The Jeff City Gift Culture, by the Numbers

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By the Numbers: The Jeff City Gift Culture

Progress MissouriSeptember 9, 2015

Executive SummaryMissouri Ethics Commission (MEC) records show that state legislators, statewide officials, judges and local officials have accepted more than $10,810,500 in gifts from lobbyists since 2004. On average, that’s $900,000 — every year — in free meals, booze, trips, lodging and other gifts. Almost all of these gifts go to members of the General Assembly and their staff members, though registered lobbyists are sending freebies told statewide officials, local officials and judges as well.

This report compiles and analyzes the lobbyist gift records, shines a light on glaring loopholes in state law that allow millions of dollars worth of freebies to be reported opaquely, and provides regional data for top gift recipients across the state.

Report Highlights:

• More than $10.8M worth of food, drinks, travel and other gifts have been provided to Missouri officials since 2004 by registered lobbyists. Most of these gifts were reported as going to groups, depriving the public of basic information about which officials consumed the free meals and drinks provided by professional influencers.

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Total Lobbyist Gifts in Missouri, 2004-2015

$0

$275,000

$550,000

$825,000

$1,100,000

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

(thru Ju

ly)

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• Ryan Silvey, Tom Dempsey, Mike Talboy, Mike Parson and Paul LeVota top all gift recipients since 2004, when including gifts given to their official staff and family with their individual totals.

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Top Lobbyist Gift Recipients, 2004-2015

Ryan Silvey

Kiki Curls

Tom Dempsey

Mike Talboy

Mike Parson

Paul LeVota

Ron Richard

Victor Callahan

Mike Colona

Jim Lembke

$0 $15,000 $30,000 $45,000 $60,000

$5,993

$442

$22,178

$10,685

$6,456

$5,682

$1,098

$10,259

$4,495

$13,946

$28,181

$34,399

$14,209

$27,628

$36,250

$39,677

$54,665

$45,572

$51,646

$43,869

to Legislator to Legislator's Staff & Family

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• The staff of Senator Kurt Schaefer has taken more gifts than any other legislative staff. All told, $498,237 in gifts have been reported for legislators’ staff and family members since 2004.

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Staff & Family Gifts, 2004-Present

Kurt Schaefer

Victor Callahan

Ryan Silvey

Brad Lager

Chris Koster

Ron Richard

Tom Dempsey

Jane Cunningham

Jeannie Riddle

Tim Jones

$0 $7,000 $14,000 $21,000 $28,000

$7,886

$8,005

$9,906

$10,259

$10,685

$10,946

$11,066

$13,946

$22,178

$27,358

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Almost one million in freebies, every year

Missouri legislators, statewide officials, judges and local officials have accepted more than $10,810,500 in gifts from lobbyists since 2004, according to Missouri Ethics Commission records.

On average, that’s $900,000, every year, in free meals, booze, trips, lodging and other gifts. Almost all of these gifts go to members of the General Assembly and their staffs, though registered lobbyists are also sending freebies to statewide officials, municipal officials and judges as well.

Incredibly, this is a partial total of the free meals, travel and other gifts provided to officials. The MEC only has records of local official gifts since 2008, and many gifts provided to legislators by foundations and other groups are reported on the annual financial disclosure statements legislators file with the MEC, and are not included in the Commission’s lobbyist gift database.

This is an obscene quantity of gifts, the overwhelming majority of which goes to a legislature with fewer than 200 members, given by professional influencers hired by corporations, organizations and individuals to advance their agendas in the legislature.

