Issue Position: Ethics Reform

Issue Position

I place ethics first because the people have lost faith in their government. Without fundamental ethics reform there is no trust that the actions of state government are intended for the benefit of the people.

Since I entered the state Senate in 2003 the ethical culture has deteriorated dramatically. This has been a steady decline starting with the ouster of Sen. Noble for proposing legislation to benefit himself without disclosure (a failure of our internal ethics procedure) to the use of legislative privilege by Rep. Hart to avoid the day of reckoning for his federal and state tax debts, to the improper claiming of out of town per diem payments by a few Senators, to the resignation of Senator McGee for alleged sexual harassment, to the (now rampant) practice of proposing self-serving legislation (usually with disclosure). And this names only a few instances of questionable behavior. A culture of arrogance and entitlement now grips the legislature.

I wish it would end there, but it doesn't. Just in the last few years within the Executive Branch we have witnessed a Tax Commission Chairman (Royce Chigbrow) forced to resign for using his position to benefit a friend in a dispute with a taxpayer, the failure to pursue timely charges of criminal activity by a Republican prosecutor who (oops) missed filing charges because of a statute of limitation that expired while he dithered, and the specter of Treasurer Ron Crane using $9,000 of taxpayer (your) money to squire family and legislators around New York City in limousines! And we haven't even discussed the unchecked revolving door of high placed insiders becoming lobbyists that continues and accelerates.

You might ask how this culture developed. The answer is simple - one party (Republican) has controlled all power in state government for over two decades. We have all heard the saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely. In Idaho we have a prime example.

I want to stress that this is not a partisan issue. In other states where Democrats have been in control for decades the same issues arise. This is caused by the sense of entitlement that comes with long-time rule and inside dealings.

So what can we do? The answer is easy - REFORM!

Since 2005 (following the Noble case) Idaho Democrats have been trying to work with Republicans to reform the ethics laws in Idaho (they are some of the weakest in the country). In all that time and with many bills we've managed only once to get anything passed in the Senate. That was a VERY weak financial disclosure bill that was blocked by House leaders without a hearing.

In the 2012 legislative session I authored five ethics bills and pushed for two others. These bills were:

Idaho Independent Ethics Commission Act (stop the fox from guarding the hen house - never printed)
Whistleblower Reporting and Protection Act (never printed)
Idaho Conflict of Interest Act (personal financial disclosure - SB-1238 )
Lobbyist Restriction Act (stops the revolving door discussed above - SB-1235 )
Idaho Public Official Accountability Act (requires a one-year cooling off for public officials before they can work for a company that landed a contract that they influenced - SB-1245 )
Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (limits gifts and contributions from lobbyists - SB-1246 )
Idaho Pay to Play Prohibition Act (stops direct contributions from state contractors that could be seen as influencing lawmakers - SB-1244 )
If I'm reelected I will continue to push for fundamental ethics reform in state government.

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