Citizens’ ethics panel appointed by Bredesen holds final meeting
The Citizen Advisory Group on Ethics in Government met at the University of Memphis, in the sixth meeting held statewide to listen to residents offer their views on reforms necessary to improve the tarnished reputation of state government in the wake of the Tennessee Waltz scandal.
The group’s recommendations will be presented to Bredesen next week. The proposals would have to be voted on by the General Assembly, which is also discussing ethics reform with its own bipartisan panel.
Thursday’s session was mostly attended by both current and former legislators, The Commercial Appeal reported.
“Generally, the message we heard in Memphis … was consistent with what we’ve heard around the state,” said former Attorney General Mike Cody, who is chairman of the panel.
Among the expected recommendations from the group:
—Barring lobbyists from buying meals or gifts for legislators.
—Requiring lobbyists to disclose who they work for and what they’re paid.
—A waiting period before a legislator can leave office and take lucrative positions with companies that have interests in state policy.
—Creating an independent ethics commission with audit and subpoena powers to investigate claims.
Some of the lawmakers at the meeting described a setting in Nashville where lobbyists regularly dine with lawmakers and offer their thoughts on proposed legislation, the newspaper reported.
“They draw up the bill, they bring you the amendments, they count the votes and a lot of legislators don’t know much about the issue they’re voting on,” state Sen. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, told the panel.
Rep. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, said meals with lobbyists have never influenced his votes, but he understood how the public may perceive it.
“The issue is the culture and if you go to enough dinners over enough time, you’re friends,” said panel member Paul Neely, former publisher of the Chattanooga Times. “That changes the nature of what those civics textbooks says the legislature is supposed to be.”