Over the Christmas holiday, House Minority Leader Paul LeVota, D-Independence, sent me an e-mail after listening to my commentary on lobbyist freebies.
With his permission, I will reprint the letter in full right here:
Jason,
Nice commentary on ethics reform. I thought I would drop you an email for a clarifcation on my view.
To be clear, I do support a ban on lobbyist gifts. As you stated in your report, House Democrats have been sponsoring such legislation for at least 5 years. I still support the idea. My opinion is the same. Connor's implication, that I'm opposed to it now just because Tilley is for it, is wrong. Truth is, I don't know Connor. I've never met him. It is surprising how much one can assert another's position without ever talking to them.
My point is that to bring real reform we should reinstitute campaign finance limits. You know my agruments so I won't rehash in this email. My skeptical remarks about Tilley's proposal were made because he, nor Shields, will not join others, even Republicans, who agree with this point.
House & Senate Leadership won't let any campaign finance limit bill to advance, a Democrat or Republican sponsored one. If they did, I would support that effort and publicly renounce my criticism.
So, I predict that at the end of the session, we will pass an ethics reform bill that will be watered down but supported by all. Victory will be declared but real reform will not come to the Capitol until limits are reinstated.
Thanks,
Paul LeVota
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