Pass legislative reforms

Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, is taking a common-sense approach to ethics in the Utah Legislature.

Bell wants greater transparency and accountability in state government with three bills he is sponsoring in the upcoming legislative session. One would require the disclosure of legislative gifts from lobbyists valued at $10 or more. Another would increase legislative pay to $165 per day and amend the Legislature's hotel per diem practice. Still another would give the independent Legislative Compensation Commission more authority in overseeing legislative compensation.

And while a number of ethics reforms surface each legislative session, Bell told the Deseret Morning News that he has "considerable support" from Senate Republican leaders. This bodes well.

The Deseret Morning News has long supported a sizable pay raise for Utah lawmakers. Legislative service requires sacrifices in personal time and income. Legislative work is not confined to the hours spent at the Capitol during the general session, interim days and special sessions. Many more hours are spent corresponding with constituents, attending off-the-hill meetings and other functions.

Bell is on the right track with a lower dollar threshold for lobbyist gifts to lawmakers. But why not ban them altogether? Then lawmakers are relieved of any hint of lobbyists buying access to legislators. Lobbyists would then be on par with volunteer advocates and constituents who also attempt to influence lawmakers but are more likely to get three minutes of face time in a hallway as opposed to an entire afternoon on the golf course that a lobbyist could arrange.

However, Bell's plan to eliminate the hotel allotment of $79 per day is a good one. Lawmakers who stay in hotels because they live great distances from Salt Lake City obviously need a hotel per diem, as Bell envisions. However, lawmakers who live in the metropolitan area — the vast majority of them — should not be paid $79 a day to sleep in their own beds. Those lawmakers should be satisfied with the proposed $45 a day pay increase.

Another interesting measure, to be sponsored by Rep. David Hogue, R-Riverton, aims to disclose special-interest spending on legislative and local races. Such campaign contributions are now hidden or difficult to identify.

Any move to enhance the transparency of the legislative process is positive in our book. We applaud Bell, Hogue and long-time reform champion Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, for their diligence in raising these issues and their commitment to the public's right to know.