Several dozen candidates and elected officials who have signed a pledge to limit lobbyist gifts to lawmakers have either filed required ethics reports late or have outstanding fines for doing so.
But several of those accused of being hypocrites in the list released this week by House Ethics Committee Chairman Joe Wilkinson, R-Sandy Springs, are actually in compliance with state ethics rules, according to an analysis of the list by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Those wrongly accused are calling on Wilkinson to apologize, which he has so far refused to do.
Wilkinson this week issued a scathing press release accusing 49 of the 130 pledge signers of violating state ethics law.
"On the one hand they seek to promote so-called 'ethics' by endorsing a meaningless 'gift ban' yet on the other hand are behaving unethically by flouting current laws," Wilkinson said in his release.
But, according to the AJC's analysis of Wilkinson's list, several should not be included. Mistakes by the state ethics commission or by Wilkinson himself led to several people being included who should not have been — and many of them are just days away from competitive elections in Tuesday's primary.
After the AJC pointed out the problems to Wilkinson, he issued a second release Thursday addressing only some of the candidates and said their "situations underscore a cautionary tale for all elected officials and candidates to follow." He said it's important for them to be sure their information has been posted accurately on the ethics commission's website.
Doreen Williams, a Conyers Democrat in a five-way primary for House District 92, is listed in Wilkinson's initial release as having failed to file a required personal financial disclosure.
But Williams said she filed, and she produced a confirmation from the ethics commission proving it. After being pressed about the conflict, Wilkinson said he checked with ethics commission executive director Holly LaBerge, who confirmed that Williams had filed, and on time, but that commission staff misspelled Williams' name. That is why a search for Williams in the database did not produce a report.
The AJC has questioned whether up to a dozen or more other candidates are incorrectly included in Wilkinson's list. For example, the commission website shows many of the pledge signers were late in filing documents, but they do not appear on the commission's separate list of late filers.
"I still believe that publishing a list that had not been verified with those involved for alleged discrepancies one week before a primary election is unacceptable and may certainly have been politically motivated," Williams told the AJC.
Another of Wilkinson's targets, Rep. Bob Bryant, D-Garden City, said neither the chairman nor the ethics commission ever reached out to him with any questions or concerns.
Wilkinson named Bryant because he is listed on the ethics commission's website as having $250 in outstanding fines, for supposedly not filing two campaign disclosure reports — one due at the end of last year and another June 30.
The problem? According to data on the same website, the eight-year incumbent actually filed both reports on time or within the allowed grace period. One of the reports has a typo involving the filing date, although the day it was filed conforms to the rules. The other appears clean.
"If you hadn't called, I wouldn't have known," Bryant told the AJC. "This is the first time I'm hearing about it."
Wilkinson accused both Democratic and Republican signers of the pledge of being in violation. Melissa Morrison of Dallas is a Republican running in a three-way primary for House District 19. Wilkinson accused her of filing her personal finance disclosure after the deadline, but the ethics commission website shows she was on time.
Wilkinson correctly, however, noted Morrison filed her June 30 campaign finance report late and was fined $125, a fact Morrison acknowledges.
"My disclosure was faxed into the state on time, I was unable to send it electronically," Morrison said in an email to Common Cause Georgia executive director William Perry. "I was told that faxed disclosures were not accepted and I immediately filed it, again, electronically. No excuses! I am running my campaign on less than $5,000, and will pay the late filing fee this week."
The pledge signers agree to support legislation that would cap lobbyist gifts to lawmakers at $100. The pledge is backed by Common Cause Georgia and the Georgia Tea Party Patriots and has the support of Republicans and Democrats.
Voters in both the Republican and Democratic primaries will have the chance to tell lawmakers if they support a cap via nonbinding referendums on both parties' ballots.
Wilkinson and others, including House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, say a cap won't limit lobbyist influence. Wilkinson has dismissed the cap as a "gimmick" and said those who support it but violate other ethics rules should come clean.
"It is disappointing, ironic and hypocritical that 49 candidates for the Georgia House of Representatives who signed a petition to impose a $100 lobbyist gift cap on lawmakers are themselves in violation of ethics and campaign finance laws," Wilkinson said.
Supporters of the cap, however, said the issues are separate.
"I don't believe it is hypocritical," state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, said. "I think for any new or old candidate or elected official, we have an obligation to follow all of the filing disclosure rules. And based on 20 years of experience, it's easy to violate those rules in technical ways and on deadline ways. I do not think, for instance, being one week late on a filing disclosure when you're in an uncontested election demonstrates hypocrisy in seeking a cap on lobbyist gifts."
Oliver supports the cap and takes issue with Wilkinson's list. The ethics chair included in his list every candidate who has endorsed the cap and notes which of those he believes have violated the law. Oliver is listed among the supporters, and Wilkinson does not accuse her of any mistakes.
But his press release makes it easy to assume that those listed have violations. Wilkinson says in his release that attached is a list of candidates "who signed the cap pledge but are in violation of state laws."
"I have a lot of affection for Joe Wilkinson, but calling me a hypocrite is really wrong of him," Oliver told the AJC. "And he implies in his press release that I violated ethics laws that I have not."
Debate over lobbyist gift cap
The Georgia Alliance for Ethics Reform, which includes Common Cause Georgia and the Georgia Tea Party Patriots, has asked candidates and elected officials to sign a pledge to support legislation that would cap lobbyist gifts to lawmakers.
The pledge says the candidate agrees to support a bill that says: "It shall be unlawful for a lobbyist to make a gift to a public officer where the value of the gift is more than $100.00."
However, some House officials, including Speaker David Ralston and Ethics Committee Chairman Joe Wilkinson, say the gift cap won't limit lobbyist influence; instead, the cap will drive it out of the public eye.
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