Ethics reform slowing to a crawl

Who says you can't have legislative bipartisanship?

If not in Congress, you certainly can in the Utah Legislature.

In a very smooth, almost scripted meeting, the newly-reconstituted House Ethics Committee voted Friday not to take up any bills this session that deal with the current, admittedly-flawed, ethics process nor any bill that would set up an independent ethics commission.

The motion was made by House Assistant Minority Whip Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, the only committee member hold-over from what some saw as a dysfunctional ethic process last October.

Those hearings ended up in partisan 4-4 votes on both a Republican and Democratic House member and no official action was taken.

Meanwhile, a Senate committee, in a bipartisan vote Friday afternoon, approved two so-called government reform bills — one that further discloses the gifts lobbyists give to lawmakers, another that greatly restricts what former state officeholders can do with their personal campaign accounts.

The House committee action taken Friday reflects a stand taken by House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, way last November — on the night he was elected to the top House leadership post.

Clark said then he didn't want any changes to House ethics hearing rules coming in the 2009 session. And the committee's action to hold HB93, HB159 and HB348 ensures that stay.

House Ethics Chairman John Dougall, R-Highland, said it was almost impossible, with just weeks left in this session, to take adequate action on reorganizing legislative ethical hearings.

Moss said it was her understanding that the committee may still hear other so-called government reform bills, like gift restrictions, campaign finance and so on.

It is clear that the four ethics bills backed by House and Senate leaders of both parties will pass.

And it is unlikely that any other ethics bills will.

Senate Majority Assistant Whip Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, whose previous attempts at ethics reform were shot down in the Senate, said his lobbyist gift disclosure bill this year is similar to other's that failed previously. But after the public outcry following the House ethics problems exposed during the 2008 elections, legislative leaders promised to address some of those concerns this session — and their four bills are moving through the lawmaking process now.