Brian Yates

The Post-Dispatch has a long editorial about ethics reform legislation and recent transgressions by state legislators of both parties.  The whole thing is worth the read, but these final two paragraphs need to be highlighted.

All of these [minor 2010 ethics reform proposals] would be nice, but they clearly don’t address the fundamental problem: Campaign money from special interests drives the public’s business. It employs a bunch of oxpeckers whose interests lie in perpetuating the system, not reforming it.

Unless and until Missouri restores limits on campaign contributions, the abuses will continue. Anything else simply is masquerading as ethics reform and is bogus.

Former State Rep. Brian Yates (R-Lee's Summit) isn't holding back in his criticism of his former colleagues in the House of Representatives.  The Star's Steve Kraske spoke with Yates, who is "convinced, but cannot prove, that laws were broken, particularly when it comes to swapping votes for campaign donations."

Serving in the General Assembly, [Yates] said, had become a “scam.”Almost everywhere Yates looked, there were “eye poppers,” as he called them — ongoing activity that has little to do with serving the people but has the FBI snooping...

I may be wrong, but I doubt former Republican State Rep. Brian Yates would tweet and change his Twitter profile photo like this if he was still in office (Yates resigned on November 30).

Rep. Brian Yates (R-Lee's Summitt) is officially resigning at noon tomorrow to work full time for QC Holdings.  It's a payday loan company, with stores operating mostly as Quik Cash or National Quik Cash. 

H'ray usury!

Sources close to Rep. Brian Yates (R-Lee's Summit) report that the four-term legislator is expected to resign his seat in the coming days.  Yates is term-limited, and was previously thought to be in the hunt for the 8th District Senate seat, now held by Sen. Matt Bartle (R-Blue Springs).

With Yates' apparent departure, it's unclear who -- if anyone -- will step up to challenge Rep. Bryan Pratt (R-Blue Springs) for the SD8 seat.   Rep. Gary Dusenberg (R-Blue Springs) and Blue Springs Mayor Carson Ross have been floated as possible primary contenders.  The latest news out of Jackson County is that three-term legislator Rep. Will Kraus (R-Lee's Summit) has begun exploring a bid for the 8th District Senate seat.  If Kraus decides to run, who will Yates and Bartle support?

 I've been wondering a bit in recent days what sort of ethics legislation might develop in the coming months in response to stories like those in last week's Star. Based on the obvious reluctance from legislative leaders to move any meaningful measures, it's hard to be overly optimistic. Steve Kraske expressed similar sentiments in his most recent column, quoting Rep. Brian Yates (R-Lee's Summit), who's unsuccessfully tried to convince his own party's leaders to move on some basic reforms in recent legislative sessions.

That said, I was encouraged to see a tweet from Rep. Jason Kander (D-Kansas City) on Friday, in which he said he'd "had some very encouraging discussions with Republican colleagues" about the ethics reform proposals he first distributed in early September.

The Turner Report posted details of Kander's September 9 Dear Colleague memo last week, which can be distilled down to a few new ideas and a few oldies but goodies.