Free speech violation? Ex-Missouri rep sues because he’s banned from being a lobbyist

A former member of the Missouri General Assembly is suing the state’s ethics commission to overturn a voter-approved ban on recent lawmakers becoming lobbyists, alleging it violates his right to free political speech.

It is not uncommon for former lawmakers to become lobbyists, but under a constitutional amendment voters passed in 2018 they must wait two years after leaving office.

The amendment lengthened the “cooling off” time between leaving office and registering as a lobbyist from six months. It was passed as part of a package of ethics and redistricting changes known as Clean Missouri. The ban also prohibits the former elected officials from soliciting lobbying clients during those two years, and applies equally to lawmakers’ staff.

So-called revolving door policies are common government ethics laws. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 43 states have some waiting period for officials after leaving office.

It’s one of the few sections of Clean Missouri that remains on the books after Republican lawmakers sought to undo the changes it made to the redistricting process. Those sections were repealed by voters in 2020.

Former Rep. Rocky Miller, a Republican from Lake Ozark who left office early this year, said the ban has prevented him from being hired as a lobbyist and violated his First Amendment rights to petition the government.

Miller said, in a lawsuit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, that a company wanted to hire him in November to lobby before the legislature and executive branch.

The company sought out Miller, an engineer, for his “familiarity with the state bureaucracy from his legislative service and his experience with environmental engineering,” he said in the suit. The ban prevents him from registering as a lobbyist before the ethics commission, requirement for lobbyists under state law.

Miller was first elected to the state House in 2012 and served eight years, the maximum allowed under term limits. Under the constitutional amendment, he becomes eligible to lobby in 2022.

In his lawsuit, he cited a February letter that the Missouri Ethics Commission’s director, Elizabeth Ziegler, wrote to a different former lawmaker seeking to lobby.

She said the ban does not prohibit the other former lawmaker from owning a company and hiring lobbyists, but that raised “serious concerns about a former elected official avoiding these Constitutional prohibitions by doing indirectly that which he or she is prohibited from doing directly.”

“The Commission is also concerned about the appearance of impropriety that would be associated with such an arrangement,” Ziegler wrote. “While serving as manager and owner of the business, you are advised to – at a minimum – refrain from participating in and directing the lobbying activities of the lobbyists that are employed by the limited liability company.”

Miller contends the advice places a “chilling effect” on any potential speech he makes to lawmakers and other officials about certain topics.

In a statement, he said his potential client wanted “help navigating some environmental regulation issues with the state” and that the lobbying ban prevents him “from advocating for them to the government.”

“Some call this lobbying, but the Constitution calls it freedom of speech and petitioning your government,” he said.

The commission declined to comment.

In her February letter, Ziegler explained the ban was “aimed at preventing elected officials from currying favor from special interests while in office (with an eye toward future lobbying) and from having undue influence on former colleagues after leaving office.”

Sean Soendker Nicholson, campaign director for the 2018 Clean Missouri initiative, called revolving door policies “great policy with broad bipartisan support, and that’s why most every state has one.”

This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 2:40 PM.