From the AJC Feb. 26, on House passage of ethics reform legislation:
House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, who introduced the House bill: "These are big bills that do big things."
State Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, senior member of the Georgia House: "Is this a perfect bill? No. Do I agree with all aspects of it? No. This won't be a cure-all fix-all."
“It is one of the strongest and forward-moving (bills) that I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
Georgia Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer, R-Duluth: "The rules that we passed and the tone set by the leaders in the House and Senate have already had an effect (on lobbyists' gifts). I'm confident by the end of the session we'll have agreed."
From an AJC story March 10 on a general decline in lobbyist spending on state lawmakers:
Kennesaw State University Political Science Professor Robert Smith, who has studied government ethics at the state level: "Often you see a blip up in terms of spending because some lobbyists are trying to get in before some restraints are imposed, " he said. "In this case they may be reading the writing on the walls."
House Higher Education Committee Chairman Carl Rogers, R-Gainesville: "Most of the time we stay up on West Peachtree in a condo and 99.9 percent of the time we buy our food at Publix … ."
On lobbyist-paid meals: "You get to know people; get to know about their families, their children, " he said. "It wasn't an issue until the last three or four years, and now it's an issue."
On the need for change: "I understand that totally. No free golf, no free tickets." "I buy my stuff 90 percent of the time. … I buy lobbyists' lunches. I've done it every year I've been down here. You do build a relationship with them. They are Georgians, they pay taxes. It's all about business."
Disgraced former D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff on the ethics bill passed by the Georgia House, quoted in the AJC Feb. 28 from a speech to The Atlanta Press Club: "If I were a lobbyist here, I would run through that bill in three seconds. "
House Speaker David Ralston's spokesman in response to Abramoff's comments: "I would first ask if he had read the bill." "And then I would politely remind him that he couldn't even register as a lobbyist here in Georgia because he is a convicted felon."
