Wednesday, October 8, 2003

With Gov. Perdue's initiative, state ethics board gets teeth

By ROBERT HIGHSMITH
Deputy Executive Counsel to Gov. Sonny Perdue

In 1987, the General Assembly changed the name of the "State Campaign and Financial Disclosure Commission" to the "State Ethics Commission." It mightn't have bothered; the former name much more accurately describes the Commission's limited jurisdiction.

One might reasonably surmise that a "State Ethics Commission" would have the power to investigate conflicts of interest involving public officials, prescribe rules of ethical conduct, and require disclosure of the significant financial interests of public officials. Under existing law, however, the commission has no such powers.

As part of the most sweeping ethics reform proposals in the state's history, Governor Sonny Perdue intends to change all that.

Currently, the commission remains largely relegated to its pre-1987 role of overseeing the filing of various campaign finance, lobbyist, and vendor disclosure forms. Even in these areas, the commission's enforcement power remains weak: the appropriators in the General Assembly have historically kept the commission on a starvation budget so that it can only hire a few staff members to see to the compliance of several thousand state and local officials. Indeed, prior to Gov. Perdue taking office and insisting on an increase, the commission's budget was a paltry $0.5 million, barely a rounding error in the state's $16 billion budget.

The commission can only levy a maximum fine of $1,000 per violation. In an era when the campaign budget for a state senator can exceed $1 million, for a big-city mayor $3 million, and for a governor $20 million, a maximum $1,000 fine for an ethics violation can seem like merely the cost of doing business.

During my tenure as the lone Republican appointee to the five-member commission, I was continually frustrated by commission's lack of jurisdiction and enforcement power over conflicts of interest and the ethical conduct of officials. Far too often we were consigned to policing paperwork while egregious conduct went uninvestigated and unpunished.

If a legislator failed to disclose the complete address of a contributor on a form, we could require an amendment, but if that same legislator used his position and influence to steer clients to his private business, we were powerless to stop it. I became convinced that only through sweeping legislative change could we bring true ethics reform to the state.

In the last session of the General Assembly, Gov. Perdue proposed legislation that would for the first time have the State Ethics Commission's jurisdiction and enforcement powers live up to its name. Under the governor's plan, the commission will have sweeping authority to investigate conflicts of interest and punish officials who use their public position for private gain.

The commission's ability to levy fines will increase ten-fold, for a maximum fine of $10,000 per violation. The commission will also gain the ability to require disclosure of the significant financial interests of officials. The governor's plan will also allow the commission to enforce a ban on gifts to public officials from lobbyists and other exceeding $25 in value.

Although the state senate passed Gov. Perdue's proposals unanimously, and despite widespread bipartisan support, House Democrat leaders torpedoed reform in a fit of partisan pique. Undaunted, Gov. Perdue will again call on legislators in the upcoming session to pass these reforms and give the State Ethics Commission the power it needs to restore Georgians' confidence in the ethics of their public officials.

[Robert Highsmith is a former member of the State Ethics Commission, now serving as Deputy Executive Counsel to Gov. Sonny Perdue.]