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Annual Gift Totals, 2004-2014

$0

$275,000

$550,000

$825,000

$1,100,000

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Legislative Groups House Senate Overall Total

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Overall Lobbyist Gift Totals by Year 2004-2015

Year House Senate MOLeg Groups Judicial Local Statewide

Officials Total

2004 $123,804 $31,180 $822,777 $0 n/a $3,657 $981,419

2005 $118,421 $45,267 $823,887 $14 n/a $1,528 $989,117

2006 $130,252 $51,622 $823,909 $25 n/a $1,152 $1,006,960

2007 $232,978 $79,074 $581,904 $10 n/a $5,512 $899,478

2008 $214,720 $86,582 $621,932 $62 $14,414 $3,196 $940,906

2009 $261,494 $114,100 $536,343 $0 $17,312 $4,771 $934,021

2010 $243,514 $100,887 $508,716 $51 $13,553 $4,386 $871,108

2011 $232,564 $117,482 $597,991 $0 $16,639 $3,963 $968,638

2012 $223,114 $104,293 $540,691 $24 $19,982 $3,561 $891,665

2013 $229,758 $113,090 $612,148 $15 $16,844 $1,518 $973,373

2014 $188,889 $73,360 $588,367 $31 $18,687 $1,756 $871,090

2015 $130,866 $48,292 $287,743 $60 $15,020 $768 $482,748

Total $2,330,373 $965,230 $7,346,408 $292 $132,451 $35,769 $10,810,524

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The True Recipients of Most Lobbyist Gifts in Missouri Are Hidden — By Design Lobbyist gifts are reported to the Missouri Ethics Commission in one of three ways:

• gifts to individual legislators• gifts to legislators’ staff members or family members• gifts to groups

This seems like a fairly straightforward way to categorize lobbyist gift-giving. However, loose rules about what constitutes a ‘group expenditure’ allow an enormous portion of all lobbyist gifts to reported in an opaque manner. The guidance provided by the Ethics Commission states that gifts may be reported as going to legislative chambers, committees or caucuses so long as all of the members of that group are invited in writing. It does not matter if only a small subset of the group chooses to take the free gifts.

The end result is the the public is deprived of basic information about which of their elected leaders are taking the majority of the $900,000 to $1,000,000 in lobbyist gifts each year.

As you can see, an enormous portion of all gifts are reported as ‘group expenditures’ with the Missouri Ethics Commission, effectively hiding the true recipients of the gifts from public review.

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Where Are All the Lobbyist Gifts Going? 2004-2015

$0

$2,000,000

$4,000,000

$6,000,000

$8,000,000

House Senate MOLeg Groups Statewides Local Officials

$132,451$35,769

$7,346,408

$965,230

$2,330,373

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Some of these ‘group expenditures’ are for gifts that truly go to large groups — buffet lines in the Capitol rotunda, or meals provided during committee hearings for legislators who are present. But many ‘group’ gifts are actually given to specific legislators’ offices, or to easily identifiable subsets of committees or caucuses. Consider the following gifts, all of which are classified as ‘group expenditures,’ and are not found on their relevant legislators’ gift reports:

• In May 2015, lobbyist Brent Hemphill provided $137.39 worth of food and beverage to Sen. Brian Munzlinger’s office for a Cinco De Mayo celebration. But the gift was actually reported as going to the “Entire Missouri Senate,” not Munzlinger himself. Munzlinger’s office also received $117.16 worth of food and drink from CJ’s Wings in May, but that also was reported as going to the “Entire Missouri Senate.”

• In February 2014, Rex Sinquefield’s lobby shop, the Gate Way Group, provided a $496.38 “breakfast in Senator Sater's office,” but the meal was reported as going to the “Entire Missouri Senate,” not Sater.

• In April 2015, Sen. Gary Romine’s office received $287 worth of chai from a lobbyist for the Missouri Optometric Association. These gifts were reported to the Ethics Commission as going to the “Entire Missouri Senate,” however.

Simply put: There is an enormous loophole in state reporting requirements that allows professional lobbyists to hide which individual officials and staff members are availing themselves to the free food, drinks and other gifts.

