Kay Challenges Hoffman on Ethics Bill

Edwardsville Intelligencer, 9/18/08
By Steve Horrell

Republican businessman Dwight Kay called on state Rep. Jay Hoffman to support ethics legislation and to drop his ties to The Lakin Law Firm, where Hoffman works part-time. Kay, who lives in Glen Carbon, is challenging the incumbent Democrat in the November general election. Hoffman said that Kay is distorting the truth and, in some cases, telling outright lies in order to unseat him in the 112th District.

Kay accused Hoffman of failing to support HB 824, which passed the House last week 110-3. Hoffman voted against overriding Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s veto of that bill. It would have banned state contractors who obtain state contracts of more than $50,000 from donating to statewide candidates and current statewide office holders.

Hoffman did so, Kay said, “to protect the governor so he can continue to raise money from state contractors.” He added, “I would think he’s supporting the governor’s real wish and that was to not really ever have ethics legislation.”

Hoffman called that an outright lie. He voted to override it because the bill excluded the legislative branch. “If he were being truthful, which he is not, he would support HB 699, which I introduced,” Hoffman said. “It applies to the executive and legislative branches.”

The ethics bill passed on Wednesday but an aide to Senate President Emil Jones says the senate won’t vote on the measure until its next scheduled session, on Nov. 12. That creates a problem since veto bills must be considered within 15 days or they’re dead. But Jones spokesperson Cindy Davidsmeyer says that means 15 days after the Senate holds its next meeting.

This week Kay also fired a salvo at Hoffman for his ties to Tom Lakin, who founded the Wood River law firm where Hoffman works part time. “The question is, who does Mr. Hoffman work for? The Lakin Law Firm, the governor, or the people? He sits on the House Judiciary Committee and much of what he does on that committee can directly impact the Lakin Law Firm, and that’s an unconscionable conflict of interest.”

The firm, Kay alleged, has been “the leader of a very special interest niche of law, fueled and funded by fees from class action lawsuits, that has brought disgrace to our region and court system.”

Said Hoffman: “It’s a ridiculous statement. I have never voted on a piece of legislation that has had a direct impact on any firm I’ve ever worked for.”

The legislature, he said, is supposed to be made up of ordinary citizens. There are teachers who hold positions on education committees and farmers who sit on agriculture committees, for example. “There are a vast array of people, and the majority of legislators are lawyers. We don’t tell an attorney not to practice law.”

Kay, a claims adjuster at Cassens Transport, in Edwardsville, “has an axe to grind” in the area of workers compensation claims, and “a personal vendetta against attorneys,” Hoffman said.

The attacks on him this week stem from Kay’s lack of legislative experience and lack of ideas, Hoffman said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.