True to her word, Senator Miller has introduced legislation, SB 15, that would require a legislator to wait a year after ceasing to be a legislator before he or she can lobby the General Assembly.

When Senator Miller tried this legislation before, some legislators claimed to be “offended” that the legislation somehow impugned their integrity. Such legislators need to put their tender egos aside and recognize that citizens feel like government is being run for the benefit of a well-connected few, if not just outright corrupt. Legislators need to do what they can to combat that perception even if every last one of them is a modern-day Elliott Ness.

In the same vein, Senator Delph has introduced SB 17 which lowers the gift reporting threshold from $100 to $25 for gifts from lobbyists to legislators.