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How ALEC Legislators Use the Group Expenditure Loophole to Hide Thousands in Free Food, Booze, and Entertainment

The abuse of Missouri’s ‘group expenditure’ loophole is especially flagrant when it is used to hide the true recipient of meals and drinks on out-of-state trips with lobbyists. Going back years, extravagant meals provided on American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are hidden from legislators’ individual gift reports, even though the professional vote counters providing the meals and entertainment know exactly which politicians are on the trip.

From 2007-2014, a whopping $31,000 in meals, drinks and entertainment gifts were provided to ALEC legislators during the organization’s annual retreats, but reported as going to the “Entire General Assembly” or “All Statewide Elected Officials and All Legislators” when lobbyists filed their spending reports with the Ethics Commission. For example:

• In 2008, $1,000 was spent on legislators’ tickets to Cubs game during that year’s ALEC meetings. The tickets were reported as going to the “Entire General Assembly,” even though the entire legislature could not possibly have been in attendance.

• In 2011, lobbyists reported that more than $5,000 in meal expenses given to “All Statewide Elected Officials & All Legislators,” even though the entire General Assembly and all of the statewide officials were not in attendance.

A chart detailing ALEC-related gifts may be found below.

In August 2015, the Missouri Ethics Commission ruled that free food and drinks provided to former Speaker John Diehl, former Speaker Tim Jones, Sen. Ed Emery, Rep. Sue Allen and Sen. Wayne Wallingford during the 2014 ALEC junket in Dallas, TX were improperly reported as ‘group expenditures.’ However, the MEC’s rebuke of the lobbyists’ reports focused on the fact that not all members of the General Assembly received written invitations to the dinner. Politicians’ freebies will continue to be hidden behind dishonest ‘group expenditure’ reports, so long as lobbyists keep their paperwork in order.

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ALEC Junket Expenses Reported as “Group Expenditures” to MEC, 2007-2014

Destination Lobbyist Group Date Description Cost Principal

New Orleans John R Sondag

House Majority Caucus

8/3/11 Dinner at ALEC $1,440.00 AT&T Inc. And Affiliates

Salt Lake City Trey Davis House Majority Caucus

7/25/12 Dinner at ALEC Utah $1,371.84 Missouri Energy Development Association

Chicago Charles Simino

Entire General Assembly

8/1/08 Tickets to Cubs baseball game at ALEC

$1,000.00 Embarq

Salt Lake City Doug Galloway


7/27/12 Dinner sponsorship for ALEC meeting

$1,000.00 Centurylink

Salt Lake City Charles Simino


3/28/12 Dinner at ALEC in Salt Lake City, UT

$1,000.00 Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association

Philadelphia Charles G Simino


7/26/07 Dinner at the ALEC Annual Meeting

$983.01 Embarq

Philadelphia Phil Wright Entire General Assembly

7/26/07 Missouri Night during ALEC

$983.00 Missouri Association For Community Action

Philadelphia Thomas W Krewson


7/26/07 ALEC Dinner in Philadelphia

$954.68 Comcast

Philadelphia Ann Louise Michael


7/26/07 ALEC conference dinner $950.00 Missouri Association Of Club Executives

New Orleans Charles G Simino


8/3/11 Tour in New Orleans, LA $846.43 Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association

New Orleans Mary Scruggs

All Statewide Elected Officials & All Legislators

8/4/11 ALEC - New Orleans, LA $843.86 Association Of Missouri Electric Cooperatives

New Orleans Ryan C. Rowden


8/4/11 ALEC - New Orleans, LA $843.86 Missouri Petroleum Council -- A Division Of The American Petroleum Institute

New Orleans Phillip Schnieders


8/3/11 ALEC event in New Orleans, LA

$843.86 Missouri Automobile Dealers Association

New Orleans Phillip Schnieders


8/5/11 ALEC event, New Orleans, LA

$836.29 Missouri Automobile Dealers Association

Salt Lake City Guy William Black


7/27/12 ALEC Missouri Night Reception & Dinner

$800.00 Bryan Cave LLP

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Salt Lake City Tracy King Entire General Assembly

