JEFFERSON CITY — A bipartisan panel of lawmakers opened a new chapter Friday in the unfolding drama swirling around the most powerful man in the Missouri House of Representatives.
The House Ethics Committee, which investigates and, if warranted, doles out punishment for ethical lapses by members of the chamber, launched an inquiry into a personnel issue linked to House Speaker Dean Plocher.
After meeting behind closed doors for more than four hours Friday, members scheduled a second round of deliberations for Nov. 8.
Committee chairwoman Hannah Kelly, a Republican from Mountain Grove, reminded her panel that they should not discuss the case publicly until a report is released.
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“It is very important to protect all parties involved. The work of this committee involves sensitive matters that may impact the lives and well-being of individuals, organizations and society as a whole,” Kelly said.
At issue is fallout surrounding the Des Peres Republican’s involvement in an unsuccessful effort by a private company to land an $800,000 software contract with the House.
The inquiry comes as Plocher faces calls for his resignation after he began paying back nearly $4,000 he was reimbursed for work-related travel that he had actually paid out of his campaign fund.
Most of the calls have come from Republicans, including Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, who weighed in Friday as the hearing was underway.
“The recent revelations about Speaker Dean Plocher are troubling, to say the least,” Koenig said on social media. “He must resign immediately so that we can get back to the business of serving Missourians.”
Plocher, who has one more year left in his speakership and has been raising money to run for lieutenant governor next year, said Thursday he will not step down.
Under the committee’s guidelines, members are held to strict confidentiality guidelines because of discussions about sensitive matters.
Although committee members declined to discuss the subject of their discussions, the focus of their work is related to be Plocher’s decision earlier this month to fire his chief of staff in the wake of the software controversy.
Kenny Ross, who served three previous speakers, vacated his office after nonpartisan House staff pushed back on Plocher’s attempt to get the company a contract without going through the normal bidding, budgeting and procurement process.
Plocher said Thursday that Ross’ firing was not in response to the dust-up over the purchase, but part of a long-range reorganization of his operation.
“This has been in ongoing discussion within my office on how I was going to handle it,” he said.
In a sign that the scope of the committee’s work had not widened to include a broader look at Plocher’s campaign finance problems, Rep. Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, did not recuse himself from the meeting.
Like Plocher, Brown is running for the lieutenant governor post in 2024, raising questions about impartiality if he were to sit in judgment of the speaker.
Kelly did not offer a timeline on when the committee will issue a report.
For Plocher, the next step in his attempt to weather the dust-up comes Nov. 9 when the House Republicans hold a winter meeting in the capital city with some members who have called on him to resign.