Senate President Pro-Tem Caleb Rowden introduced a substitute for Senate Bill 378, which changes lobbyist and campaign finance reporting and creates a local lobbyist gift ban.

The new substitute for Senate Bill 378 changes the reporting required by lobbyists from monthly expenditure reports to an annual expenditure report filed on December 31, or if December thirty-first is a Saturday or Sunday, on the last Friday of the calendar year.

The bill also changes campaign finance reporting, deadlines and late fees.

The bill raises the threshold for expenditures required to be itemized on a disclosure report from $100 or less to $200 or less and provides for an annual increase based on the increase in the cost of living.

The bill changes filing deadlines by requiring anything filed electronically to be filed by 11:59 p.m. of the due date.

Under current law, if the last day of filing any campaign finance disclosure report falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or an official state holiday the deadline is extended to 5:00 p.m. of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or official state holiday.

In addition, the bill requires all committees to be charged $100 per day in late fees for campaign finance reports required to be filed 8 days prior to an election.

Under current law, this only applies to candidate committees.

The bill also increases the fine for all other late campaign finance reports to $20 per day late fee, rather than $10 per day as required by current law, and fees will be increased annually on January 1, based on the increase in the cost of living.

The bill also prohibits any person serving as or employed by an elected local government official from accepting directly or indirectly a gift of any tangible or intangible item, service, or thing of value from any paid lobbyist or lobbyist principle.

If passed, the bill will become effective August 28, 2023.

Missouri voters were overwhelmingly against holding a constitutional convention.

The question automatically appears on the ballot every 20 years, and with 96% of the precincts reporting, 67% voted against holding a convention to revise and amend the constitution, while only 32% voted in favor of holding a convention.

The special session of the Missouri Legislature adjourned sine die on October 4.

Lawmakers passed three bills during the special session to implement income tax cuts and tax incentives for the agriculture industry.

Gov. Mike Parson is holding a press conference October 5 to sign House Bill 3 and Senate bills 3 and 5.

The Missouri Office of Administration announced restrictions on public access to bid documents in order to comply with the Personal Privacy Protection Act, established by the passage of Senate Substitute for House Bill 2400.

The act prohibits public agencies from requiring any 501(c) entity to share the identities of donors, volunteers, or supporters and closes any public agency record or list containing the identity of supporters.

The Office of Administration removed all bid and contract records from MissouriBUYS and the document portal.

New contract awards will be reviewed and redacted to ensure compliance before posting. Older records will be reviewed and redacted before being reposted.

The special session of the Missouri Legislature scheduled to begin on September 6, has been postponed until September 14.

Lawmakers need more time to deliver on Gov. Mike Parson’s plan for income tax cuts and tax incentives for the agriculture industry.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson called a special session of the Legislature beginning September 6 to pass income tax credits and agricultural tax credits.

Parson hopes the special session will end quickly and a bill containing his proposal could clear the Senate and be sent to the House by the veto session, scheduled for September 14.

Missouri Gov. Parson signed Senate Substitute for House Bill 2400 permitting certain limited liability companies (LLCs) to make campaign contributions to political committees.

To qualify, the LLC must elect not to be classified as a corporation under federal law; be in existence for at least one year prior to making contributions; and must submit a form to the Missouri Ethics Commission indicating the LLC is a legitimate business and not created for the sole purpose of making campaign contributions.

The bill also bars public agencies from requiring nonprofits to share the identities of donors, volunteers or supporters.

The bill is effective August 28, 2022.

Gov. Parson signed House Bill 1878 overhauling Missouri’s election rules and eliminating the state’s presidential primaries in favor of a caucus system.

The new law requires voters to present a photo ID when casting a regular or absentee ballot and replaces the presidential primary held in March with a series of caucuses.

House Bill 1878 is effective August 28, in time for the November general election but not until after the August 2 primary election.

The St. Louis city election board announced that a special primary election for Aldermanic President is scheduled for September 13.

The notice was issued following a legal opinion from City Counselor Sheena Hamilton because of legal ambiguity in the city charter and ordinances on how to proceed, noting a special primary election is required to enable anyone who wants to run for the position to do so as a “nonpartisan” candidate.

On September 13, voters will be able to vote for as many candidates as they want for Aldermanic President, with the two candidates receiving the most votes advancing to the November 8 Special General Municipal Election.

Whoever wins in November would serve until what would have been the end of Lewis Reed’s term, next April.

A separate election will be held then for the office’s next four-year term, preceded by a March primary.

St. Louis will have three special election dates this summer to fill vacancies on the Board of Aldermen: July 19 for Ward 11, August 2 for Ward 21, and August 23 for Aldermanic President and Ward 22.

The 11th Ward seat was vacated by Sarah Wood Martin in April after voters adopted a conflict-of-interest policy.

Ward 21 Alderman John Collins-Muhammad resigned in May, one month before being indicted.

Ward 22 Alderman Jeffrey Boyd and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed resigned last week after being indicted.

The St. Louis City Charter requires vacancies to be filled by special election no sooner than 75 days and no later than 90 days after a vacancy occurs.

Lewis Reed, the longtime president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen resigned five days after being indicted on corruption charges.

Ward 22 Alderman Jeffrey Boyd also resigned after being indicted on two bribery-related offenses and two separate counts of wire fraud.

Ward 21 Alderman John Collins-Muhammad, who was also indicted, resigned last month.

The St Louis City Charter requires these vacancies to be filled by special election no sooner than 75 days and no later than 90 days after the occurrence of the vacancy.

The second regular session of the 101st Missouri General Assembly concluded after passing a congressional redistricting map, which Gov. Parson signed.

The speaker declared the session adjourned sine die as of midnight May 30, in accordance with the constitution.

The passage of House Bill 2909 ends a long stalemate preventing passage of many other legislative priorities this session.

The map will take effect immediately and be used for the primary elections on August 2.

Voters in St. Louis, Missouri passed Proposition R, amending the city charter to include several new conflicts of interest provisions.

Proposition R prohibits alderpersons from knowingly using their official position to influence others for their own financial benefit; requires alderpersons to declare personal or financial conflicts of interest and abstain from voting when there are conflicts of interest; prohibits alderpersons from accepting employment or contracts that interfere with the discharge of public duties or create conflicts of interest; and requires former alderpersons to wait at least one year before serving as a lobbyist to influence a city government decision.

Proposition R also transfers redistricting from the Board of Alderpersons to a nine-member redistricting commission and changes the name of the Board of Aldermen to the Board of Alderpersons.

The charter changes take effect when the election is certified, which will take two to three weeks.

The Missouri Ethics Commission has four vacant seats out of six, leaving it two people short to decide any issues.

The commission had to delay a decision on a complaint filed against Columbia mayoral candidate Randy Minchew on March 15, citing the lack of commissioners.

Under state law, the commission is required to act within 15 days of receiving a complaint against a candidate for the municipal election.

However, because the terms of four commissioners ended on March 16, there are only two active members of the commission.

Commissioners are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate for a four-year term.

Kelli Jones, spokeswoman for Gov. Mike Parson, said that Parson plans to appoint two people to the commission in the next two weeks.