Former Rep. Rocky Miller, who represented House District 124 from 2013 to 2021, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri seeking compensatory damages and an injunction to prohibit the Missouri Ethics Commission from enforcing the lobbying ban for legislators.

Miller alleges the 2018 Amendment known as Clean Missouri is an unconstitutional infringement on his rights to freedom of speech and petitioning the government because he was unable to successfully register as a lobbyist to lobby the executive and legislative branches for a prospective client.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has expanded a ban on political consultants lobbying him and his administration to include unpaid advisers, based on recommendations from the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

No consultant, whether paid or not, will be permitted to leverage their relationship with the governor to unduly benefit a client in connection with legislative or administrative actions.

Under the new rules, appointees with a high level of influence over administration policy decisions are prohibited from accepting gifts from lobbyists.

The rule applies to the governor, his wife, senior officials, policy advisers, and any equivalent position.

The new rules also prohibit influential appointees from working on specific bills in their first two years if they worked on substantially similar bills in the two years prior to joining the Newsom administration.

It will apply to appointees who joined the administration after March 1, 2021.