Speaker of the House, Pat Bauer (D-South Bend) announced a proposed package of ethics rules for next year’s legislative session, including a one year cooling off period for legislators who want to become lobbyists.
Near as I can tell, resistance to ethics reforms has been a bipartisan effort. Last year’s effort by Sen. Miller was throttled in the cradle, never getting a committee hearing in the Senate. In the past, various legislators have pretended to be offended that their honor was being impugned.
Past experience suggests that this latest ethics proposal will be so much sound and fury and disappear when it gets time to actually vote on things. But, I’ve certainly been wrong before. Other elements of Bauer’s proposal:
•Requiring lobbyists to report any gift to a legislator, legislative candidate or legislative employee of more than $50 – down from the current $100 – and changing the definition of what constitutes a gift.
•Prohibiting the governor or any candidate for that office from fundraising during the long budget session of the legislature. This rule already applies to the General Assembly.
•Requiring people appointed to a position in the executive branch to wait one year after they leave before they can lobby the legislature.
•Prohibiting people and businesses having contracts with state government or bidding on contracts from making political contributions to people who hold or run for state office.
•Prohibiting lobbyists or lobbying firms from representing multiple clients if there is a conflict of interest between those clients.
2010 is an election year, 2009 wasn’t. Hence the interest in looking good on Bauer’s part.