Members of a special legislative committee that a St. Joseph Republican leads have shown no hesitation in taking on the governor’s health care proposals, but something closer to their stomachs makes them leery.

A tradition in the House of Representatives, lobbyists provide meals to legislators during committee hearings since they often fall early in the morning, mid-day and late at night. (The practice is nonexistent in the Senate).

Per state law, lobbyists must report the meals for each standing committee – as a whole. In recent years, however, the House has created a plethora of special committees that have functions similar to the standing ones. Twenty-six exist this year.

Since no rule is in place for special committees, lobbyists have to record each lawmaker who eats one of their meals during those hearings.

As a result, members of the special committee on healthcare transformation, which Rep. Dr. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, chairs, shy away from the free lunch.

“We’re not talking a huge amount of money here, but they don’t want an ethics report,” Dr. Schaaf said.

A bill from Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, could change all of that. Mr. Shields on Monday proposed nixing the individual requirement on special committees during a legislative hearing.

“(The House) believes that it’s difficult to report individuals on committee lunches,” Mr. Shields said when asked about the removal of the individual tracking. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal … it’s just not practical.”

SB 1288 would include all committees under the current standing committee reporting rules.

If ultimately passed, that means lobbyists might have to start ordering more grub for Dr. Schaaf’s panel since the entire committee would be reported to the Missouri Ethics Commission for meals with no record of who ate them.

“It ought to be consistent. It shouldn’t matter if it’s a special or standing committee,” Dr. Schaaf said.

A Senate committee approved the bill Monday afternoon in a 6-0 vote, which means as majority floor leader, Mr. Shields can call it up for Senate debate in coming weeks.