Ethics bill passes House, Senate

By Nancy Badertscher and Ernie Suggs

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With only days left before the legislative session ends and the election season officially starts, a long-promised ethics reform bill has cleared the General Assembly.

Votes came late Wednesday in both the House and the Senate on Day 38 of a 40-day session that opened with lawmakers reeling over a scandal that toppled House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram).

Richardson’s successor, Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge), personally helped write the bill and went to the well of the House at 8:25 p.m. to argue for passage of what he called “one of the more important propositions” of the session.

"We had to respond to some problems we had in a very forceful way. This bill does that," Ralston said. "We had to change some of the ways we did business in this House, and we've done that. This bill gets it right. Let's show the people of Georgia we heard from you and we can deal with our own issues here."

The bill passed the House 168-2 just before 9 p.m. and was rushed to the Senate, where the vote was 47-0. Final passage came about 10 p.m. when the House agreed to a Senate amendment that subjects the State Transportation Board to ethics rules.

Significant ethics reforms have been promised since Richardson resigned Jan. 1 after his former wife, in a television interview, alleged he had an affair with a lobbyist and had threatened to use state agencies to force his wife to reconcile.

Provisions of the bill would, among other things:

• Broaden the authority of the state Ethics Commission.

• Tighten reporting requirements for lobbyists and legislators.

• Increase fees and fines for lobbyists and legislators who break the law.

• Make it a crime to use state agencies or authorities to attack or harass someone.

• Prohibit sexual harassment.

• Require many local elected officials to file campaign disclosure reports with the Ethics Commission.

Ralston said lawmakers have been working on strengthening Georgia's ethics laws since 2005 and have moved the state from 39th to seventh in a national ranking.

"I dare say we are going to advance our laws even further [with this bill]," he told House colleagues.

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), credited by Ralston with having suggested several reforms in the bill, said the measure "is a fair set of compromises that truly strengthens where we in Georgia want to be."

"This is helping us moderate the influence of money," Oliver said. She said the ethics reform discussion needs to continue and extend to limits on gifts and smaller campaign contributions.

In the Senate, Democrat George Hooks of Americus said: "We needn’t dwell on the past, but luckily we have grabbed this thing by the horns.

"This is transparency in government," Hooks said. "The more open you make the government process, the better you are."

Democrats failed Tuesday in committee to win support for two amendments. One would have limited lobbyists' gifts, and one would have barred executive officials from lobbying for one year after leaving office.

Ralston said he supports having lobbyists report all their gifts so the public can see what is being spent, but he opposes a cap on lobbyists' expenditures.

"The people of this state -- assisted by the news media -- will have access to this information, information that's important and that they need," he said.

An earlier proposal by Ralston, to ban lobbyists from texting legislators during session or committee meetings, was dropped after the Democrats objected.

The legislation falls short of earlier proposals that would have required legislators to report gifts, trips and meals from lobbyists, and would have capped lobbyists' spending. Ralston’s proposal does require lobbyists to more frequently disclose gifts and meals they have provided legislators.

Lawmakers are rushing to finish work next Tuesday and Thursday. Next week also is the qualifying period for elections. All 236 members of the General Assembly are up for election this year.