The
states are far ahead of Congress in establishing independent ethics
enforcement for legislators according to a study released today by the
California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG). The report, Honest Enforcement: What Congress Can Learn From Independent State Ethics Commissions,
found that twenty-three states, including California, have created
commissions, boards or offices that operate largely free of partisan
interference to oversee the ethics rules that apply to elected
officials.
Responding to widespread voter concern about corruption in Congress,
the House and Senate passed strong new restrictions on gifts and travel
paid for by lobbyists in the first weeks of the new Congress.
“It’s
a very encouraging first step, but the new rules will only be as
effective as the will to enforce them,” said Steve Blackledge, CALPIRG
legislative director. “That’s why Congress needs to follow the example
set in California and other states by creating an independent body to
oversee ethics complaints.”
Last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the formation of a task force
to look at the ethics process and charged the members to consider what
the states have done. Honest Enforcement: What Congress Can Learn From Independent State Ethics Commissions
is a first look at the states, and it reveals that nearly half of the
states have an independent process for enforcing the rules.
“We
urge the newly appointed task force to consider the commonalities of
these independent commissions and boards and to take back to Congress
the best practices at the state level,” said Blackledge.
“The
problem at the federal level is that Congress currently relies on
self-policing,” said Gary Kalman, democracy advocate in CALPIRG’s
federal office. “Conflict of interest rules are optional and ethics
committee members can be and have been removed because they dared to
enforce the rules against a powerful colleague.”
In the report, states in which a citizen’s panel is authorized to
review complaints and proceed with investigations were determined to be
independent. States were further divided into categories by the level
of independence. States were scored by how well they fared under the
following criteria:
- Whether outside panelists oversee a professional director and a staff of impartial investigators;
-
If there are clear and mandatory conflict of interest guidelines
limiting service to those who are not covered by the ethics rules or
closely involved in partisan activities;
- If panelists serve set terms and cannot be removed for any reason other than cause;
- If panelists have the power to receive complaints from the general public;
-
If panelists have the ability to launch investigations without
legislative or outside approval and recommend or enforce sanctions
against those who have violated the rules; and,
- The degree to which there is appropriate disclosure of the panel’s actions.
CALPIRG
is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocate for the public interest. CALPIRG
has offices in Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington,
D.C. More can be found at www.calpirg.org.
