Lawmakers to study ethics reform

After a 2009 legislative session that began with promises of ethics reform — and the subsequent passage of a handful of bills that do little in the way of substantive change — Utah lawmakers vowed again Tuesday to address the issue, this time during interim study sessions that kick off in May.

Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, told the Legislative Management Committee the focus of a special interim ethics committee will be to evaluate an issue that was not addressed in this year's session – revamping how ethics complaints are handled.

"The committee's primary focus will be in dealing with the ethics complaint process," Killpack said.

House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, made reference to an ethics hearing last summer that cleared both Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, and Rep. Phil Riesen, D-Salt Lake, of any wrongdoing, but exposed flaws in the process of legislators investigating themselves. Clark compared the process to taking an old car out of the garage and finding out it doesn't run any more.

The new committee will likely be composed of members of the current ethics standing committees in the House and Senate.

In other business, the management committee distributed the 199 studies called for in this session to the interim committees, which are made up of both senators and representatives. Committee chairs will prioritize lists according to what can be accomplished in the May-November once-a-month meetings.

Lawmakers have whittled the interim schedule this year in an effort to save money, canceling the traditional April start, a move that is expected to save more than $25,000.

Ethics bills passed in this year's session include changes that lower the by-name gift reporting requirement from $50 to $25 (but created an exception if invitations to an event are extended to groups like a party caucus, committee or task force), prohibit the payout of leftover campaign funds when a legislator leaves office (but allows the money to be donated to a charity or church), and a ban on legislators against entering the lucrative world of lobbying for a year after leaving office (unless they're connected to the lobbying group by profession).

E-MAIL: araymond@desnews.com