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Ethics

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Yes, No, Maybe So

Lobbyists tend to have a bit of an unsavory reputation overall - sometimes for good reason - but their work serves a necessary and Constitutionally protected purpose in our democracy. The most recent Ethics column in State Legislatures Magazine takes on the deceptively complex question of What's (Un)Ethical About Lobbying?

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Voting Recusal Provisions

Rules regarding how a legislator should react to a potential conflict of interest differ between states, and in some cases, even between chambers of an individual state. This table lists statutory and chamber rule provisions in each state.

ETHICS

Ethics

All Documents

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Ethics in the News

Check out what's going on in the world of ethics.

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ncsl legisbrief

Limiting Political Activity for Nonpartisan Staff

Legislatures have an interest in ensuring that nonpartisan staff refrain from political activities that may diminish their effectiveness, but staff also have the constitutional right to express themselves politically.

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ethics moral compass

Contact the Ethics Center

Contact our staff for information about state ethics and lobbying laws and for information on our ethics training services.

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Ethics and Lobbying Legislation

The Ethics and Lobbying Legislation Database keeps you current on relevant state legislation. Search for bills by state, year, status, sponsor, keyword, bill number or topic and narrow searches down to nearly 20 ethics subtopics.

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Overview

The Center for Ethics in Government was organized in 1999 to address the most critical, fundamental and far-reaching problem facing state legislatures: the loss of public trust and confidence in representative democracy. The mission of the center, which is nonpartisan, nonprofit and funded by NCSL's Foundation for State Legislatures, is to be a leader in restoring confidence in representative government by promoting ethical behavior for state legislators, staff, lobbyists and advocates.

The Center's online research is divided into subtopics that include conflicts of interest, financial disclosures, lobbyist regulation, oversight and gifts. We also have resources on staff ethics, an ethics and lobbying legislation database and a regularly updated breakdown of ethics in the news. Contact information for the Center's staff is available here.