Some Kansas, Missouri lawmakers favor new stock rules. Mostly the ones without stock.

A growing number of Missouri and Kansas lawmakers are expressing support for legislation that would impose stricter rules on how members of Congress can play the stock market.

Last week, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill that would require members to get rid of individually traded stocks within 180 days of taking office by either selling them off or moving them into a blind trust. If they don’t comply, then any money they earn off the stock would go to the Department of Treasury.

This week, Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler introduced a version of Hawley’s bill in the House of Representatives and Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver signed on to a similar bill introduced in 2020 by Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger.

“At a time when the American public’s trust in our democratic institutions—and, specifically, Members of Congress—is at a low point, it is imperative that Congress take steps to increase transparency and government accountability, while rooting out the potential for corruption amongst those who would abuse the public’s trust for personal profit,” Cleaver said.

But Hawley, Hartzler and Cleaver all have something in common. None of them have investments that would have to be moved into a blind trust according to the legislation that has been introduced. Hawley’s money is largely in mutual funds. Hartzler has ownership interests in Heartland Tractor Company, farms and rental properties. Cleaver mostly has pension funds.

Other members of the Missouri and Kansas delegations haven’t been as quick to sign on. Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran owns more than 16 individual stocks (not including those shared with his wife or owned by his wife), including investments in Google, Amazon, Facebook, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson and CVS.

He purchased stock in Gilead, Johnson & Johnson and CVS in June of 2020, according to a 2021 financial disclosure report, when it was public knowledge that the companies were playing a large role in the pandemic. Gilead is the pharmaceutical company that developed the COVID-19 treatment Remdesivir. Johnson and Johnson developed a single-shot vaccine and CVS won a contract to distribute COVID-19 vaccines.

Moran is still reviewing the legislation that’s been introduced, according to his spokesman Tom Brandt, who also noted that Moran supported and helped pass the STOCK Act, which aims to prevent members of Congress from using privileged information gained through their office for personal benefit.

“Sen. Moran supports transparency for elected officials and is reviewing the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act,” Brandt said.

Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, who earlier this year failed to report stock market trades made by his child within the 45 days required by the STOCK Act, also said he was reviewing the bills.

“Senator Marshall fully supports the full disclosure of any type of market trading done by elected officials and high paid, unelected bureaucrats,” said Michawn Rich, his spokeswoman. “He is reviewing these pieces of legislation and remains focused on maintaining a high level of transparency.”

Disclosure of trades and investments is already required by the STOCK Act.

Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids said she is examining which legislative path she thinks is best for the issue before signing onto the bill, but said the idea makes sense.

“I think placing limitations on trading makes sense and that Congress should be held to a high standard, given our position of public trust and potential access to non-public information,” Davids said. “Particularly during COVID, we’ve seen elected officials appear to misuse that privilege for personal gain on the stock market, which is absolutely unacceptable.”

Davids has investments in Fuelcell Energy, Maxeon Technologies, Organovo Holdings and SunPower Corporations, though only her investment in SunPower is worth more than $1,000.

Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, whose wife has large investments in Lockheed Martin, Kraft Heinz, Phillip Morris and Mondelez — a snack company — did not return a request for comment.

Whether or not a bill can still pass Congress is another question. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made so much off the stock market through trades made by her husband that people on TikTok started using her as an investment guide But she said Thursday she is open to a bill if it has the support of her members.

The initial push to limit how members trade stock came after financial disclosure reports revealed that many lawmakers had made trades in the early days of the pandemic, between when they were briefed about the severity of the virus in January and before many parts of the economy shut down in March of 2020.

Spanberger’s bill, introduced with Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy that June to address the issue, saw little movement for more than a year.

The effort picked up steam again after an investigation by Business Insider found that 54 members of Congress violated the STOCK Act.

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff introduced a bill with Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly last week and were quickly followed by Hawley. The bills marked bipartisan support for an idea at a moment when the Democrats were launching a doomed effort to eliminate a rule called the filibuster, which causes most bills to need 60 votes in support in order to pass the Senate.

As Republicans railed against the potential change, saying it would fundamentally change the need for bipartisanship in the Senate, lawmakers were being asked about legislation that was slowly gaining bipartisan support.

“I think there’s a lot of support for it on a bipartisan basis,” Hartzler said Wednesday. “It’s just wrong for people who are in Congress to profit off of it, you’re supposed to be public servants, you’re not supposed to personally benefit from it.”