The Senate Site: Chamber of Commerce on 2010's Ethics Bills

Press release from the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce:

Chamber praises landmark ethics modernization

SALT LAKE CITY- (March 8, 2010) The Salt Lake Chamber applauds the State Legislature for modernizing Utah's legislative ethics laws to support transparency and high standards of conduct in government. This legislation comes on the heels of last year's efforts, which established a one-year cooling-off period, strengthened the gift ban, placed limitations on the use of campaign funds after leaving public office and required annual ethics training for legislators and lobbyists. Taken together, the Utah Legislature has enacted the most significant ethics reform legislation in our state's history and dramatically improved transparency and accountability in government.

Ethics legislation 2010

We commend the Legislature for its overwhelming bipartisan support of H.J.R. 15, sponsored by House Speaker David Clark, which will establish an independent ethics commission in the State Constitution.

Other ethics bills supported by the Chamber include:

H.B. 267- Lobbyist Disclosure and Regulation Act Amendments (Rep. Garn), which passed both houses without a single nay vote. This bill bans lobbyist expenditures greater than $10 excepting food, beverage and certain other reasonable expenses. This legislation gives citizens further assurance that gifts are not given to legislators as a quid pro quo.

H.B. 270 - Financial Disclosure and Conflict of Interest Amendments (Rep. Hughes), which passed the House unanimously and passed the Senate with only two dissenting votes. This legislation strengthens financial disclosure rules for elected officials and requires conflict of interest disclosure on any and all potential conflicts. This legislation also provides that this information be available to the public via the internet, thereby improving transparency and increasing accountability of elected officials to their constituents.

H.J.R. 14 - Joint Rules Resolution on Financial Disclosures (Rep. Hughes), which passed the House unanimously and passed the Senate with only two dissenting votes. This bill immediately changes legislative rules to incorporate the changes contained in H.B. 270.

H.B. 124 - Campaign Funds Expenditure Restrictions (Rep. Cosgrove), which passed the House and Senate unanimously. This bill prohibits a candidate, judge or an officeholder from using campaign contributions for personal expenditures and provides for enforcement, investigation of complaints and assessment of penalties.

S.B. 136 - Open and Public Meetings Revisions Related to Review of Ethics Complaints (Sen. Valentine), which passed the Senate unanimously and passed the House with one dissenting vote. This legislation depoliticizes the review of ethics complaints by providing a review committee to complete its due diligence prior to publicizing ethics complaints. Providing this fair process protects the integrity of the complaint process.

S.B. 138 - Grama Revisions Related to Review of Ethics Complaints (Sen. Valentine), which passed the Senate unanimously and passed the House with one dissenting vote. This legislation further depoliticizes the review of ethics complaints by allowing only records related to review of specific ethics complaints to be classified as private, but allows any other document to be classified as public by legislative rule.

S.J.R. 3 - Joint Resolution on Ethics Complaint Procedures (Sen. Valentine), which passed unanimously in the Senate and with only two dissenting votes in the House. This legislation creates an independent Legislative Ethics Commission and modifies the rules of the House and Senate in regards to procedure for adjudicating ethics complaints.

These changes enjoy bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate.

Initiative on legislative ethics

The Chamber opposes the confusing and over-reaching ethics initiative that is currently circulating throughout the state, but acknowledges its value in making ethics modernization a front and center issue this year. We oppose the petition because it has the potential to restrict businesspersons and community leaders from serving in a citizens' legislature. The Chamber also opposes onerous financial disclosure requirements that violate personal privacy beyond the scope needed for public accountability. We encourage Utah residents to read the initiative, pay special attention to the definitions at the front and refrain from signing the initiative because it limits representation in the Legislature.

Next steps

The community must be vigilant in demanding the highest standards of ethical conduct in government. We look favorably upon the recommendations agreed to by the Governor's Commission on Strengthening Utah's Democracy and recommend a full vetting of their recommendations over the interim period. We pledge to work with the Legislature to continually improve representative government.

About the Chamber

The Salt Lake Chamber is Utah's largest statewide business association and Utah's Business Leader. With roots that date back to 1887, the Chamber has been standing as the voice of business, supporting its members' success and championing community prosperity for over 100 years. The Chamber represents 6,100 businesses statewide and one in every three jobs in the Utah economy. Chamber strategic partners include the Downtown Alliance and World Trade Center Utah.