7/27/12 ALEC Missouri Night Reception/Dinner Sponsorship, Park City, UT

$800.00 Missouri Chamber Of Commerce And Industry

Salt Lake City Daniel R. Pfeifer


7/27/12 Missouri Night – Alec, Salt Lake City, Utah

$800.00 Catalyst Group

Salt Lake City Carrie Sherer


7/27/12 Missouri Night at ALEC Conference

$800.00 Cerner

New Orleans Catina "Tina" Shannon


8/4/11 ALEC in New Orleans, LA

$763.86 Ameren UE

New Orleans Tracy King House Majority Caucus

8/4/11 Visit New Orleans, New Orleans, LA/Cocktail Tour


San Diego Mary Scruggs


8/6/10 ALEC Conference in San Diego, CA

$600.00 Association Of Missouri Electric Cooperatives

San Diego Charles “Andy” Arnold


8/6/10 San Diego/Participation in the ALEC Missouri Night Reception

$600.00 Arnold And Associates

San Diego Doug Galloway


8/5/10 Dinner at ALEC, San Diego

$600.00 Centurylink

New Orleans Ryan C. Rowden


8/5/11 Dinner - New Orleans, LA $600.00 Missouri Petroleum Council -- A Division Of The American Petroleum Institute

New Orleans Susan Henderson Moore


8/4/11 Missouri Night at ALEC in New Orleans, LA

$600.00 Polsinelli Shughart Pc

New Orleans Caroline Hoover


8/2/11 ALEC Missouri Night sponsorship, New Orleans, LA/catered dinner

$600.00 Kansas City Power & Light

Salt Lake City John R Sondag


7/26/12 Salt Lake City - Dinner at ALEC

$550.00 AT&T Inc. And Affiliates

Dallas Charles "Andy" Arnold


8/1/14 ALEC Conference, Dallas, TX/ Dinner

$513.69 Arnold And Associates

Philadelphia Phil Wright Entire General Assembly

7/27/07 ALEC's Missouri Night Sponsorship

$400.00 Missouri Association For Community Action

Philadelphia Ann Louise Michael


7/27/07 ALEC MO night $400.00 Missouri Association Of Club Executives

Chicago David Hale Entire General Assembly

7/14/08 Sponsorship for Missouri Night @ ALEC Mtg in Chicago

$400.00 Missouri Hospital Association


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Washington, DC

Tony Reinhart


7/17/09 Missouri Night Dinner at ALEC

$400.00 Ford Motor Company

San Diego David Hale Entire General Assembly

7/14/08 Sponsorship for Missouri Night @ ALEC Mtg in Chicago

$400.00 Missouri Hospital Association

New Orleans Charles G Simino


8/3/11 Dinner at Antoine's Restaurant in New Orleans, LA

$400.00 Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association

Dallas Susan Henderson Moore


8/2/14 Dinner at Dallas Chop House, Dallas, Texas

$379.11 Polsinelli Pc

Dallas Greg C Swarens


8/1/14 ALEC Missouri Night $379.11 Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Dallas Catina "Tina" Shannon


8/1/14 Dallas Chop Shop-Dallas TX for Missouri State Night at legislative conference

$379.11 Union Electric Co., Dba Amerenmo, Ameren Services, Ameren Corp.

Dallas Michael R Gibbons


8/1/14 Dallas, TX / Missouri ALEC Night

$379.11 Peabody Energy

Dallas Richard W Moore


8/1/14 Dallas, Texas $379.11 Centurylink

New Orleans Harry Gallagher

Senate Majority Caucus

8/3/11 Missouri State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO/Catered Luncheon

$319.69 Jeffrey E. Smith Companies

Philadelphia Kathryn Ann Harness


7/26/07 Dinner for Missouri Legislature at ALEC

$260.99 Harness & Associates

Chicago Mary Scruggs


8/9/13 ALEC Conference, Chicago, IL


Chicago Doug Galloway


8/8/13 ALEC dinner, Chicago $248.33 Centurylink

Chicago Richard W Moore


8/8/13 Chicago, IL - ALEC $248.33 Centurylink




$225.00 Metro




$225.00 Northport Health Services, Inc.




