Georgia Senators agreed Thursday that all city, county and school officials across the state should be monitored by local ethics boards.

Senate Bill 372 which passed unanimously, would force the creation of hundreds of ethics boards to monitor every city and county government and every school board in the state because most local governments don't have such panels.

The measure now goes to the Georgia House of Representatives for consideration.

"We passed a good bill today for Georgia," said state Sen. Kasim Reed, the Atlanta Democrat who sponsored the bill. "The citizens in the state will have confidence if they have a legitimate complaint they are willing to stand behind, it will be received, heard and acted upon."

The bill requires every local government to appoint a panel that would meet regularly to receive and investigate complaints. The ethics boards would have the power to issue subpoenas and even fine violators. Each board could not initiate its own investigations unless it received a formal complaint. Those who filed complaints would have to sign a sworn affidavit making their case.

The idea was endorsed by Georgia Common Cause, the statewide ethics organization, and the Georgia Municipal Association, the lobbying organization for Georgia's more than 530 cities. The lobbying group for Georgia's school boards and county governments are both opposed.