Special session on ethics set for Jan. 10

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ? Gov. Phil Bredesen will call a special session next month to discuss toughening Tennessee’s ethics laws, members of the House leadership said Wednesday.

The governor had said such a session was likely, but never gave an exact date. House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh said he met with the governor and was told the special session is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Jan. 10, an hour before the regular session starts.

“We don’t have to go into regular session until we complete the special session,” said Naifeh, D-Covington.

The governor plans to meet with other legislative leaders before making an official call within the next few days.

Members of a joint legislative committee managed to put aside their differences and unanimously approve the proposed ethics legislation in November.

The bill covers three broad areas: the creation of an independent ethics commission; increased disclosure and regulation of lobbyists; and reform of campaign finance laws.

Naifeh said he did not expect the special session to last more than three weeks because many lawmakers seemed to have a general consensus about the proposed legislation.

“I think the bipartisan support is there and the changes some people are contemplating is bipartisan,” he said.

To make sure lawmakers have a clear understanding of the legislation, Naifeh asked the heads of three committees ? Government Operations, State and Local Government and Finance Ways and Means ? to hold briefings to discuss the legislation.

The last of the three briefings is scheduled for Thursday, and Naifeh said the ones held so far have been informative and generated constructive conversation.

“They’ve gone over extremely well,” he said. “I emphasized to all the members to please attend one of these. What we want to do is make sure the membership is familiar with the bill before they get here for the special session.”

Earlier Wednesday, Bredesen told reporters that overall he’s pleased with the legislation and doesn’t plan to interfere.

“I would like this to be the Legislature’s package,” he said. “They have done a pretty good job of going through this committee and taking on this stuff. And they’ve got some pretty serious stuff in there.”

Dick Williams, director of watchdog group Tennessee Common Cause, said the legislation could use some tweaking, but he’s also satisfied with it.

“It’s an excellent starting point for further fine tuning,” Williams said. “As a whole, it provides a good basis for good comprehensive legislation.”