$225.00 American Institute Of Architects Of Missouri

New Orleans Tracy King Senate Majority Caucus

8/4/11 Visit New Orleans, New Orleans, LA/Cocktail Tour



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New Orleans Susan Henderson Moore


8/4/11 Walking wine tour at New Orleans, LA

$180.00 State Farm Insurance Companies

San Diego Mary Scruggs


8/5/10 ALEC Conf. - San Diego, CA


New Orleans Caroline Hoover


8/4/11 ALEC Conference, New Orleans, LA

$150.00 Kansas City Power & Light

Dallas Jorgen Schlemeier


8/1/14 Dallas Chop House, Dallas, TX/Dinner

$126.37 Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City Inc




$126.37 Missouri Pharmacy Association




$126.37 Missouri Railroad Association

New Orleans Betsy Ledgerwood


8/4/11 Court of Two Sisters restaurant, New Orleans, LA/Dinner

$75.72 Missouri Beverage Association

New Orleans Betsy Ledgerwood


8/4/11 Court of Two Sisters restaurant, New Orleans, LA/Dinner




8/4/11 MO Chamber Dinner during ALEC Conf @ GW Fins, New Orleans LA


New Orleans William A Gamble


8/4/11 Antoine's Restaurant, New Orleans, LA/Dinner reception

$50.00 Independent Colleges & Universities Of Missouri







8/5/11 Refreshments during ALEC Conf @ Old Absinthe House, New Orleans LA











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Which Legislators Are Taking the Most Gifts? Lobbyists give to both Republican and Democratic legislators, in large quantities. Indeed, Democrats can be found among the top gift recipients each year, and overall since 2004.

Overall Top 252004-2015Legislator + staff + family

1. Silvey, Ryan - $57,8162. Curls, Kiki - $56,1413. Dempsey, Tom - $55,8314. Talboy, Mike - $55,7625. Parson, Mike - $45,3596. Levota, Paul - $42,7067. Richard, Ron - $38,3138. Callahan, Victor - $36,3879. Colona, Mike - $34,84110. Lembke, Jim - $34,17511. Green, Tim - $34,03612. Diehl, John - $30,91313. Webb, Steve - $30,25614. Schaefer, Kurt - $29,44815. Scharnhorst, Dwight - $28,82716. Funderburk, Doug - $28,11917. Rupp, Scott - $27,86118. Jones, Tim - $27,24319. Stream, Rick - $26,51120. Holsman, Jason - $26,35421. Nasheed, Jamilah - $25,61522. Smith, Joe - $25,28023. Ridgeway, Luann - $25,18324. Gatschenberger, Chuck - $25,06425. Walsh, Gina - $25,011

Top 252004-2015Individual totals, without staff or family gifts

1. Talboy, Mike - $54,6652. Curls, Kiki - $51,6463. Dempsey, Tom - $45,5724. Silvey, Ryan - $43,8695. Parson, Mike - $39,6776. LeVota, Paul - $36,2507. Colona, Mike - $34,3998. Green, Tim - $30,8099. Lembke, Jim - $28,18110. Richard, Ron - $27,62811. Webb, Steve - $26,20112. Scharnhorst, Dwight - $24,93713. Smith, Joe - $24,93214. Funderburk, Doug - $24,31515. Diehl, John - $23,46616. Walsh, Gina - $22,85417. Nasheed, Jamilah - $22,74318. Rupp, Scott - $22,39219. McKenna, Ryan - $22,30320. Gatschenberger, Chuck - $21,81421. Spreng, Michael - $21,46922. Holsman, Jason - $20,67723. Gray, Rochelle Walton - $20,66424. Cooper, Shannon - $20,10625. Stream, Rick - $19,932

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Gifts to Statewide Officials’ 2004-2015

