Senate leadership takes control of ethics bill

A day after state House members passed historic legislation aiming to bar lobbyist gifts to individual lawmakers and enact new rules on lobbyist registration, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle pulled rank Tuesday by deciding to keep the legislation away from the most obvious landing place: the Senate Ethics Committee.

Cagle instead assigned House Bill 142 to the Senate’s powerful Rules Committee, meaning the bill will be in the firm grasp of Senate leadership to control testimony, debate and possible passage. The move also keeps the bill away from sophomore Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, an Ethics Committee member who has loudly pushed for greater ethics scrutiny since taking office in 2011.

The Senate has already made its own statement on ethics: changing Senate rules to cap lobbyist gifts at $100, with a number of loopholes. HB 142 would instead ban gifts outright, although it, too, has a number of loopholes and would also force volunteer advocates to register just like paid, high-powered lobbyists — causing ethics advocates to criticize the measure.