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Ethics in the News 2008The links to these articles are provided for information purposes only. NCSL does not endorse any views these news stories provide. Links more than two weeks old may no longer be active. If you are interested in reading an article whose link is inactive, please contact the newspaper in which the story was published. (Updated 04/24/2008) COLORADO Recent ethics case illustrates how Colorado's ethics rules fall short because definition of "personal interest" is unclear. The Denver Post. April 21, 2008. NEW JERSEY Editorial: Legislature needs a stronger watchdog agency to enforce the legislative code of ethics. Asbury Park Press. April 1, 2008. OKLAHOMA Senate Rules Committee passed out an ethics reform bill that would prohibit fundraising immediately preceding, and during, regular legislative sessions. April 3, 2008. NewsOK.com. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080327_12_32253 ALASKA House Judiciary Committee passed bill that would extend the length of time that the Alaska Public Offices Commission and the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics have to pursue alleged violations of ethics laws. Anchorage Daily News. March 20, 2008. http://www.adn.com/legislature/story/350594.html
MISSISSIPPI Bill (SB 2983) to increase financial disclosure for public officials heads to conference committee to hammer out differences between Senate and House versions. The Clarion-Ledger. March 20, 2008.
MAINE Editorial: Legislators should unite behind proposals to overhaul Maine's legislative ethics laws to promote more financial disclosure and clarify the conflict of interest law. The Kennebec Journal. March 20, 2008. KENTUCKY Senate passes bill that would prohibit lawmakers from soliciting or accepting political donations from lobbyists. The Lexington Herald-Leader. March 19, 2008. CONNECTICUT House grapples with host of new ethics law proposals, including proposals to strip pension benefits from state officials convicted in state or federal court, and another to prohibit lobbyists from serving on state commissions or boards. Hartford Courant. March 18, 2008. NEW JERSEY Senate unanimously votes to redo their legislative ethics committee, adopt a new legislative conduct code and require lawmakers to make public what grants they want in the annual state budget. Newsday.com. March 17, 2008. NEW JERSEY Editorial: Ethics reform is painfully slow process. However, some small incremental progress has been made. The Press of Atlantic City. March 16, 2008. UTAH Editorial: Legislative session ends with lawmakers failing to take any action on a major pressing issue - legislative ethics. A proposal to create a bipartisan ethics commission didn't even receive a committee hearing during the session. The Salt Lake Tribune. March 10, 2008. NEW JERSEY Assembly State Government Committee proposes ethics law changes to prohibit legislators from accepting more than one taxpayer-paid health insurance plan and to prohibit legislative aides from donating campaign funds to their employers. Newsday.com. March 6, 2008. MAINE Editorial: Lawmakers should enact ethics reform by strengthening conflict-of-interest provisions and allowing citizen complaints about possible abuses to be filed with the ethics commission. The Kennebec Journal. March 6, 2008. UTAH Legislative session ends without passage of any legislative ethics reform. An effort to strengthen the conflict-of-interest law was abandoned. The Salt Lake Tribune. March 9, 2008. ALABAMA Editorial: Sadly, Alabama cannot match Louisiana in cleaning up state government. The Birmingham News. March 8, 2008. LOUISIANA Editorial: Board of Ethics is given a host of new responsibilities in enforcing governmental ethics, but some questions remain about whether the board has been allocated enough funding to implement the new laws. The Lafayette Daily Advertiser. March 10, 2008. LOUISIANA Legislative Special Session concludes with passage of an extensive package of ethics bills. The New York Times. February 28, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28jindal.html?hp LOUISIANA lawmakers pass host of new financial disclosure requirements. The Times-Picayune. February 28, 2008. COLORADO Supreme Court lets Amendment 41 stand. Court decides that case for overturning gift-restriction provision is not ripe. Denver Business Journal. February 25, 2008. OKLAHOMA House Appropriations Committee votes to increase budget of Oklahoma Ethics Commission by 70 percent. www.kswo.com. February 26, 2008. http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=7928897 LOUISIANA House passes reworked ethics bill that significantly weakens prohibitions against legislators accepting free tickets by allowing a wide range of exceptions for schools, universities, and civic organizations. The Times-Picayune. February 21, 2008. LOUISIANA House to consider 'Abuse of Office" bill that would impose a jail sentence on public officials and public employees who intentionally use their positions to demand money, gifts, or other favors to which they are not entitled. Proposal unanimously passed the Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice. The Times-Picayune. February 21, 2008. LOUISIANA Committee on House and Governmental Affairs unanimously votes to kill measure that would have prohibited candidates from hiring relatives to work on their campaigns. The Times-Picayune. February 21, 2008. FLORIDA Senate committee considers measure that would end public financing of campaigns and ballot issues. The Orlando Sentinel. February 21, 2008. LOUISIANA Board of Ethics owed $825k in overdue fines for ethics and campaign finance violations. Gov. Jindal aims to strengthen collection methods for unpaid fines. The Times-Picayune. February 8, 2008. OKLAHOMA Editorial: House Democrats correctly place ethics reform at the top of their legislative agenda. February 6, 2008. NewsOK.com. February 8, 2008. ALABAMA Editorial: Ethics reform should be first priority for legislature in wake of federal probe into legislators holding no-work jobs within Alabama's two-year college system. February 3, 2008. Al.com. February 8, 2008. MISSISSIPPI Senate to take up omnibus ethics reform bill during the week of February 11th. Legislation would require statements of economic interest to be posted online, and also expand the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission. February 6, 2008. The Jackson Clarion-Ledger. February 8, 2008. UTAH Lawmakers struggle with defining "Conflict of Interest." The Salt Lake Tribune. January 28, 2008. KENTUCKY House of Representatives passes ethics reform bill that would modify ethics rules for the governor and others in the executive branch. The Courier-Journal. January 31, 2008. LOUISIANA State Ethics Board advocates enactment of major ethics law changes for this special session. January 29, 2008. The Times-Picayune. http://www.nola.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/news-37/1201628185137590.xml&storylist=louisiana MARYLAND legislative leaders to push for prohibition of fundraising during legislative sessions. January 23, 2008. The Baltimore Sun. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.funds23jan23,0,3319613.story ILLINOIS Lawmakers defend voting "Present" instead, of yes or no, on bills. Stateline.org. January 25, 2008. ALASKA Editorial: Strengthen conflict of interest laws as a part of ethics reform. Juneau Empire. January 20, 2008. LOUISIANA Editorial: The reform Louisianans want. The Times-Picayune. January 19, 2008.
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