Volunteers circulate ethics-reform petition

Ronda Rose was waiting Tuesday to get her hands on a legislative ethics petition "still hot from the printer."

She is one of hundreds of volunteers who by Thursday or Friday will start getting Utahns to sign a citizen petition that would set up far-reaching ethics rules for the state's 104 part-time lawmakers, create an independent ethics commission and limit campaign donations to lawmakers.

Supporters of the Utahns for Ethical Government are ready to go after Lt. Gov. Greg Bell formally authorized the petition language Tuesday.

UEG supporters complained Monday that Bell's office didn't immediately issue the formal petition language so they could print up around 3,000 petition packets. UEG attorneys threatened to sue Bell before the Utah Supreme Court if he didn't move quickly.

Now, initiative supporters are "mostly pleased," said Kim Burningham, UEG chairman. "At least we can say that the lieutenant governor doesn't think we're unconstitutional."

The group needs to collect 95,000 registered-voter signatures by April 15 to get the initiative on the 2010 election ballot.

Rose, a West Jordan PTA leader and district team captain for the initiative, said she's excited to finally go out to collect signatures. "We're going to be at University of Utah ballgames, walking door-to-door, talking to our neighbors," she said.

Rose lost a intra-party challenge to state Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, last year. And she said she learned from local campaigning "that Utahns want legislators who are as honest as possible, who will do what is right for (the voters), not for some lobbyist or big campaign contributor."

Bell's chief of staff, Paul Neuenschwander, said Bell did not intend to stall the drive.He said Bell, following his statutory responsibility, wanted the petitioners' own attorneys' "thinking on some of these questions" of the initiative's language so that Bell himself can answer critics of the initiative.

e-mail: bbjr@desnews.com