Ethics investigations of speakers in Missouri, Illinois show need for possible reforms
(The Center Square) – As the ethics investigation of Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-St. Louis, continues, there are parallels to the investigation of Illinois Speaker Mike Madigan, a Missouri political science professor says.
By a 6-2 vote on April 15, the bipartisan House Ethics Committee rejected a draft report on two separate allegations involving Plocher. The first was receiving $3,998 in reimbursements that were expenses paid for by his campaign, but Plocher repaid the amount before the complaint was filed. The second dealt with allegations of ethical misconduct surrounding a proposed contract for outsourcing constituent management services.
In Illinois, former Speaker Mike Madigan pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial on 23 counts of racketeering, bribery and official misconduct in a federal indictment. He served as speaker from 1983 to 1995 and 1997 to 2021.
While there’s no comparison to the breadth of the alleged misconduct, the situation highlights a speaker’s influence in an investigative process.
“I think anytime you hear stories like this or stories of corruption – even if it doesn’t arise to a criminal conviction – it just undermines people’s faith in government,” Anita Manion, a political science professor from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said in an interview with The Center Square.
The ethics committee’s responsibility to resolve or end the investigation hasn’t ended, according to a statement by Majority Legal Counsel Hampton Williams. Plocher abruptly ended a press conference last week when reporters asked questions about the matter.
Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-St. Louis, ends a press conference on April 18, 2024, when asked about an ethics committee investigation involving his actions.Missouri House Communications
“I think it’s become evident in Missouri and Illinois that the House rules are insufficient when it comes to the ethics committee needing to investigate the Speaker,” Manion said. “We’ve seen in Missouri and Illinois that they can delay and obstruct it and seemingly have very little consequences.”
Plocher, who is running for his party’s nomination for secretary of state and is term limited, didn’t publicly comment on the investigation during the past few months, but did complain about the length of the process. Last week’s report stated Plocher and others refused to cooperate with investigators, causing delays.
“It is deeply difficult to hold elected officials accountable in the process that we have in this ethics committee, particularly when we’re talking about the Speaker who appoints those members and ultimately has authority over how that committee works, whether or not subpoenas are issued … the list goes on,” House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield and a candidate for her party’s nomination for governor, said last week. “As an outgoing member, obviously, I will not have a say on this. But I do hope that the members who will remain after my time look at what is the most effective way to hold folks accountable when they are doing something that violates the code of ethics that we are proud to uphold.”
Manion noted both parties united when allegations of corruption by Republican Gov. Eric Greitens came forward. He resigned in 2018 and ran unsuccessfully for his party’s nomination for U.S. Senate in 2022.
“We did see bipartisan pushback in the case of Eric Greitens,” Manion said. “When there are instances of corruption, we can see the parties come together to make revisions and to improve. But ultimately it is up to the state legislature to police themselves.”
