Honestly, I can’t make up this stuff. Rep. Bart Korman (R-MO) of Montgomery County sponsored a bill that would redefine sexual favors exchanged between lobbyists and legislators as “gifts.” Sex as gifts in Missouri legislature means mandatory reporting of these gifts on monthly lobbyist gift disclosure forms as one of the, ahem, outcomes.
Honestly, I can’t make up this stuff. Rep. Bart Korman (R-MO) of Montgomery County sponsored a bill that would redefine sexual favors exchanged between lobbyists and legislators as “gifts.” Sex as gifts in Missouri legislature means mandatory reporting of these gifts on monthly lobbyist gift disclosure forms as one of the, ahem, outcomes.
The gift disclosure for sexual favors would cover both lawmakers and their staffs (pun not intended) and those over-friendly lobbyists for whom cold hard cash just isn’t enough. The disclosure forms would be completed by the lobbyists and submitted to the Missouri Ethics Commission if Korman’s bill is passed.
After 2015’s scandalous resignation of two Missouri lawmakers over conduct involving interns, the 2016 legislative session got down to business with a focus on legislative ethics laws. Korman’s bill is one of the results. Call me old-fashioned, but wouldn’t a bill prohibiting such “gifts” and calling for the immediate resignation of lawmakers who receive them make more sense ethically than one that just makes it mandatory to report such conduct?
The following is actual text from Korman’s bill:
“For purposes of subdivision (2) of this subsection, the term ‘gift’ shall include sexual relations between a registered lobbyist and a member of the general assembly or his or her staff. Relations between married persons or between persons who entered into a relationship prior to the registration of the lobbyist, the election of the member to the general assembly, or the employment of the staff person shall not be reportable under this subdivision. The reporting of sexual relations for purposes of this subdivision shall not require a dollar valuation.”
Pardon me while I mop up the tea from my keyboard. That last line caused a bit of a mishap on my end. Perhaps the lack of requirement for a dollar valuation is Korman’s way of making such gifts seem less like prostitution? Though, any type of quid pro quo exchange involving gifts of this nature could still be viewed as such despite the lack of a price tag.
According to the original news source, Korman wasn’t available for comment. Maybe he was busy trying to explain his unique definition of “gifts” to Mrs. Korman?
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