Activists for ethics reform say a bill introduced Friday that would restore power to the state ethics commission is a good start, but they will continue pushing for changes such as caps on gifts to legislators.
House Bill 889, sponsored by Republican House leadership, will restore the commission's ability to interpret and apply rules and laws governing lobbying and ethics investigations. Those powers had been stripped from the commission in the last days of then-Speaker Glenn Richardson's tenure about two years ago, leaving it dependent on the General Assembly to answer questions and clear up problems that the commission should have easily handled, said Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge.
Rep. Joe Wilkinson, R-Sandy Springs, the primary sponsor and chairman of the House Ethics Committee, said, "It is a clear signal that we have great confidence in the executive secretary and the members of the commission."
Ralston said, "This allows them to establish their own rules and frees them from having to come over here every year to have matters addressed that they should be allowed to address on their own."
Ralston said he also wants the Legislature to consider giving the underfunded agency more money in the budget that begins in July, something for which activists also have been campaigning.
"This is a good, strong step in the right direction," said William Perry, the executive director of Common Cause Georgia.
Perry and others such as tea party activists, Georgia Conservatives in Action and the League of Women Voters of Georgia joined forces this year to campaign for stronger ethics laws. They also want to ban legislators from lobbying, rein in legislators' giving money from their campaigns to other campaigns, and put a cap on gifts to state elected officials.
Currently, Georgia has no caps on gifts from lobbyists, and the annual tab comes to about $1.6 million; most of it is spent on food, trips and event tickets for legislators. Every state surrounding Georgia has some sort of cap or ban on gifts.
Julianne Thompson, organizer for the Georgia Tea Party Patriots, was finally pleased with legislators after a month of frustration. The coalition had trouble finding a sponsor and legislative support for a comprehensive bill it rallied behind in January.
"It is apparent that they did hear from constituents and from activists loud and clear because this was part of the bill that we are promoting," Thompson said.
"But our people are firmly committed to promoting legislation that addresses lobbyists' gifts at the Capitol, and we are going to keep moving forward on that," she said.
Ralston has said he is not supportive of caps because he does not see evidence that they work, and he believes Georgia has moved to make the process transparent with laws that make lobbyists report gifts every two weeks during the session.
He said Friday his views on caps are well-known and he has not changed.
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