Ethics Reform Bill to Be Sponsored By Democrat
From the Deseret News.
By Bob Bernick Jr.
SALT LAKE CITY — The package of state House ethics bills was filed Friday, and they will have their first public hearings this week.
And, as promised, one of the bills will be sponsored by a Democrat.
For months GOP House leaders have been saying they would sponsor a broad range of ethics/campaign finance bills this session.
The bills are:
HB124 by Rep. Tim Cosgrove, D-Murray. The bill would restrict the personal use of campaign funds by legislators; statewide officers, like the governor; state School Board members; and candidates to all those offices.
There are a number of exceptions, but by and large campaign funds could only be used for official campaign purposes and costs directly related to serving in public office.
HB267 by House Majority Leader Kevin Garn, R-Layton. The bill bans gifts over $10 from lobbyists to legislators. It allows meals over $10, but the accepting legislator would have his name listed by the lobbyist.
There are exceptions to by-name meal reporting. Names would not be listed if the whole Legislature, a committee, task force or caucus is invited to the meal.
HB270 by Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper. The bill requires further disclosure of possible conflicts of interests from state officeholders and candidates. It is optional whether the officeholder includes in his public statement conflicts associated with a spouse or other immediate family members.
HJR14 by Hughes, a companion rules resolution putting the conflict of interest requirements in joint rules.
HJR15 by House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, a constitutional amendment setting up an independent ethics commission to screen complaints made against legislators.
Not in this group of bills is one that would limit campaign contributions to statewide, legislative and school board candidates.
GOP leaders say that is coming, although Gov. Gary Herbert says the limits on statewide races, like for governor, are too low.
House leaders have accepted the contribution limits suggested by the Governor’s Commission on Strengthening Utah’s Democracy. Those limits are $20,000 for statewide races, $10,000 for Senate races and $5,000 for House races.
Herbert sought and accepted several $50,000 individual donations at his Governor’s Gala last year, which overall raised around $1 million for his special election run this year.
Finally, Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, has introduced the only Senate-sponsored ethics bill, which would set up the procedures to be followed by the independent ethics commission. That bill was pulled from a Senate committee Friday, as Valentine said he needs to tweak its language a bit more.
