Another Attempt to Amend the Speech or Debate Clause in R.I.

For any speech in debate in either house, no member shall be questioned in any other place, except by the ethics commission as set forth  in Article III, section 8 of this Constitution.

No, this is not the text of a dream I had last night. This is the text of an amendment to the Rhode Island constitution proposed yesterday by five state representatives in House Bill 2001-H 5410. The Rhode Island ethics commission has jurisdiction over local governments.

The lead sponsor. Rep. Marcello, is quoted in a Providence Journal article today as saying in a press release, “When voters approved the constitutional amendment establishing the Ethics Commission more than two decades ago, the assumption was that ethical behavior would be expected of all elected officials, including members of the General Assembly, and that the Ethics Commission could prosecute unethical behavior. ... it was never anyone’s intent to grant the members of the legislature a free pass on ethical issues."

According to the article, in December the senate president said that she supports giving the ethics commission jurisdiction over the legislature, but that she had not yet seen a proposal she could support. Since a 2010 senate bill contained the same language as the new bill, it does not appear that the new bill will have any more success this year in the senate.

What are the senate president's concerns? According to the article, she's worried that a legislator's stray remarks might lead to ethics enforcement (doesn't she understand an EC's ability to dismiss frivolous complaints?). And she thinks the EC appointment process might be a violation of the separation of powers clause. Legislative leaders supply the governor with a list of names, and then he appoints from that list. The alternative of having the governor select EC members is unacceptable to her.

I agree. No one who is subject to an EC's jurisdiction should select its members or its staff. The selection should be by community groups, as is done, for example, in Atlanta, Louisiana, and Milwaukee. See my blog post on this way of independently selecting EC members.

The senate president suggests that the matter be left to a 2012 constitutional convention. But considering the wide support for the proposed solution by good government groups as well as most high-ranking officials, at least last year, it seems that this simple approach is the best. The selection process should also be fixed, in a separate bill or in an amendment to this one.

See my blog post on the 2010 bill.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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