Session dominated by ethics ends with corruption arrests
But a month later all anyone could talk about was ethics. A scandal surrounding the consulting deals of Democratic state Sen. John Ford of Memphis resulted in the state’s most sweeping ethics reform legislation in years.
That was capped by the arrest of Ford, three other lawmakers and a former state legislator on federal corruption charges. Ford, who has served in the Senate for more than 30 years, resigned on the session’s final day and remains under house arrest.
Following the General Assembly’s adjournment, Gov. Phil Bredesen said he realized “the public’s confidence in state government has been shaken,” and he said he was prepared to call a special session in upcoming months to consider more ethics legislation.
“I want us to search for changes which could be made to protect the public against what we experienced on Thursday” when the lawmakers were arrested, Bredesen said.
Lawmakers agreed to create a bipartisan committee to study ethics over the summer.
“It’s sad the way it turned out,” said Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville. “But it gives us hope that there will be good laws in place, and that the laws will be obeyed now that people see that there are drastic consequences for disobeying them.”
The ethics issue was so dominating that for a while it overshadowed other important legislative issues, such as the governor’s plan to cut up to 323,000 enrollees from the state’s expanded Medicaid program to save $500 to $600 million in additional costs.
“The whole issue on ethics dominated the session, but we were able to work through because we knew the state had to be run and we had to come up with a budget,” said House Speaker Pro Tem Lois DeBerry, D-Memphis.
Lawmakers have been sponsoring ethics legislation for a number of years, but it’s never taken center stage until the Ford scandal.
His problems began in early February when income tax returns filed as evidence in a child support case showed he received $237,000 over two years from a business partnership, yet didn’t disclose the venture as required by state law.
Court records later showed that a TennCare contractor paid $1.1 million to consulting firm Managed Care Services Group, which paid as much as $429,000 to Ford.
That revelation led to the passage of an ethics reform package which makes it illegal for lawmakers and other public officials to take lobbying or consulting deals from state contractors.
The governor quickly signed the legislation, which one national watchdog group rated as one of the toughest in the nation.
“It’s hard to push through strong legislation on ethics unless the public is focused on that issue,” said Sen. Roy Herron, D-Dresden, who said he helped to craft ethics legislation this session before the Ford controversy. “With public interest and the bright lights signing on the issue, then you have opportunities to make progress.”
Lawmakers also voted to require lawmakers to disclose any consulting fees they earn from out-of-state companies.
“The public has a right to decide if it’s out-of-state work, or a sham,” said Rep. Frank Buck, who sponsored the last-minute amendment.
While lawmakers passed tough bills regulating their own behavior, they couldn’t agree on new disclosure rules for lobbyists. One proposal would have forced lobbyists to disclose how much money they spent wining and dining lawmakers, but it failed.
Republican Senate Leader Ron Ramsey said even if the new ethics legislation had been place, it wouldn’t have stopped the serious crimes that were alleged this week.
“This is bribery,” said Ramsey, referring to the indictments. “This has been against the law since the beginning of government. No ethics legislation would not have prevented that from happening.”
Besides Ford, the other legislators charged were Sens. Kathryn Bowers and Ward Crutchfield, both Democrats; Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland; and former state Sen. Roscoe Dixon, who resigned later Thursday as a top aide to the Shelby County mayor.