Political parties say they will work together on ethics

“Our panel of blue ribbon lawyers will get together with their panel of blue ribbon lawyers and see what we can come up with,” Republican spokesman Paul Ney Jr. told a special joint committee on ethics in a hearing Tuesday.

Ney was referring to a task force of lawyers put together by the Democrats to come up with campaign finance reform proposals for lawmakers to consider.

Ney and state Democratic Party chairman Bob Tuke were invited to speak to the panel and suggest possible ethics reforms.

Both men suggested limits on cash campaign contributions, more disclosure of fundraising and spending by elected officials and lobbyists, and tougher enforcement of ethics laws.

Tuke suggested banning cash contributions of less than $100, while Ney said they should be banned altogether to improve accounting of contributions.

After the meeting the two men said the differences could be worked out among the parties or by legislators.

“That’s something that’s easily resolved,” Tuke said of the differences on cash contributions.

The parties will try to document their suggestions before the committee’s next meeting on Sept. 14.

The joint ethics committee, made up of members of the state House and Senate, along with a citizen’s advisory committee appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen, are studying ways to strengthen the state’s ethics laws.

Bredesen is considering calling a special session of the Legislature to deal with ethics laws and the work of the panels is expected to be key in developing bills that would be considered.

The two ethics committees were appointed following the May 26 arrests of five current or former lawmakers and two lobbyists in a federal bribery sting code-named Tennessee Waltz.

The seven were charged with accepting bribes from undercover agents posing as representatives of a fake company called E-Cycle Management that offered bribes to lawmakers for their help in passing legislation favorable to the company.

Ney and Tuke said the public has a high level of concern over ethics in state government following the arrests.

“Paul’s right, there is a groundswell of concern out there,” Tuke said.

Committee member Rep. Tre’ Hargett, R-Bartlett, said lawmakers have a tarnished image to repair following the Tennessee Waltz arrests.

“There are a lot of good people up here,” Hargett said of lawmakers. “I want this body to get back that level of trust.”

Committee members heard testimony from Peggy Kerns, a former Colorado state legislator who is now director of the Center for Ethics in Government about trends in state ethics laws.

Kerns said most states have ethics commissions to investigate complaints against government officials and political candidates. In Tennessee the State Registry of Election Finance serves that function.

Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, said during the meeting that the General Assembly is likely to create a new ethics commission, separate from the registry, whose main role is collecting campaign finance data and enforcing campaign finance laws.

Kerns also said 24 states require disclosure of lobbyists’ income and spending. Many states also require lawmakers to report money spent on them by lobbyists, something Tennessee does not do, she said.

Many members of the audience were lawmakers and lobbyists.