In support of their contention that they did not prohibit Bauers' activities because of the flyer's content, the defendants note that the state has a prohibition against solicitation at state offices. Yet, the pertinent guidelines only limit solicitation of state employees by voluntary agencies by requiring those groups to participate in the Missouri State Employee Charitable Campaign. The DES Lobbyist Committee is not a voluntary agency for purposes of the campaign procedures and, therefore, the guidelines do not apply. The defendants assert that notwithstanding the limited reach of the solicitation guidelines, the Division has a general policy against solicitation of all kinds. The exact bounds of this general policy are not clear.
Plaintiff also submitted copies of a communication from defendant Cornett notifying Division employees that they could join the Association of Retired Missouri State Employees (ARMSE) as associate members for a small fee. * * * These items include two documents urging DES employees to join the Association of Retired Missouri State Employees (ARMSE) and to support bills the group had sponsored in the Missouri General Assembly.
[W]e as legislators * * * are charged with the greater obligation and the greater responsibility * * * to see that under the guise of relieving distress and want and suffering we are not building up our own political strength and our own political machine.
It is only partisan political activity that is interdicted. It is active participation in political management and campaigns. Expressions, public or private, on public affairs, personalities and matters of public interest, not an objective of party action, are unrestricted by law so long as the government employee does not direct his activities toward party success.
Under the decision in LetterCarriers, there is no question that § 818 is valid at least insofar as it forbids classified employees from: soliciting contributions from partisan candidates, political parties, or other partisan political purposes; becoming members of national, state or local committees of political parties, or officers or committee members in partisan political clubs, or candidates for any paid public office; taking part in the management or affairs of any political party's partisan political campaign; serving as delegates or alternates to caucuses or conventions of political parties; addressing or taking an active part in partisan political rallies or meetings; soliciting votes or assisting voters at the polls or helping in a partisan effort to get voters to the polls; participating in the distribution of partisan campaign literature; initiating or circulating partisan nominating petitions; or riding in caravans for any political party or partisan political candidate.
Directly or indirectly soliciting, receiving, collecting, handling, disbursing, or accounting for assessments, contributions, or other funds for a partisan political purpose;
No person shall in any manner levy or solicit any financial assistance or subscription for any political party, candidate, political fund, or publication, or for any other political purpose, from any employee in a position subject to this law[.]
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