Ethics commission fines Parson PAC, dismisses complaint against nonprofit and Democrat
The Missouri Ethics Commission on Monday levied a $2,000 fine against a political action committee formed to support Gov. Mike Parson, concluding it violated state campaign finance laws.
The commission dismissed related complaints against Parson’s candidate committee and the PAC, as well as two unrelated complaints against a Republican nonprofit and a Democratic candidate for a south Kansas City legislative seat.
In a consent decree, the commission said that Uniting Missouri PAC failed to properly report the fair-market value of a pair of flights Parson took to Washington, D.C., and Miami within 48 hours of receiving them.
Instead of reporting the fair-market value, the PAC incorrectly reported the plane owner’s costs. The PAC also failed to report the flights within 48 hours, which is required by law if a contribution is more than $5,000.
The PAC was fined $2,000, but only has to pay $200 if no other campaign violations occur for two years.
A complaint related to the private plane travel, alleging Parson’s candidate committee illegally coordinated with Uniting Missouri and accepted contributions that exceeded legal limits, was dismissed Monday.
In December, Parson and his chief of staff flew to Washington, D.C., on the private plane of a nursing home executive who has donated to the governor and Uniting Missouri. In February, Parson flew to Miami for the Super Bowl on the plane of Independence businessman Tom Duvall.
Both trips were reported as donations to Uniting Missouri.
The commission on Monday also dismissed a Democratic complaint against Liberty Alliance USA, a Republican nonprofit created just three days after state Auditor Nicole Galloway announced she would challenge Parson for governor.
The complaint alleged that the nonprofit existed solely to work against Galloway’s candidacy, and thus, shouldn’t be allowed to shield its donors from public view. The ethics commission determined the nonprofit’s work did not meet the requirement that would have forced it to register as a PAC and disclose donors.
A complaint against Laura Loyacono, who is challenging incumbent state Rep. Mark Sharp in the Democratic primary, was also dismissed on Monday. She was alleged to have violated state law because in addition to being a candidate Loyacono also served as deputy treasurer of a PAC called People for Public Schools.
The commission determined the PAC had no role in her campaign, and thus dismissed the complaint.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 10:48 AM.
