RAISE THE BAR ON CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND SPECIAL TREATMENT

• Ban dual office-holding

Eliminate certain conflicts of interest by ensuring that public officials serve only one constituency and receive only one public paycheck for public offices.

• Stop pension boosting and tacking by public officials

An effective dual office-holding ban will eliminate most tacking, but specific anti-tacking provisions are needed, and late-career salary hikes resulting in unfunded and unjustified pension boosts must also be banned.  Public officials should not be able to use their positions and connections to unjustly enrich themselves.

• Expand anti-nepotism laws

Current law fails to extend anti-nepotism provisions to local governments, and  also contains loopholes allowing state officials to hire some relatives including first cousins.  It also allows legislators’ relatives to be hired in the four partisan staff offices.  While the law does not allow state department heads to hire or promote certain relatives, it does allow them to hire each other’s relatives.  These loopholes should be closed.

GET SERIOUS ABOUT CRIMINAL CORRUPTION

• Suspend indicted public officials without pay

The special status of public officials as holders of the public trust means that their effectiveness and credibility is central to their job responsibilities.  While “innocent until proven guilty” is a vitally important principle, the need for public faith in the integrity of their government officials warrants an unpaid suspension of indicted public officeholders while the criminal justice process takes its course.

• Require jail time for convicted public officials

Crimes against the public trust are serious matters by their very nature, and should be treated that way even if the same type of crime committed by a private individual would not warrant jail time.  The public should be assured, and public officials should be warned, that public corruption will result in a mandatory minimum jail term and restitution.  

• Require full pension forfeiture for convicted public officials

A public pension is deferred compensation for honorable public service.  Once it has been proven that a public official has abused the public trust, no more taxpayer-funded compensation should be paid to that person.  Public officials should be put on notice that they will lose their pensions if they engage in corrupt activities. 

TOUGHEN LEGISLATIVE ETHICS RULES AND ENFORCEMENT

• Strengthen the Legislative Code of Ethics

The Legislature is still operating under a temporary ethics code that has not been updated in 14 years. The code needs to be brought up to date, and strengthened by expanding provisions dealing with a legislator’s contracts with public entities.

• Empower the public by reforming the ethics complaint process

The current process for making inquiries and filing ethics complaints against legislators is not “user-friendly” for the public. Changes should be made requiring taxpayer-paid staffers to offer assistance to members of the public who wish to file an official complaint, including advice on avoiding technical problems and providing complete and relevant information.  The Legislature’s website should also be required to provide contact information and basic procedural information to the public, like the website of the State Ethics Commission does.

• Ban legislators from running the Legislature’s ethics committee

This is the first year in which the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards has an equal number of public members and legislators, but most of the year has passed and the committee has not even met yet.  Currently the committee elects its chair from among its members, but it is expected that the next chair will be a legislator once again.  Clearly, it is time to turn over the gavel to a public member, and it should be required by law that a public member chair the committee.    

REFORM THE SYSTEM THAT PERPETUATES ABUSES

• Stop pay-to-play and contribution laundering (“wheeling”)

Much public corruption is fueled by quid pro quo deals involving campaign contributions. The glaring loopholes in current law must be closed by applying reform to all levels of government, enacting a real ban on political money transfers known as wheeling, and tightening the law in other areas.

• Campaign funding reform

A number of scandals and questionable activities reported over the past few years have placed a spotlight on certain types of abuse that still have not been addressed.  Examples include the seemingly coordinated use of campaign loans by officers and employees of a company that itself was banned from making contributions, the apparent enrichment of a former public official using funds originally in the possession of his campaign account, and other scandals.  These need to be addressed, as well as a ban on contributions by convicted persons and stronger provisions regarding forfeiture of public office for knowingly accepting illegal contributions.