John Burnett

Randy Turner has Rep. John Burnett's (D-Kansas City) latest constituent report. In it, Burnett has praise for Rep. Kevin Wilson (R-Neosho), chairman of the House's special ethics committee, but is critical of Majority Floor Leader Steve Tilley's (R-Perry) involvement in the process.

This week we had a committee meeting and had been discussing the limit issue for over an hour when Steve Tilley, the Majority Floor Leader, and one of the dozen who filed bills just popped into the meeting and joined the discussion. Now he has that right as a member of the leadership but this is the first time in 7 years I have seen such a thing happen. He makes no pretense he will do all he can to stop limits.

Oh. It is his job to raise big bucks for the Republican House candidates and he is doing a very good job at it and limits would make his job more difficult. I understand. I just do not agree. 74% of the Missouri citizens voted for campaign limits in Proposition A a few years ago. Beyond me how they can keep a straight face in this argument.

Good news:

While there is still considerable disagreement on the amount, one thing was made clear during the special House committee on ethics reform’s discussion this morning: There will be campaign finance limits in the bill the committee passes.

Rep. Mary Still (D-Columbia) is hosting a "district hearing" at the Columbia Public Library tonight for public and expert input on the abuses of payday loan companies.  Still sponsored legislation this year to restrict interest rates on payday loans, but Speaker Ron Richard refused to assign the bill to a committee until the last day of the session, effectively killing the bill before it could even be considered.

Also speaking tonight will be Rep. John Burnett (D-Kansas City), UMKC economics and law professor Bill Black and representatives from the AARP and Better Business Bureau.

In preparation for the event, organizers distributed the following facts about payday loans in the Show-Me State:

• The latest Missouri Division of Finance report documents that payday lenders in Missouri charge an average interest rate of 430.68%.
• Missouri's law allows interest rates of up to 1,980%.