JEFFERSON CITY – Candidate Jay Nixon opposes electronic campaign finance reporting requirements rather than providing greater access to Missourians and the press after he publicly called on Gov. Matt Blunt to veto ethics reform legislation that makes the process more transparent.

Nixon said he is opposed to campaign and ethics reform legislation that will require campaign disclosure reports to be electronically filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission and that mandates those reports to be posted on the commission’s web site in a timely manner. Gov. Matt Blunt has said he would sign the bill.

Kansas City Star Columnist Steve Kraske on Sunday, May 21, said Nixon was wrong and added that the Republican-sponsored legislation would provide more transparency to the elections system. Bob Connor, head of the Missouri Ethics Commission, told Kraske that the law is “a step in the right direction.”

“Gov. Blunt and Republican lawmakers support allowing the sun to shine on campaign finance records while Jay Nixon has made it clear that he opposes allowing Missourians greater access to our campaign finance system,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “It’s disturbing that Nixon who preaches the necessity of making information available to the public is opposing exactly that. Jay Nixon is willing to preach to others about openness but isn’t willing to listen to his own sermons. Nixon clearly is embarrassed by some of his donors and doesn’t want Missourians to have full access to his list of campaign contributors, many of whom received millions of dollars for very little work on the national tobacco settlement thanks to their pal Jay.”