The House had approved a total ban on gifts and dinners proposed by retiring Rep. Greg Canuteson, D-Liberty. The Senate took a more lenient Senate approach that would allow lobbyists to buy gifts for standing committees and the full body, just as long as it wasn't for an individual member.
JEFFERSON CITY - During the four hours the House spent on the lobbyist gift-ban bill Wednesday, Rep. Greg Canuteson, the bill's sponsor, did not receive one word of support. Then it came time to vote, and the House vote board lit up green.
But should Rep. Greg Canuteson's bill banning lobbyists from buying gifts for legislators be signed into law, that sort of activity would come to a screeching halt. The bill, which passed out of the House Judiciary Committee last week by a narrow 7-6 vote, is on Speaker Steve Gaw's to-do list and could soon reach the floor for debate.
JEFFERSON CITY -- For two straight legislative sessions Rep. Greg Canuteson has been thwarted in his attempt to ban all gifts from lobbyists to state legislators. But with the recent election of the reformist-backed Steve Gaw to the House speakership, Canuteson says he hopes it will be different this time.
The House Judiciary and Ethics Committee heard testimony on a bill to prevent lobbyists fromm influencing legislators with gifts. Bill sponsor Rep. Greg Canuteson, D-Liberty, was grilled by committee members on his attempt to get rid of legislative perks. Canuteson said voters are fed up with lobbyists' gifts.
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