Kelvin Simmons pulls lobbying registration after appointment
Simmons
Gov.-elect Jay Nixon’s first Cabinet appointment is no longer a lobbyist. The Republican Party had issued a news release yesterday suggesting Nixon would have a conflict if one of Kelvin Simmons‘ clients sought Missouri Housing Development Commission tax credits during the time he was awaiting his official appointment.
Here’s the AP on the story:
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gov.-elect Jay Nixon’s newly announced administration commissioner has ended his lobbying work for a community development company.
Kelvin Simmons had been registered since March 2007 to lobby state lawmakers, executive branch officials and local government officials. A day after Nixon selected Simmons to head the Office of Administration, he pulled the lobbyist registration.
Simmons was registered to lobby for the Kansas City-based not-for-profit Swope Community Enterprises. A Nixon spokesman says Simmons was paid by the Swope Health Services, which operates a health care center.
The Office of Administration is responsible for coordinating the central management of state government. The office has several divisions and handles duties such as accounting, facilities management and computer services.
I deleted 2 comments because they were OFF topic, and had nothing to do with Nixon or Simmons.
The posters are welcome to place their comments under the correct thread
Congratulations to Kelvin on the new gig! If this brother isn’t the Democratic nominee for a statewide office in four years, Jay Nixon and the rest of the party are gonna have some ’splainin to do.
It might help if Kelvin gets himself some private industry experience. He’s been a state employee, a government lobbyist, and now is going to be a state employee again. Does he do anything other than consume taxpayer dollars? Since he has never been elected to a political office, he can’t even be considered a career politician. What the democratic party needs is some people in government who can bring in private sector experience, you know, where you had to bust your butt to earn it and then turn around and give a chunk to the government in taxes, not get a government check from other people’s taxes and give a percentage of it back in taxes.