1. Kinder, Peter - $6,4012. Carnahan, Robin - $2,1563. Holden, Bob - $1,8424. Blunt, Matt - $1,6575. Nixon, Jay - $1,5236. Maxwell, Joe - $7847. Koster, Chris - $7108. Zweifel, Clint - $6699. McCaskill, Claire - $21810. Steelman, Sarah -$18611. Farmer, Nancy - $8

• Galloway, Nicole - $0• Kander, Jason - $0• Montee, Susan - $0• Schweich, Tom - $0

Top St. Louis Region Gift Recipients2004-2015

1. Dempsey, Tom - $55,831 2. Colona, Mike - $34,841 3. Lembke, Jim - $34,175 4. Green, Timothy P. - $34,036 5. Diehl, John - $30,913 6. Webb, Steve - $30,256 7. Scharnhorst, Dwight - $28,827 8. Funderburk, Doug - $28,119 9. Rupp, Scott - $27,861 10. Jones, Timothy W - $27,243

Top Kansas City Region Gift Recipients2004-2015

1. Silvey, Ryan - $57,816 2. Curls, Shalonn (Kiki) - $56,141 3. Talboy, Mike- $55,762 4. Levota, Paul - $42,706 5. Callahan, Victor- $36,387 6. Holsman, Jason -$26,354 7. Ridgeway, Luann -$25,183 8. Justus, Jolie - $23,262 9. McGhee, Mike - $19,906 10. Wilson, Yvonne - $18,659

Top Southwest Missouri Gift Recipients 2004-2015

1. Parson, Mike - $45,359 2. Richard, Ron - $38,313 3. Flanigan, Tom - $19,081 4. Dixon, Bob - $18,8775. Hunter, Steve - $17,536

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Legislators With $0 Lobbyist Gift Balances for their Career

• Alferman, Jus/n • Black, Lanie • Brown, Cloria • Carpenter, Sharon Quigley • Caskey, Harold L. • Dryer, Billy • Ehlmann, Steve • Favazza, Mariano • Galloway, Nicole • Harris, Belinda • Howell, Bob • Joyce, Jennifer • Kander, Jason • Lamping, John T. • Lavender, Deb • Nester, Gerard A • ONo, Bill • Pfautsch, Donna • Price, Jr., William Ray • Reiboldt, Bill • Selby, Harold R. • Shelton, O.L. • Shrewsbury, Francis • SiRon, ScoN • Sisco, Shawn • Taylor, Larry Gene • Teitelman, Richard • Vaccaro, Joe • White, Ronnie L. • White, William (Bill) • Williams, Larry C • Wilson, Paul C • Wright, John

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Lobbyist Gift Spending on Legislative Staffers Lobbyist gift giving is sometimes a family affair. Often underreported in the media, huge sums of money are spent on the legislative aides and family members of legislators as well. Since 2004, $498,237 in gifts have been reported for legislators’ staff and family members. Most of the gifts in this category appear to be given to Representatives’ legislative staffer, or to Senators’ chiefs of staff.

Which staff leads the pack? From 2011-2014, no office took more gifts than that of Sen. Kurt Schaefer. In 2012, Schaefer told constituents that he refused all lobbyist gifts — but his staff sure accepted a lot of gifts. Since 2007, an amazing $27,358 in gifts have been given to Schaefer staff and family.

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Records for gifts provided to Schaefer’s Chief of Staff, Yancy Williams, show that some of the individual meals and items are quite large. This year, for instance, Williams has accepted individual meals worth $433, $94 and $50. In 2014, Williams accepted individual meals valued at $463, $450, $98, $94, $92 and $88.

Lobbyist Gifts Accepted by Sen. Kurt Schaefer’s Staff & Family 2009-2014

$0

$1,500

$3,000

$4,500

$6,000

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

$904

$3,496

$5,096$5,571 $5,646

$4,996

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The Jeff City Gift Culture, by the Numbers

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