internets (live!).

Did our good friends at Progress Missouri lobby Representative Marshall (r) for an exception to protect their current primacy in live streaming off campus legislative standing committee hearings? Inquiring minds want to know.

“….No registered lobbyist as defined in section 105.470 shall discuss any bill, law, contract, or bid for contract with the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, or president pro tem unless such discussion takes place in such elected official’s official office in the capitol building…..”

Well, to be fair and consistent then, the same thing should apply to all members of the General Assembly.

No free soup for anyone.

Last night the House Telecommunications Committee had a scheduled committee hearing at the Jefferson City Country Club. The “refreshments” were reportedly provided by the Missouri Telecomm Industry Association. Our good friends at Progress Missouri attended and streamed the committee meeting dinner provided by lobbyists live from a country club dining room.

Much Twitter hilarity ensued:

Sean Nicholson @ssnich

Telecomm Cmte with country club ‘hearing’ tonight has exactly zero bills assigned to it at this time. #MOLeg 7:02 PM – 27 Jan 2015

Kasia Kovacs @kasiakovacs

Here’s an actual livestream of members our actual state government having an actual meeting at a country club [….] 8:01 PM – 27 Jan 2015

Michael Bersin @MBersin

Heh. “The sacrifices we make” You know, like dinners at a country club with lobbyists. Irony challenged. @ProgressMO #MOLeg 8:03 PM – 27 Jan 2015

tmservo433 ‏@tmservo433

“It’s like you lose track of watching your kids grow up.. hey.. so, what about this food?” @MBersin @ProgressMO #moleg 8:05 PM – 27 Jan 2015

And on and on.

A bill, introduced today by Representative Jeremy LaFaver (D):

HB 732

Prohibits General Assembly standing committees from holding meetings at any location other than the Capitol grounds

Sponsor: LaFaver, Jeremy (025)

Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2015

LR Number: 1718L.02I

Last Action: 01/28/2015 – Introduced and Read First Time (H)

Bill String: HB 732

Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled

Calendar: Bill currently not on a House calendar

[….]

[emphasis in original]

Any bets on this coming to the floor for a recorded vote?

Heh:

Missouri Lawmakers Can’t Hold Dinner “Hearings” at Fancy Country Clubs Anymore

By Danny Wicentowski Wed., Jan. 28 2015 at 1:45 PM

….Enjoying a lobbyist-funded meal is hardly excessive for the Missouri legislature, but the stink raised after last night’s hearing got so bad House Speaker John Diehl announced this morning that, effective immediately, all house committee hearings must take place at the capitol, according to PoliticMO….

Was that so difficult?

…because we don’t throw any.

Publisher’s parties highlight reporting issues in Missouri ethics laws

By Rudi Keller

Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 12:00 am

JEFFERSON CITY – During the 2014 legislative session, the High Street offices of the Missouri Times became the venue for legislators and their staffs to enjoy parties with lobbyist-paid liquor, beer and snacks that went largely unreported to the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Publisher Scott Faughn called each party an “unveiling,” honoring a particular lawmaker. He text-messaged invitations with the names of sponsoring lobbyists or organizations. At the appointed time, participants who agreed to be interviewed said, a photograph of the chosen legislator would be hung on the office wall and those in attendance would be asked to comment…..

[….]

And a somewhat testy response:

We have officially arrived…..& we owe it all to our readers

January 04, 2015 / by Scott Faughn

Our readers will particularly understand being in a campaign as the hopeless underdog, where you’re so irrelevant that your competitor doesn’t even mention your name.

So you work your ass off for months in obscurity, and then comes that moment when out of nowhere your opponent attacks you.

And that’s the moment when you know you’ve arrived. You have their attention, it’s now a race, and they’re not happy about it….

[….]

….After 24 months of hard work, endless hours, countless mistakes, thousands of challenges the fact that the 100+ year old Columbia Tribune ran by the eminently respected Hank Watters allowed reporter Rudi Keller to attack us days after we announced that we would begin distributing in Columbia is more gold plated proof than anything we could have ever said about ourselves that we have officially arrived….

[….]

Alrighty, then.