JEFFERSON CITY — Senator John Lamping, R-Ladue, prefiled his 2014 legislative package on Dec. 1, the first day to prefile bills for the upcoming session. The package includes legislation aimed at overhauling Missouri ethics laws.

"Missourians deserve to know that their elected officials are held to high standards of conduct,” said Sen. Lamping. “This legislation aims to increase transparency in the process to ensure those high standards are met."

Among other things, the bill creates cooling-off periods that prevent legislators from immediately becoming paid lobbyists and requires legislators to reimburse lobbyists for any expenditures made on their behalf. The bill requires paid political consultants to register with the Missouri Ethics Commission, prohibits those consultants from simultaneously serving as lobbyists and creates a cooling-off period for those who wish to move from one to the other. The legislation also increases transparency of the information elected officials list on personal financial disclosure forms as well as the frequency in which they file such forms.

The legislative package also includes a plan to offer a per child tax cut for middle class families.

"To the extent that the Legislature considers tax cuts, such cuts should focus on middle class families and be meaningful enough to impact their lives,” said Sen. Lamping. "I believe offering a per child tax credit to middle class families will accomplish just that."

Additional legislation prefiled by Sen. Lamping includes a plan to fund state transportation needs, a proposal to halt the implementation of common core in Missouri, a push to strengthen public policy that allows people to choose their health care plans and legislation that is a collaborative effort among senators to fix the school transfer situation that has impacted schools across the state.

"These ideas are all aimed at improving education, transportation and health care decisions for Missourians,” said Sen. Lamping. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to tackle these important issues during the upcoming session.”

The 2014 legislative session begins on Jan. 8. New legislation can be filed through Feb. 27, 2014. To read more about legislation filed by Sen. Lamping, visit www.senate.mo.gov/lamping.