Senator proposes comprehensive ethics bill

State Sen. Micheal Williams, R-Maynardville, said his plan is designed to restore public trust in government.

“This is an opportunity to remove any perception of wrongdoing in the way the Legislature operates,” Williams said in a statement. “I want to come out of this process with the No. 1 ethics law in the nation.”

House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, a Covington Democrat, said Williams’ announcement seemed premature.

“I’m a little shocked that the co-chairman of the committee is doing this,” Naifeh said. “I thought we were working together to come up with something we could all agree on.”

Williams said the bill is not intended to be from the committee, or to supersede the committee’s work.

“This is for us to take a look at. Call it a starting point, if you want,” he said. “This is a compilation of best practices.”

Committee co-chair Rep. Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville, said she was surprised Williams was working on legislation on his own.

But if Williams intends the proposal to be a starting point for discussion, McMillan said it should not create friction on the committee or disrupt its work.

“We’ll all keep working diligently to come to consensus,” she said.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Phil Bredesen said the governor has not seen any of Williams’ suggestions, but would give thoughtful consideration to what Williams proposes, along with what is proposed by a citizen’s advisory committee Bredesen appointed.

“The governor wants to be sure that we’re addressing these issues in a bipartisan commonsense way, and that the overall recommendations will stregthen the ethics laws in Tennessee,” spokeswoman Rachel Lassiter.

Williams’ spokesman Skip Cauthorn said the bill is still being written, but that its content will include:

— Establishing an independent ethics commission to investigate complaints about members of the General Assembly. And it would add to the Registry of Election Finance investigative powers, including the authority to audit reports of lawmakers, lobbyists and their employers;

— Enacting harsher penalties for violation of ethics laws;

— Banning cash campaign contributions of more than $100;

— Making the limits people may donate to candidates and to political action committees the same;

— Enacting a “cooling off,” period forbidding lawmakers from becoming lobbyists until they have been out of office for one year;

— Requiring lobbyists and their employers to file detailed financial reports quarterly outlining their lobbying of lawmakers;

— Requiring organizations that employ lobbyists to submit detailed reports on any spending “meant to influence public policy” — not just direct lobbying efforts — including spending on advertising, mass mailings and events aimed at supporting or defeating legislation;

— Requiring continuing education in ethics for both lawmakers and lobbyists.

The joint committee and a citizen’s advisory committee appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen are studying ways to strengthen the state’s ethics laws because of recent scandals.

Bredesen has said he’s considering calling a special session of the Legislature to consider new ethics laws, and the panels are expected to be key in developing bills that would be considered.

The two ethics committees were formed 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 money to lawmakers for their help in passing legislation favorable to the company.