Bredesen expects to use most of ethic panel’s ideas

FRANKLIN — Gov. Phil Bredesen will be getting a list of ideas for new ethics laws from a special panel later this week, and he said he will push for most of the suggestions.

The panel appears to be on the verge of making recommendations stronger than those being discussed in the Legislature, and in some cases, tougher than originally envisioned by Bredesen.

After six public meetings and more than 1,000 public comments sent by e-mail to the governor’s office, the governor’s Citizen Advisory Group on Ethics is completing its report.

A working draft version shown to The Associated Press suggests a get-tough stance that could include a complete ban on lobbyists buying meals for legislators, rather than a softer suggestion to only require the purchases be reported for the public to see.

The panel wants improvement in three areas: tighter restrictions, tougher enforcement and better public access to records.

“The recommendations would not solve all ethical problems in state government. We know that. Nevertheless, they would be a start,” the panel writes in its draft version. “We should not accept our below-average status on ethics in state government. The present level seems totally unacceptable, to us and to our fellow citizens.”

A five-page list of specific ideas, along with a letter stressing the need for change, ranges from campaign finance to lobbying activities.

“There are clearly no sacred cows that they are avoiding, and I think the report will be a good report,” Bredesen said.

The governor said he has not looked at the details of the committee’s draft report.

“I have tried to keep hands off that committee on the basis that I think part of its power is that it’s not in the chicken coop with everyone.”

Bredesen said most of the report will make it into the final list he proposes to the Legislature, which is holding its own separate hearings on the issue.

The governor may call a special session, perhaps in January, for the General Assembly to tackle ethics reform in the wake of the “Tennessee Waltz” corruption scandal.

Bredesen’s panel is also expected to address the issue of an independent ethics commission that has enforcement authority and tougher new campaign finance laws. The draft report calls for the commission to have broad authority over the conduct of elected officials.

Comments from citizens, which Bredesen said he plans to review when he gets the panel’s report, generally call for tough laws while others blasted some current officeholders.

“I don’t feel bound to do every single thing that has been listed (by the ethics panel),” Bredesen said. “But I think most of what is in there, and conceivably all of what is in there, are things that ought to be turned into law.”

List of ideas in draft ethics report
Highlights of a draft report by the Governor’s Citizen Advisory Group on Ethics. A final version is due to Gov. Phil Bredesen on Thursday.

The report says new laws are needed to:

—Set up a bipartisan ethics commission with strong powers and the ability to launch investigations or random audits as it sees fit.

—Ban cash campaign contributions to candidates.

—Post candidate campaign finance reports instantly on the Internet and require more frequent reporting.

—Tighten caps on campaign contributions from individuals, political action committees and party organizations.

—Require reports on travel expenditures by legislators and executive branch officials.

—Post all legislative votes in a timely manner on the Internet.

—Rein in “shadow” groups that spend money to sway elections and issues while avoiding campaign finance laws.

—Require lobbyists to file a report naming all family members who work in state government.

—Require lobbyists to disclose how much they are paid and how those funds are spent on a monthly or more frequent basis.

—Require companies that hire lobbyists to disclose how much they spend lobbying.

—Ban lobbyists and others from buying state officials gifts or meals.

—Ban public officials from taking lobbying jobs right after leaving government.

—Ban so-called “contingency fees.”

—Establish tougher conflict of interest language and disclosures.