Disagreement over ethics bill may signal more partisanship
House Minority Leader Bill Dunn has declined to sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill and has asked his fellow Republicans to follow suit. Democratic leadership, meanwhile, is accusing Dunn of being “disingenuous” for withdrawing his support despite having voted for the draft bill when it passed a joint ethics committee last month.
“My concern with the bill, as it stands, is that the Democrats killed our proposals for transparent government, such as opening committee meetings and posting votes on the Internet,” said Dunn, R-Knoxville.
Dunn also takes issue with changes made to the original draft of the proposal that sought to ban both lobbyists and their employers from buying state officials gifts or meals. The bill was amended to allow employers of lobbyists to provide items such as food and entertainment.
“That just opens a huge loophole,” Dunn said. “I’d rather see a bill that’s headed more toward transparent government and one that narrows the wining and dining, instead of opening it up further.”
Dunn said the Democrats’ attempts to make him co-sponsor the bill might be a ploy to keep him from introducing rival ethics legislation.
But for House Majority Leader Kim McMillan, Dunn’s decision to keep his name off the measure is overly drastic.
“I believe it is disingenuous for the leader of a political party who has voted for and help craft important legislation to refuse to be a co-sponsor,” McMillan, D-Clarksville, said in a statement. “It troubles me that he would choose to undermine the work of a joint bipartisan committee.”
Lawmakers have been talking about tougher ethics laws for years. But this year there was a greater sense of urgency following the Tennessee Waltz government corruption sting in May that led to bribery charges against five current or former legislators plus a lobbyist and a political operative described by prosecutors as bag men for the lawmakers.
“I don’t believe any member of the committee was 100 percent supportive of every aspect of the legislation,” McMillan said. “But in the end, the committee unanimously voted in support.”
The proposed legislation addresses three broad areas: the creation of an independent ethics commission, increased disclosure and regulation of lobbyists and reform of campaign finance laws.
Gov. Phil Bredesen has called a special session to begin on Jan. 10.
Dunn said he wants to encourage debate about the ethics bill.
“I would anticipate, expect and endorse all members to come forward with their ideas about how they can improve the ethics climate in Nashville,” he said.