Ethics reform is difficult without a scandal. If your local government
doesn't have an ethics commission, it's hard to form one. If there's an
ethics commission without teeth, it's hard to even get dentures. And in
Denver, according to an article in the
Denver Post, it's hard to even get information about what happens
after a toothless ethics commission recommends disclipinary action.
Massachusetts has been very busy reforming its ethics laws. Most of the
reforms involve the increase of penalties, plugging loopholes, banning
gifts, and increasing the authority of the state ethics commission,
which has jurisdiction over local government officials and employees.
Highlights of the reform
bill can be found in an...
While on the subject of pension boards in California, it's worth
mentioning a new California bill, Bill
1584, signed into law on October 18. It is an amendment to the
County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (Section 22212.5 of the
Education Code, Sections 20098 and 31528 of the Government Code, with
the addition of Sections 7508.5, 7513.8, 7513.85, 7513.9, and 7513.95
to...
According to an
article in this week's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a rule
prohibiting Georgia state employees from accepting gifts over $25 is
not being enforced. At all.
How does the paper know these gifts are being made? Because lobbyists
have to disclose their spending on state employees as well as on
legislators (who are not restricted from taking such gifts). Governor...