Ethics Reform - It just sounds so easy
Yeah, it sounds easy… don’t lie, don’t cheat, be honest and do your job. But with as easy as it sounds, will our state legislators and lobbyists understand it and follow it completely?
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, get familiar with the Ethics and Lobbying reform bill passed by both the NC Senate and House today (here is a summary, here is the NCGA bill info).
It really is simple and it boils down to just a few rules. For state legislators and members of each of our three branches of government: DO NOT accept ANY gifts from Lobbyists & report EVERYTHING in your campaign contribution reports. For lobbyists: DO NOT give ANY gifts to state legislators and report ALL contributions made.
Hopefully the bill and new legislative rules will do what our state legislators hope it will: Help to restore faith and confidence of the People of North Carolina in State Government and state legislators.
Not all the folks in the General Assembly are happy about the new bill, though. Some feel as though it doesn’t fully address the problems in state government. One House representative complained about the allegations of the “money gets you what you want” idea that most people think is true down in Raleigh. Heck… It probably is true, but hopefully this bill will help to soleve at least some of that problem. Maybe the General Assembly members so upset about it and wanting more will be able to draft legislation to completely solve the problems.
The N&R’s Capital Beat has some good resources on the recently passed bill (including audio of the House debate (yeah, you can bet I’m listening to it, lol). You should check it out. I know I’ll be taking a close look at it. I don’t know how much of it will apply to me or NC Advocacy but it is better to be safe than sorry.
About the Author: Matt
4 Responses to “Ethics Reform - It just sounds so easy”
You know what’s really amazing is that you can report on all this myriad of challenges facing our society and never leave NC, then multiply that times 50 for the rest of the country, and then the world - it makes your head spin, how much there is to overcome, just to get some basic human rights and a fair shake from the government.
Glad you’re here!
By Rudicus on Jul 27, 2006
North Carolina is just special, that’s all. We have a lot of problems because we are special.
“Nothing could be finah than to be in Carolina…”
lol
North Carolina is just a wierd little state. We aren’t as backward as most Southern states, but we aren’t as progressive as other areas in the country either. NC Politics is really hard to explain to outsiders, too. To get the full scoop you’d have to live here.
But I do occasionally cover things outside of North Carolina, but my focus is here. I doubt that I’d find so many problems and things to rant about if my focus were a bit bigger.
But getting back to the issue above. The new ethics and lobbying reform bill is one of the best and most comprehensive reform bills in the nation. As one state legislator put it, I don’t know if that is something for which we should be proud or ashamed, lol.
By Matt on Jul 27, 2006
Matt,
Thanks for the link to the bill text and the audio. Fun Times.
I’m interviewing Doug Jones (D candidate - House District 116) tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to showing him the info.
By Screwy Hoolie on Jul 27, 2006
Doug Jones, I think, seems to be a great candidate. I somehow ended up on his email list. I’m not quite sure if that is because he was able to get the UNCG College Dems list somehow or if he found my website and added me because I am a gay Democrat and activist. Who knows. Maybe you should try asking him about some LGBT issues if you can.
By Matt on Jul 27, 2006