NC Ethics Reform Update
By Zach Proulx
Posted on Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 04:12:25 PM EST
On Wednesday, the North Carolina Senate voted 47-1 to overhaul the state's ethics and lobbying laws.
The Senate bill would strengthen the State Ethics Commission, an ethics board created in 1977 that lacks "teeth," according to Senator Dan Clodfelter. The Commission came under fire last year when it failed to investigate former state lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings, who worked for a lottery vendor during office.
The new Commission would have the authority to investigate ethics charges against all three branches of government and review comprehensive financial disclosure records for conflicts of interest. But as was previously revealed on the blog, charges against judges and lawmakers would be heard by the preexisting Legislative Ethics Commission. In addition to lacking independent oversight, many of the new Commission's hearings would be conducted behind closed doors.
The bill also proscribes all donations from lobbyists to political candidates and requires lobbyists to report their expenditures, which can no longer include gifts to lawmakers other than food and entertainment at public events, on a monthly basis.
"We don't like lobbyists. They irritate us. They hound us," [Clodfelter] said, but "lobbying is not some particular thing that particular people to do. It's a phrase for what citizens of all kinds do under the First Amendment."
However, the House rejected the Senate bill, despite passing several ethics reform bills of its own. Among other concerns, it saw a loophole in a provision that would allow lobbyists to give gifts to lawmakers when a personal relationship already exists.
Luckily, the General Assembly will likely focus on ethics reform during the remainder of its legislative session, and a conference committee has been set up to find a compromise between the Senate and House. Despite inevitable opposition, it looks like North Carolina is on the right track toward adopting meaningful ethics reforms. Let's just hope that they are strong enough.
Tags: North Carolina, In the States, ethics in government, ethics reform, ethics commission (all tags)
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