Ethics bills in the spotlight this session of the Alabama Legislature

Sunday, February 15, 2009

THE ISSUE: If headlines about public corruption lead to reform legislation, this should be a banner year in Alabama.

On the same day state Rep. Sue Schmitz, D-Toney, began her retrial on federal fraud charges in Decatur, state lawmakers attended an ethics seminar in Montgomery, The Associated Press reported Tuesday afternoon.

You've got to admit, that's a nice little bit of juxtaposition. Lawmakers in training on ethics while one of their own stood trial on charges she defrauded Alabama taxpayers was just too delicious not to connect.

Here's another connection worth noting: Forty-four states (but not Alabama) have passed ethics legislation in the past four years, often in response to negative headlines, Natalie O'Donnell Wood, an ethics expert from the National Conference of State Legislatures, told the lawmakers Tuesday.

And one possible connection to fret about: In a Legislature that has shown no appetite for ethics bills in recent years, only about one-fifth of its members were present when the ethics seminar opened at the State House, according to AP.

It wasn't because the timing was inconvenient. Lawmakers are in Montgomery for the current legislative session, and the seminar was several hours ahead of when the House and Senate convened for the day's business. Let's hope the sparse attendance doesn't portend yet another unsuccessful session on ethics legislation.

Wednesday actually brought some good news on the ethics front. The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill by Rep. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, that would give subpoena power to the Ethics Commission.

Here's a fact that is unfathomable, but for this being Alabama: The board that regulates cosmetologists in Alabama has subpoena power, while the commission charged with investigating public officials does not. Alabama is the only state with an ethics agency that does not have subpoena power.

Almost as unfathomable (again, but for this being Alabama): This is the first time ever a legislative committee has approved a bill that would allow the Ethics Commission to subpoena records and witnesses, according to its director, Jim Sumner. That shows what an uphill climb good ethics bills have to make it through the Legislature.

Ward's is one of several bills that seek to strengthen the ethics law. Gov. Bob Riley is pushing to rewrite the ethics law, granting subpoena power and setting strict limits on gifts to public officials and what lobbyists can spend on meals for public officials, among other provisions. Rep. Paul DeMarco is sponsoring a bill that would clean up some of the language in the existing ethics law.

If there really is a connection between negative headlines and successful ethics legislation, as Wood suggested, this should be a banner year for ethics bills in the Legislature. That's because over the past few years, there have been negative headlines aplenty in Alabama about corruption in state and local governments.

We've had a former governor convicted of selling a seat on a state board. A two-year college investigation keeps netting guilty pleas and convictions, including a chancellor and two lawmakers guilty of pocketing public funds. In Jefferson County, sewer corruption has snagged three former county commissioners who are among almost two dozen public employees and businesses to plead guilty or be convicted. A fourth former commissioner faces trial later this year.

There have been negative headlines by the hundreds. It's time for some positive ethics legislation as a result.